I see some of you are using PROXMOX and a couple of you were looking into migrating away from PROXMOX.

I just picked up a used Dell R730xd with 14 of 24 1.2TB drives. RAID60. 128GB RAM.

I have older Dell servers : 1 running my old vmWARE for my BBS, and another running a licensed Server 2012R2 instance. Server will cost way too much to modernize, and vmWARE is no longer 'freeware' and my licensing no longer allows me to upgrade since the software was sold years ago.

I am looking at PROXMOX and was wondering how others like it. I tried TrueNAS, but for some reason the VMs wouldn't work.

Thoughts?

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)

On 13 Jun 2025, SirRonmit said the following...

I see some of you are using PROXMOX and a couple of you were looking into migrating away from PROXMOX.

I just picked up a used Dell R730xd with 14 of 24 1.2TB drives. RAID60. 128GB RAM.

I just moved from ESXi to Proxmox. I had a couple of hiccups along the way, mostly to do with the hardware I'm running it on (Intel NUC). I would imagine your Dell R730xd would fare quite well with Proxmox.

I have older Dell servers : 1 running my old vmWARE for my BBS, and another running a licensed Server 2012R2 instance.

The cool thing with Proxmox, if you have it running at the same time as ESXi you can directly import your VMWare VMs over to Proxmox.

Overall, quite happy with it. As Paulie pointed out to me, if you don't have a paid subscription, you can run the "post install" script to disable the enterprise repo:

https://community-scripts.github.io/ProxmoxVE/scripts?id=post-pve-install


Jay

... As a matter of fact, it IS a banana in my pocket!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Northern Realms (21:3/110)

The cool thing with Proxmox, if you have it running at the same time as ESXi you can directly import your VMWare VMs over to Proxmox.

I seriously just found that out on accident. I was like ESXi -- "not found" so I was like, ok, and entered my server (which houses my BBS here) and BAM! I was then able to 'copy' over but of course, hardware being different gave me hiccups .. but it was very neat indeed!

Thanks for the link, I'll run that as well !

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)

I just picked up a used Dell R730xd with 14 of 24 1.2TB drives. RAID60. 128GB RAM.

I am looking at PROXMOX and was wondering how others like it. I tried TrueNAS, but for some reason the VMs wouldn't work.

I have a r730xd (and a r320 + r330) and run Proxmox on all three. Its a perfect solution IMO and runs really well on the r730xd.

I suggest buying an iDrac license on eBay - only like $20... and you get full BMC management dashboard... its really helpful IMO.

You can get cheap memory, if needed, from cloudninjas.com and HDDs from serverpartdeals.com - all on the cheap. Cloud Ninjas also often has other hardware for the Dell Poweredge platform.

The r730xd is a powerhouse for my needs - and is my main PVE Node; I run a Proxmox cluster w/ my 3 servers...

It can do it all - hardware PCIe passthrough of my RAID card on the r320 - for a TrueNAS SCALE NAS; and I run all my production VM/CTs on the other systems...

I really like the r730 models and think they have a lot of life in them. It sips a bit more power than the 1U Poweredges, but has dual CPUs and more upgrade paths too...



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

paulie420 wrote to SirRonmit <=-

I suggest buying an iDrac license on eBay - only like $20... and you
get full BMC management dashboard... its really helpful IMO.

Totally saved my ass on several occasions when I could remotely reboot
servers. Well worth it.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
* Origin: realitycheckBBS.org -- information is power. (21:4/122)

I suggest buying an iDrac license on eBay - only like $20... and you get full BMC management dashboard... its really helpful IMO.

Totally saved my ass on several occasions when I could remotely reboot servers. Well worth it.

I forget the exact iDrac version #s, but I was surprised when an iDrac 8 license was more than an iDrac 9 license... cheaper on the r730/r330 than the r320...

While the r320 is an older generation server, the r330 was 'downgraded' in many ways - the CPUs have less threads, and it can only take 64GB RAM - where the r320 can take up to 192GB...



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

perfect solution IMO and runs really well on the r730xd.

It looks like it doesn't like WIN7 32- very much. I was able to pull from my older vmWARE and mess with it, but can only install 64-bit .. I haven't researched anything.

I suggest buying an iDrac license on eBay - only like $20... and you get full BMC management dashboard... its really helpful IMO.

All my DELLs have Enterprise iDACS -- only way to go. The HP I grabbed last summer didn't and although I liked some things the HP server did, I'll stick with Dell servers. Especially for the iDRAC items.

I'm barely even touching the 128G RAM, but I'm sure it will start becoming an impact once I get more VMs going.

Thanks for your inputs!!!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/32)
* Origin: Files 4 Fun BBS (21:2/120)

perfect solution IMO and runs really well on the r730xd.

It looks like it doesn't like WIN7 32- very much. I was able to pull
from my older vmWARE and mess with it, but can only install 64-bit .. I haven't researched anything.

IMO these servers work best with a hypervisor as their main OS. I use Proxmox, which is similar to VMWares ESXi or XCP-ng... from Proxmox, you can install dozens of VMs and CTs (containers) that WILL run any OS needed - like WIN7 32bit. Virtualization for everything, baby. For most homelabbers, I think running a hypervisor as the main server software is a smart choice - as I use my servers to run many things on my local network;

BBS, TrueNAS SCALE, websites, docker/portainer, Haiku, crypto box, sbbs, macOS, CommodoreOS, OpenMandriva, PiVPN, etc etc...

All my DELLs have Enterprise iDACS -- only way to go. The HP I grabbed last summer didn't and although I liked some things the HP server did, I'll stick with Dell servers. Especially for the iDRAC items.

My first server was a Dell Poweredge and I was really impressed - I've went will Dell for all my servers and even my big switch.

I'm barely even touching the 128G RAM, but I'm sure it will start
becoming an impact once I get more VMs going.

I found that RAM and CPU upgrades were pretty affordable on both the rx20 and even rx30 generations... a bit more on the rx30's w/ DDR4 - but the CPUs are still affordable. :P

Glad yer getting started, lemme know where you land - I'd highly suggest checking out Proxmox.



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

paulie420 wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

While the r320 is an older generation server, the r330 was 'downgraded'
in many ways - the CPUs have less threads, and it can only take 64GB
RAM - where the r320 can take up to 192GB...

Fortune has smiled upon me, promotion at work, a raise... I might need
to finally invest in a proper server space and get some of the hardware
I have in my office out of earshot.

2 years ago, I passed on a D430, 2 D610s and 2 R720XDs I could have had
my pick of, gratis - the first 3 with at least 128 GB of RAM and a
mixture of SSD and SAS, the 720s with 192 GB RAM and full of SAS drives.
No where to run them, though.

I may be upgrading an HP DL380 in the near future, though...




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