Posts made by magicmarker

This link clears everything up between Backblaze and Backblaze B2: https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/218483787-What-s-the-difference-between-B2-vs-Backblaze-Online-Backup. As mentioned in the article, B2 doesn't include client software and talks about the command-line option. You will need to choose a application that integrates with B2. I choose Cloudberry and so far I'm happy with my choice. In the end, I'm going to now save money. The only con is reseeding the initial data.

@scottalanmiller When I signed up for my Backblaze B2 account, the FAQ's and Quick start guides direct you to the command-line tool. They didn't make it clear that they had their OWN GUI tool. They did make it clear that there is a bunch of 3rd party applications that can backup to them though.

@coliver You were not kidding. Truly dummy proof. It's actually too dummy proof. Good for someone that doesn't want to customize the backup as you mentioned with your parents. I'm giving the CloudBerry freeware client a try. It's got an option to backup directly my Backblaze B2 account I just created. It's a better option than the Backblaze client.

@coliver What software client are you using to upload data to Backblaze? I'm only seeing this command-line tool that I don't want to use.

@bnrstnr I was paying $4/mon with the Home plan. Unlimited.

I was using the CrashPlan home service as well. Let us know what you switch over to. I've got a couple recommendations to look at Backblaze.

I got a great story that goes along with this topic sort of... I'll get to that after I answer your question. About 2 years ago I bought a DID with Oooma to use as my home line. I decided Ooma sucked and ported my number over to voip.ms and connected an ATA box to my analog cordless handset. I think I pre-paided $25 when I switched to voip.ms, and I still have $12.12 in my current balance. There is no need for a FreePBX for your grandparents and parents if you go with voip.ms. However, feel free to set it up if you really want to practice and have something to play and test with.

Now, back to the story. The number I purchased with Ooma was like a business line because it ended with 8000. It was easy to remember, which is why I bought it. About a year ago I started getting calls asking if they are calling a Dentist office. I kept telling callers they have the wrong number. Finally, the owner of a Dentist office calls me and says they had just bought my home DID from Ooma. She explained that the number was already published on all their brochures, insurance documents, and all their phone extensions were based off the 8000 extension etc... They were also opening in 2 weeks. Turns out Ooma never removed the number out of their database when I ported over to voip.ms and then sold the number to this Dental office because they bought Oooma Business phone service. I mean there was only two people that called my home #, my mom and my dad. And this business was screwed. The cost to change the DID on all there brochures, documents, etc... would probably cost them a good amount. The Dental office ended up making me a $$$ offer for the DID and I released it to them. The owner was also a Dental surgeon and offered to do any Dental surgeries for my family with no out of pocket costs after insurance pays. Turns out my wife needs gum grafting surgery and we are going to save another $1,000 - $2,000 dollars by not having to pay anything out of pocket after insurance. I mean what luck. I love telling this story. Sorry to side track this thread, but it just reminded my of this.

I've still been researching this topic. After digging deeper, I was curious as to why nobody recommended Proxmox as the nice GUI wrapper to the Linux KVM hypervisor. For the Linux newbies, and the Windows admins out there getting into Linux, this seems to be a great way to use the KVM hypervisor. Why can't Proxmox be an option for the SAM-SD Hypervisor that runs the Linux VM file server.

@stacksofplates said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@magicmarker said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@magicmarker said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@stacksofplates The way you are describing it, makes it feel more like a Type 2 Hypervisor.

It what sense?

Installing the Linux Server OS with a desktop, then adding the KVM package. It reminds of installing Windows Server OS, and then adding the Hypervisor role. Maybe I'm making this harder on myself. I was doing a Fedora minimal install (no pretty GUI) and installing the KVM packages via the cli to keep the overhead to a minimum. If I were to install Fedora with a desktop package like Gnome I would probably have an easier time working with KVM.

You don't need a desktop unless it's on a workstation. Literally during the install instead of picking minimal pick hypervisor role. It's done, that's it. Then just use Virt-Manager to control it.

I don't remember that being an option with Fedora. That sounds like a good deal. What distro gives you that option?

@kelly Both @scottalanmiller and @JaredBusch recommended Fedora.

@scottalanmiller said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@magicmarker said in Linux OS advice for building a SAM-SD:

@stacksofplates The way you are describing it, makes it feel more like a Type 2 Hypervisor.

It what sense?

Installing the Linux Server OS with a desktop, then adding the KVM package. It reminds of installing Windows Server OS, and then adding the Hypervisor role. Maybe I'm making this harder on myself. I was doing a Fedora minimal install (no pretty GUI) and installing the KVM packages via the cli to keep the overhead to a minimum. If I were to install Fedora with a desktop package like Gnome I would probably have an easier time working with KVM.

@stacksofplates The way you are describing it, makes it feel more like a Type 2 Hypervisor. I was attempting to install Fedora as a minimal install and add the KVM role through the cli. I then was able to successfully launch Virt-Manager from a Windows box using Xming and Putty. I was having trouble on the Linux admin side understanding how to add a volumes for VM data storage and how to properly setup the networking within the Virt-Manager which is not documented well. My host has multiple nic's and I'm used to setting up a Virtual Switch.

@tim_g I was looking for a decent GUI interface to build a KVM Hypervisor for a SAM-SD. See my post here. Thanks for posting this.

@Tim_G Just posted Fedora 26 KVM HTML5 Remote Access with Web-Console via Kimchi. This looks like it could be the answer to using KVM with a GUI interface that doesn't require too much Linux knowledge.

@scottalanmiller I only used the Virt-Adapter GUI tool. Where I was having trouble was making KVM see my drive volume on my hardware RAID controller. I then added a network bridge. I was at the point where I was creating a new VM and KMV didn't like my network bridge. Rebooted my KVM host and she wouldn't come out of recovery. I didn't like Hyper-V when I was testing it out a few months ago. Thanks for making me aware of Scale. I will check that out.

I just want to mention that the KVM Hypervisor does take more than Linux basic knowledge. After @JaredBusch and @scottalanmiller recommended KVM on Fedora for the SAM-SD OS I have been playing with the KVM Hypervisor on a minimal Fedora install. I was able to successfully get a working KVM Hypervisor running. I realize that I've been very spoiled with the ESXi Hypervisor. I will require a more GUI based Hypervisor setup. I played around with the virt-manager which is a nice alternative to the cli for novice Linux users. There is still too much for me to learn with KVM and I never really did find instructions that really spell it out for me. I'm trying not to use VMware ESXi. I'm going to re-visit Hyper-V 2016 standalone with a Fedora Server (with desktop) VM to be my NFS file server. I'm open to any advice or words of encouragement to re-direct my focus back to the KVM Hypervisor.

I think I was confusing KVM with Xen. Maybe it was Xen that has no GUI. So am I just just doing a Fedora minimal install and adding the KVM package? How are you managing the VM's with the GUI? Are you installing a KVM management tool on an other pc? Or are you running Fedora with a desktop and opening up the KVM virtual machine manager app from there? I have a lot to read up on.

@dustinb3403 Oh wow, I was not aware of the 2TB virtual HDD limit with XenServer. I will be looking into a new Hypervisor for this. Thanks for the heads up! I like XenServer and ESXi. I personally didn't like working with Hyper-V and it was annoying that it had to be integrated with Active Directory. @JaredBusch I will check out KVM, but with no GUI, it doesn't not seem as easy to work with as others.

I’m looking to build a SAM-SD for a NAS backup repository for VM’s. I’m currently running VMware ESXi hypervisors in my production environment. The SAM-SD is going to be a dedicated NAS to serve up NFS file storage. I’m planning on installing XenServer for the SAM-SD Hypervisor and a Linux OS VM on XenServer for the file server. I need help picking a Linux distro to spin up to do the file serving. My Linux knowledge is only basic and was looking for some help. I’ve seen some suggestions on this forum to use Fedora as the Linux OS to do the file serving. I see that @JaredBusch has created some nice tutorials for installing both Fedora and Debian. Can anyone help me understand if I should be looking at a Fedora or Debian OS? Also, Turnkey Linux has a pre-built File Server that is ready to go that takes a lot of the work out of this for someone with only basic Linux knowledge. Is there a reason not to use the Turnkey Linux build? My last question is in regards to the Linux virtual disk. I plan on creating a 6 TB or larger OBR 10 of local storage on the SAM-SD. When I spin up the Linux distro, is there anything I need to know to prepare the Linux virtual disk. I ask because with Windows, this is pretty straight forward. Just add a 6 TB thin provisioned virtual disk and the virtual HDD will grow as needed. Is this the same in the Linux world?

I just wanted to update this thread that I've got my LoveRPi RetroPie Emulation Station Mini Game PC all setup and it's running beautifully. No lag as the marcinoza mentioned his was doing. I'm loving the the setup and playing the old NES games. If you want to set up your LoveRPi with almost any retro game you could ever think of, follow the instructions from this YouTuber. I did everything step by step and everything works great. Enjoy!