At first, I was going to setup a dedicated machine running Server 2012/2016 and use it as a Plex server. However, I now want to setup video surveillance and plan to use the server as an NVR. With that said, I began thinking, maybe instead of one machine with multiple functions, I should look at setting up a VM environment so I can have dedicated VMs for my purposes.
I do use VMware all day at work and am familiar with the setup process and the UI, etc. However, this is with Cisco UCS/IBM M3s and SANs. I've never looked at setting up ESXi on something such as a dedicated machine with a bunch of internal drives.
With that said, and for my purposes, what do you think I'm better off doing? A VM environment so I can sping up my two main servers and then have the ability to play and test on other machines? Also the ability to snapshot before upgrading versions, etc?
If so, I'm torn on using VMware or Hyper-V. I've never touched Hyper-V so that would be a whole new learning experience. Where as I don't know if VMware will be compatible with my hardware or even be able to perform the way I want it to being I'm not doing a SAN, etc.
My hardware is listed below:
Intel Core i3-6100
Gigabyte B150 Mobo
16GB of RAM
650W eVGA PSU
Intel PCI-E Multiple NIC card (haven't bought yet but plan to)
Samsung 940 Pro 256GB SSD (Main Drive)
What are your thoughts? Before I had the idea of virtual machines, I figured the i3-6100 would be more than enough power (and energy efficient) to handle a Plex server for internal LAN streaming. Now I'm not so sure if the i3 would handle Plex AND the NVR (would not have to transcode on the server with Plex), let alone spinning up added machines.
Unfortunately, everything was bought over the course of a year, and while they still remain unopen, I'm well past my return period to think about swapping them for a dual-xeon setup.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
I do use VMware all day at work and am familiar with the setup process and the UI, etc. However, this is with Cisco UCS/IBM M3s and SANs. I've never looked at setting up ESXi on something such as a dedicated machine with a bunch of internal drives.
With that said, and for my purposes, what do you think I'm better off doing? A VM environment so I can sping up my two main servers and then have the ability to play and test on other machines? Also the ability to snapshot before upgrading versions, etc?
If so, I'm torn on using VMware or Hyper-V. I've never touched Hyper-V so that would be a whole new learning experience. Where as I don't know if VMware will be compatible with my hardware or even be able to perform the way I want it to being I'm not doing a SAN, etc.
My hardware is listed below:
Intel Core i3-6100
Gigabyte B150 Mobo
16GB of RAM
650W eVGA PSU
Intel PCI-E Multiple NIC card (haven't bought yet but plan to)
Samsung 940 Pro 256GB SSD (Main Drive)
What are your thoughts? Before I had the idea of virtual machines, I figured the i3-6100 would be more than enough power (and energy efficient) to handle a Plex server for internal LAN streaming. Now I'm not so sure if the i3 would handle Plex AND the NVR (would not have to transcode on the server with Plex), let alone spinning up added machines.
Unfortunately, everything was bought over the course of a year, and while they still remain unopen, I'm well past my return period to think about swapping them for a dual-xeon setup.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks!