Projecting (streaming) Windows 10 VMs to TVs ....

[Neko77025]

Hello, 

 

So I have been working on / building computers for 20 years now. (Damn, I am old that I think about it ).    I have been wanting build my own NAS for A bit, waited for  A good deal on some older hardware from ebay,craigslist, backpage ect ect.   I got A epic deal on A HP ML350 G6 ( 2x Xeon E5620 2.4ghz, 144gb ECC DDR3, 2x 200GB SAS SSDs, 2x 300GB 10k SAS HDD, and LSI 9211-8i ) all for $240.00 shipping included.  I have had it for 3months with on issues & adding more hardware and testing different VM software. (Windows 10 with VirtualBox) , Hyper V,  ESXi ).  Now it time to give unRAID A go . 

 

All hardware I have to work with.

 

2x Xeon 2.4Ghz 4c/8t (16 threads total) [ Should note I will be changing these to X5670s 2.93Ghz 6c/12t ea = 24t total)

144gb ECC DDR3 1333MHZ (18 x 8GB)  

HP P410i (built in Raid Controller W/BBU and 512Mb Cache) [ Using Raid 1 for Host install & VM OS for some things]

Intel Quad NIC PCIe x4 card

LSI 9211-8i (IT Mode /P16)

LSI 9211-8i (IT Mode /P20) [This one is for pass threw] 

Nvida GT 730 4gb

3x Seagate Constellation ES.3  3TB 7200/128 NAS Drives

1x  ADATA SU800 128GB 3D-NAND ( NAS Cache ) 

2x HP 200GB SAS SSDs (Not sure if I will use)

2x HP 300GB 10k HDD (Not sure if I will use) 

4x SanDisk 32gb Msata SSD W/ 2.5 Adapters

2x SanDisk 16gb Msata SSD  W/ 2.5 Adapters

And waiting on A 4port USB 3.0 controller to show up ... MIA 

(house is wired with Cat 5/6 and have Access Points already)

 

 

What I want from all of this 

 

NAS / PFsens Router / Windows 10 VM for streaming to A TV Via SteamLink or NZXT Doko)  (Side note the Doko Crops and steamlink has alot more options but starts in big pic mode, more then likely will use steam links) 

 

Once I upgrade the CPUs, I would like to add 2x more VMs for Windows 10.  One will be Another TV steram and the other will be for Team Viewer.

 

Goals with the Win10 VMs ..  I would like to Project Computers (VMs)  to TVs ( and only TVs)  in my house for my parents  ( think Steam link is the best choice for this ) the 3rd Windows VM will be accessed threw Team Viewer / Windows Remote.  This will be my Net surf VM.  (right now on my main rig , I run Ubuntu threw A Virtualbox and keep that way from any of my accounts.)   Once set up the server will be set aside in A room of its own. 

 

What I know so far.  

I HATE Hyper V .. Yuk

Virtualbox I have used for years, know it well but it is limited.  I can stream windows 10 VMs TV smoothly with 1GPU

ESXi  6.5 only been using it for 2 weeks.  Overall I like it, however the Documentation / help videos for 6.5 are not that common, seems to be alot of pre 6.5 and get people to reply to you for help lacking.   

unRAID ... Going to start with its try this weekend.   What I dont like is its NAS RAID System.  

 

Questions about unraid 

 

1)  Will this be do able with unraid.

2)  I dont like UnRAID NAS vs FreeNAS RAID.  Could I install A VM with FreeNAS ? Will need to pass threw one of the LSI controllers.

3) Can I split the GPU Memory use per VM (Non PassThrew) or will I need A GPU per windows VM.  These VMs will only be used for Streaming to TVs / Comps and Net surfing / Youtube at most.  NO GAMING !

 

 

By Streaming the VMs to TV I will save a lot of space and keep people out of my space.   1 SFF Desktop still needs A screen/ keyboard and desk of its own.  Putting VMs on the TVs would be .... epic ?

 

EDIT (SHOULD NOTE, the NAS will be used for PLEX and HDhomerun DVR) this is its main use.  unRIAD is not supported by HDhomerun but freeNAS is . )

 

[brwainer]

Your text is literally invisible to anyone with the Dark theme chosen. It is the same color as the background. Please highlight your text and then press the "Tx" button to remove the formatting.

[Electronics Wizardy]

you want a vdi solution.

 

Look at the wyse thinclients, there do exactly this. For hypervisor, run esxi with vmware horizon or citrix xen serer. This solution is actually designed to work this way and will work well(unlike steam links or nzxk doku's.

 

For gpu power, if you really want gpu power, you need a gpu that can be split, so a grid, tesla, some firepros, or a modded geoforce. Other wise you can use a software gpu that will do all basic tasks fine.