Virtualize HTPC with ESXi

[Alatan]

Hello, i have a servercomputer that runs ESXi 5.1, it runs some webservers, fileserver, backup and pfSense. I have an old small PC that i was gonna use as a HTPC.

But it would be much easier to have pfSense running on that PC and virtualize a HTPC from my "high" performance server.

But i have some problem figure out how it´s possible to virtualize a HTPC, you need to have a TV connected to the server but how can the TV show for example XBMC when it just shows the black and yellow ESXi frontpage? And how can i controll just the XBMC machine with my wireless keyboard for example.

And my second qeustion, wich OS should i run? I want to play music from Spotify, listen to radio, watch movies and maybe surf on the web.

I would be very thankfull if i could get some help with this problem! I apologize for misspelling, im from Sweden (Hot blond girls and moose)

Sincerely

[IdeaStormer]

I'm not sure how you will be able to add a tuner to our ESXi server? Maybe if you used Parallel's Extreme but they don't list tuners or AV cards as supported http://www.parallels.com/products/extreme/ its also kinda pricey! or pricier than ESXi server. If you go without a tuner (TV tuner) you could probably use which ever OS you want, as long as it supports the applications to display your shows/movies/music. I know I can remote desktop to my HTPC to watch shows from another room when I don't want to bother going the the HTPC room.

[c.pryor2223]

When i was dabbling in VMs this forum helped me alot (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=138921) However, reading your post i think you need a couple dedicated graphics cards to passthrough for the VM to get good results visually. or perhaps a Ceton card. Also to get your kb to function only with certain VMs, you may have to passthru the usb hub to the VM also. Not sure of that by any means tho, just some advice.