Is this a good idea for my home server?

[monkstick]

I have been running a Linux based server for about 2 years solid until recently, I decided to change to a windows based server to learn Active Directory as I am required to learn it for work. I hate the windows server and desperately want to move back to Linux but I also want my server to be stupidly easy to make a complete backup and to restore.
 

This is where my new idea comes in, but I want your opinion on it first.

Run CentOS as the master server and tighten down its security as much as possible. Then, run one virtual machine running another distro of Linux for my actual home server use (Teamspeak, website, Minecraft, Plex, Torrents etc) and another for learning windows AD.

Then, if I need to make a complete server backup and/or restore, I only need to worry about compressing and decompressing the .VDI files.

Would this be a plausible way to run my home server, or is there something really obviously dumb I am missing?

Also, as I have a lot of TeamSpeak and web clients, I don't have much time for testing it out in certain configurations.

Another Benefit I can think of, is if I need to take the server down for a few hours for hardware maintenance, I can simply move the .VDI files onto my home computer and run them through Virtualbox for the few hours that are required.

[skylane]

Definitely doable. I run a minimal CentOs with hypervisor on my HP server and use VM's for all my data analytics and sandbox development. It's the most secure and has the highest uptime for many applications.

[monkstick]

Can you recommend a good,  free hypervisor?  I heard that ESXI is good,  but I think last time I tried to use it,  it refused to install because I had "less" than 8gb of ram. (It recognised 7.99gb)

[skylane]

I've used ESXi before but I don't like it personally. If you don't need GPU pass through then KVM works great.

[monkstick]

I run everything headless,  so I don't need any GPU integration at all.  How does KVM work?  Install CentOS, install KVM and then its like a lite Hypervisor?

[skylane]

KVM is a type 2 hypervisor - it's light in the sense that it has low system resource requirements but it's fully functional for enterprise solutions. Sounds like you're already a bit versed with Linux so basic steps are:

1. Install clean Centos minimal install

2. Install KVM qemu virtualization groups

3. Initialize VM

Of course you'll need to bridge your etho and decide how you want to manage your VM client storage but it's pretty straightforward.

If you need more step by step let me know.

[DacStugly]

http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/FAQ#General_KVM_information<- this looks like a place to start (just so you understand the difference).