I was sold on the idea of an all-in-one ZFS NAS / ESXI home lab
(will update to ESXI version 6.0 update 2.0)
also to be used as a workstation rather than using WMware Workstation
or other alternatives (low power and other benefits). Unfortunately I bought the TS140 a bit
early not understanding the pci-e requirements completely (for adding
cards for passthrough).
The TS140 has Intel AMT, onboard graphics and I've set it up with an
IBM1015 SAS/SATA controller (in X16 pci-e slot) and
Intel I350-t4 (in X4 pci-e slot) and now I have only one 1X pci-e slot
left.
I hope someone can help me clear up a few things regarding the graphics/mouse/keyboard
side of things (accessing a VM like a workstation). As far as I understand,
I have the following alternatives regarding the graphics:
(a)Using RDC/VNC and an additional PC (added power costs).
I haven't tried this and am not sure how well this would work for tasks
other than admin - next on the to-do list.
(b)Adding a graphics card. For this solution, I have a couple of questions
- can you do passthrough on a graphics card if it is not in the first (X16 slot) - I only
have a 1X slot left (2nd slot) and it is tight/may need to use a riser/extender ?
- If I add a graphics card and do a passthrough of it to a VM, how do I do ESXI admin (I presume
the card can then be used just for that one VM) ?
- If a graphics card is a solution, any suggestions on a model that can be used in 1X pci-e slot?
(c)I have read that network access of a VM using a ThinClient (without using VMware Fusion) is
also possible - not sure how this compares with RDC/VNC ?
The all-in-one would be the ideal solution, but if that is going to be a problem, I may
move the ZFS NAS to a separate PC (something very low power) - then the 16X slot would be free for
an external graphics card (and this would most probably be a more secure solution)
(will update to ESXI version 6.0 update 2.0)
also to be used as a workstation rather than using WMware Workstation
or other alternatives (low power and other benefits). Unfortunately I bought the TS140 a bit
early not understanding the pci-e requirements completely (for adding
cards for passthrough).
The TS140 has Intel AMT, onboard graphics and I've set it up with an
IBM1015 SAS/SATA controller (in X16 pci-e slot) and
Intel I350-t4 (in X4 pci-e slot) and now I have only one 1X pci-e slot
left.
I hope someone can help me clear up a few things regarding the graphics/mouse/keyboard
side of things (accessing a VM like a workstation). As far as I understand,
I have the following alternatives regarding the graphics:
(a)Using RDC/VNC and an additional PC (added power costs).
I haven't tried this and am not sure how well this would work for tasks
other than admin - next on the to-do list.
(b)Adding a graphics card. For this solution, I have a couple of questions
- can you do passthrough on a graphics card if it is not in the first (X16 slot) - I only
have a 1X slot left (2nd slot) and it is tight/may need to use a riser/extender ?
- If I add a graphics card and do a passthrough of it to a VM, how do I do ESXI admin (I presume
the card can then be used just for that one VM) ?
- If a graphics card is a solution, any suggestions on a model that can be used in 1X pci-e slot?
(c)I have read that network access of a VM using a ThinClient (without using VMware Fusion) is
also possible - not sure how this compares with RDC/VNC ?
The all-in-one would be the ideal solution, but if that is going to be a problem, I may
move the ZFS NAS to a separate PC (something very low power) - then the 16X slot would be free for
an external graphics card (and this would most probably be a more secure solution)
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