I like those little Mini PCs, they're power efficient and can run a decent size of VMs. The only issue I found with those machines is sometimes they support only 1Gbe Ethernet port, and from a home server perspective is very slow, specially if you want to connect the server to a NAS server, or run some services like Plex. I think these days 2.5Gbe should be the minimum requirement for a home PC.
The proxmox kernel deals with efficiency cores really well. It will avoid using them until the first faster hyperthreaded cores are utilized fully. It’s best to leave them on and leave it alone. The scheduler will use them appropriately. Pinning workloads on efficiency cores and only those cores will not make your system more efficient over all. There is a great RUclips video about how proxmox deals with the cores. I don’t know about other hypervisors though.
@davidgrishko1893 thank you for the comment! My problem with the hybrid CPUs and most hypervisors is there isn't really any admin control over this behavior. Admins ultimately need to be able to control which cores VMs are assigned if needed. However, I am doubtful this architecture will make it in the data center, but I could be wrong.
I was looking buying 2 or 3 of the Ryzen based models to run a small cluster, they have notably better power efficiency but i dont know how Proxmox copes on AMD. I would love a review of one of those. Also i have USBC 2.5gb adapters in my current (old desktop pcs cluster) and that works extremely well.
It's KVM on Debian with some kernel modifications, in my experience Proxmox works well with AM4 and Epyc Rome, not sure on AM5 or newer Epyc generations but I haven't seen/heard any mention of major issues.
I have SER 5 Pro with 64GB RAM and Ryzen 7 and all is ok except not enough RAM. Oh, and I had to add usb NIC 2.5Gbps. It is getting a git hot but not too much.
Something to check on systems like this that have HDMI and Display Port. Which is the primary? I ask, because on a similar system I assumed that I could use either for the Proxmox console, which turned out not to be the case. I also could not disable either one via the BIOS. It uses the HDMI and I could not find a way to make it use the Display Port. Probably not a big deal for most people, but when it matters, it's a detail that is good to know.
@JamesGreen-gv4yn thank you for the comment. I don't think I have had an issue with the proxmox console, but I would need to do some more testing. I believe it picks the one that is active between the hdmi and display port. But are you meaning if you have both plugged in? Also, signup on the VHT forums and let's discuss this further: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community
@@VirtualizationHowto In my case, I was using a KVM over IP that requires a dongle for each port connecting to a system. I had expected that the system would activate the port that has something connected to it but it did not. I am guessing it has something to do with the dongle and the system not figuring out which port has a connection and so it selects, or defaults to, the HDMI port. In the end, I had to switch all of them to using HDMI dongles instead of the Display Port ones. If I had known this before purchasing the dongles, I could have saved some money and time by not getting the Display Port dongles and spending so much time trying to figure out why they were not working.
For the price, this is a powerhouse. Yes, for a few hundred dollars more you enter the realm of server-esque tech, but a few of these in a cluster and you get power minus the draw.
Biggest problem with a lot of these mini's as home servers is networking, Minisforum MS-01 and Qotom Q20332G9-S10 both have SFP+ so it looks like some of the mini pc vendors are taking notice of homelabbers who have been asking for this. I'm sure there are a lot of use cases where 1gb lan would be fine or you can band aid the issue with USB but I wouldn't personally bother with less than 10gb for a server at this point and I'm guessing most people would want at least 2.5.
@nadtz definitely that has been my reservation with many mini PCs as well and has been why I have held off on a home lab refresh. I am very excited about units like the MS-01. I will have one in the lab soon to play around with so stay tuned.
after i watch your video, recently i just bought a new mini pc GEEKOM MINI IT12 with same procesor i7 12650H as BEELINK does. i hope you gave me some advice for bios setting in my proxmox VE 8 preparation. all of that, wait for you respon. best regard from indonesia here
@deckyokmal3145 thank you for your comment! Hop over to the VHT forums, and I can give you more detailed help there. Create a topic in either the mini PC or Proxmox help forum and we can discuss it further: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community
Avoid these guys (i.e., Beelink). I had an Sei12--the junkiest computer I've had in 20 years. Began to crash to black at random points after about 9 months. Ran hot and noisy. Beelink's best advice was worse than a Microsoft.chat-bot.
I like those little Mini PCs, they're power efficient and can run a decent size of VMs. The only issue I found with those machines is sometimes they support only 1Gbe Ethernet port, and from a home server perspective is very slow, specially if you want to connect the server to a NAS server, or run some services like Plex. I think these days 2.5Gbe should be the minimum requirement for a home PC.
The proxmox kernel deals with efficiency cores really well. It will avoid using them until the first faster hyperthreaded cores are utilized fully. It’s best to leave them on and leave it alone. The scheduler will use them appropriately. Pinning workloads on efficiency cores and only those cores will not make your system more efficient over all. There is a great RUclips video about how proxmox deals with the cores. I don’t know about other hypervisors though.
@davidgrishko1893 thank you for the comment! My problem with the hybrid CPUs and most hypervisors is there isn't really any admin control over this behavior. Admins ultimately need to be able to control which cores VMs are assigned if needed. However, I am doubtful this architecture will make it in the data center, but I could be wrong.
I was looking buying 2 or 3 of the Ryzen based models to run a small cluster, they have notably better power efficiency but i dont know how Proxmox copes on AMD. I would love a review of one of those. Also i have USBC 2.5gb adapters in my current (old desktop pcs cluster) and that works extremely well.
It's KVM on Debian with some kernel modifications, in my experience Proxmox works well with AM4 and Epyc Rome, not sure on AM5 or newer Epyc generations but I haven't seen/heard any mention of major issues.
@substandard649 thank you for the comment. Proxmox runs fine on AMD from my testing.
I have SER 5 Pro with 64GB RAM and Ryzen 7 and all is ok except not enough RAM. Oh, and I had to add usb NIC 2.5Gbps. It is getting a git hot but not too much.
Something to check on systems like this that have HDMI and Display Port. Which is the primary?
I ask, because on a similar system I assumed that I could use either for the Proxmox console, which turned out not to be the case. I also could not disable either one via the BIOS. It uses the HDMI and I could not find a way to make it use the Display Port. Probably not a big deal for most people, but when it matters, it's a detail that is good to know.
@JamesGreen-gv4yn thank you for the comment. I don't think I have had an issue with the proxmox console, but I would need to do some more testing. I believe it picks the one that is active between the hdmi and display port. But are you meaning if you have both plugged in? Also, signup on the VHT forums and let's discuss this further: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community
@@VirtualizationHowto In my case, I was using a KVM over IP that requires a dongle for each port connecting to a system. I had expected that the system would activate the port that has something connected to it but it did not. I am guessing it has something to do with the dongle and the system not figuring out which port has a connection and so it selects, or defaults to, the HDMI port. In the end, I had to switch all of them to using HDMI dongles instead of the Display Port ones. If I had known this before purchasing the dongles, I could have saved some money and time by not getting the Display Port dongles and spending so much time trying to figure out why they were not working.
For the price, this is a powerhouse. Yes, for a few hundred dollars more you enter the realm of server-esque tech, but a few of these in a cluster and you get power minus the draw.
Have you seen the specs of the minisforum ms-01?
you are right, it sounds amazing, but I find this, to be a limitation: "DDR5-5200MHz Dual Channel (SODIMM slots x2, up to a total maximum of 64GB)"
@@zyghom Patrick from ServeTheHome tried installing 2x48GB sodimms and he was able to get it to work, you should totally check out his in depth review
@@zyghomservethehome confirmed 2x48gb dimm's work, still not ideal but good to know you can get it up to 96gb.
What is the problem with bare metal hypervisors with this machine...
Can this computer accept a 2TB SATA internal drive?
Biggest problem with a lot of these mini's as home servers is networking, Minisforum MS-01 and Qotom Q20332G9-S10 both have SFP+ so it looks like some of the mini pc vendors are taking notice of homelabbers who have been asking for this. I'm sure there are a lot of use cases where 1gb lan would be fine or you can band aid the issue with USB but I wouldn't personally bother with less than 10gb for a server at this point and I'm guessing most people would want at least 2.5.
@nadtz definitely that has been my reservation with many mini PCs as well and has been why I have held off on a home lab refresh. I am very excited about units like the MS-01. I will have one in the lab soon to play around with so stay tuned.
Thank you.....
after i watch your video, recently i just bought a new mini pc GEEKOM MINI IT12 with same procesor i7 12650H as BEELINK does.
i hope you gave me some advice for bios setting in my proxmox VE 8 preparation.
all of that, wait for you respon.
best regard from indonesia here
@deckyokmal3145 thank you for your comment! Hop over to the VHT forums, and I can give you more detailed help there. Create a topic in either the mini PC or Proxmox help forum and we can discuss it further: www.virtualizationhowto.com/community
Avoid these guys (i.e., Beelink). I had an Sei12--the junkiest computer I've had in 20 years. Began to crash to black at random points after about 9 months. Ran hot and noisy. Beelink's best advice was worse than a Microsoft.chat-bot.