Minilab Initialised - The Proxmox Migration
From Data Disaster to High Availability 🚀
My Second Brain: Proxmox Edition ⚠️
The transition from running services on bare metal to a dedicated Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) is officially underway. My “Second Brain” is no longer just a site; it’s a cluster of nodes designed for high availability and tinkering.
Key Takeaways
- Snapshot Culture: Before you break it, snapshot it. Proxmox makes “failing fast” safe.
- LXC vs VM: Learning when to use a lightweight Linux Container (LXC) for speed versus a full Virtual Machine (VM) for isolation.
- RAID is not a Backup: But it is essential for uptime. I’ve learned the hard way that redundancy saves heartaches.
- Thanks NetworkChuck: Your Proxmox series helped me move from manual chaos to an automated network.
Proxmox Architecture Goals
I am restructuring my digital life around the following Proxmox pillars:
- High Availability: Setting up a cluster so that if one machine dies, my brain stays online.
- ZFS Storage: Protecting my data against bit-rot and drive failure at the file-system level.
- Proxmox Backup Server (PBS): Deduplicated, incremental backups—because data I haven’t backed up is data I don’t care about.
Performance Comparison
| Resource Type | Overhead | Ideal Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| LXC (Container) | Very Low | DNS (Pi-hole), Reverse Proxies, Web Servers |
| VM (Virtual Machine) | Moderate | Windows, Docker Hosts, Home Assistant |
| Hardware Passthrough | N/A | Transcoding (Plex?/Jellyfin?), AI/LLM workloads |
Log
Log: 25012026
The holiday period brought a brutal realization. A drive I purchased only a few months ago—with less than 200 operating hours—died unexpectedly. Upon plugging it in, the system reported it as corrupted.
After the initial panic subsided, I realized my standard procedure for cloning drives hadn’t been as airtight as I thought. I needed a real RAID system. Drawing on my experience with data scraping and forensics lessons, I performed a deep dive into the sectors and managed to salvage 99% of my data. While I can’t be 100% certain every single bit is back, the Family Archive is safe.
This scare was the catalyst. I searched for more robust systems and found Proxmox. I was immediately sold on its VM capabilities and repurposed my Linux home server into a dedicated Proxmox node.
Current Infrastructure Progress:
- Triple RAID System: Established three separate RAID pools for specific data redundancy needs.
- Tailscale Mesh: Mapped drives across family members using a Tailscale private peer-to-peer mesh for secure remote access.
- Automated Disaster Recovery: Set up automated VM backup procedures to ensure that even if my main OS drive fails, I can be back up in minutes.
- Synchronization: Deployed Syncthing to ensure all local devices are perfectly mirrored.
The “Wet Floor” sign is staying up while I fine-tune the storage pools. The journey from one physical machine to an infinite number of virtual ones has begun.
“Stop thinking about it and just install the ISO.”