virtualizing Unraid under Proxmox, is it a good idea?

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iamsammajor

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#320255 23-Jul-2025 10:53

Hi everyone,

I hope this message finds you well.

My Current Setup:

I have a small Unraid homelab with 2x HDDs and 2x SSDs for NAS and cache. It currently hosts 1 Windows VM, 1 Ubuntu VM, and 1 Home Assistant instance. Additionally, it runs a few Docker containers for torrent downloading and other utilities.

What I'm Thinking of Doing:

Since I recently upgraded to a CPU with more cores and increased RAM, I'm considering moving to Proxmox and virtualizing Unraid. My plan is to let Proxmox handle all the other VMs.

My Questions:

1, Is this a good idea, or is the Proxmox approach better? Will I gain any actual benefits?
2, I'm inclined to passthrough 2x HDDs and 2x SSDs directly to Unraid and add an additional SSD for VMs to share. Do I need an HBA in this case? I've found that most online guides suggest it's better to have one.
3, Is there anything I should watch out for?

Thanks advance for your help.

Cheers,

Sam

reven

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#3396515 23-Jul-2025 11:49

Personally i wouldn't. Yes it can be done, but the added complexity I dont think is worth it. Id rather get a cheaper NAS computer and a separate Promox server. I do this, dedicated unRAID NAS and a dedicated Proxmos server running most of my home lab.

Ive had issues with Proxmox and Ive had to start again a few times, if my NAS had to be restaretd that would be a PITA. My unRAID server has been solid for years.

networkn

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#3396516 23-Jul-2025 11:52

I agree with Reven, the added complexity won't be worthwhile, let alone the extra overhead and management.

iamsammajor

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#3396537 23-Jul-2025 12:56

thanks for the ideas guys really appreciate

i dont have the space to fit another box to do NAS, i guess in short i better keep Unraid as it is then vm from there?

openmedia

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#3396540 23-Jul-2025 13:05

I'd always run any NAS platform on the bare metal. Personally I'm playing with TrueNAS rather than Proxmox as it handles the ZFS side of the storage well and has sufficient VM and basic container management.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

iamsammajor

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#3396548 23-Jul-2025 13:38

yeah i think Unraid's Docker and VM for me is enough,

the only downside i have is that i use Twingate for VPN and the connector is setting inside a docker on unraid, so the docker is not going to run after reboot unless i manually login and spin up the array. but if im away from home, i cant do it remotely.

Dairusire

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#3402711 15-Aug-2025 00:18

iamsammajor:

yeah i think Unraid's Docker and VM for me is enough,

the only downside i have is that i use Twingate for VPN and the connector is setting inside a docker on unraid, so the docker is not going to run after reboot unless i manually login and spin up the array. but if im away from home, i cant do it remotely.

I’d suggest just turning on the flag for starting your array automatically on boot.
it’ll start the array automatically and start all your containers which you’ve got set to auto start.

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Ge0rge

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#3403775 15-Aug-2025 12:42

Another vote for leaving it as - I'm pretty sure from memory that the makers of UnRaid recommend against running it any way other than on bare metal

michaelmurfy

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#3403778 15-Aug-2025 13:15

iamsammajor: the only downside i have is that i use Twingate for VPN and the connector is setting inside a docker on unraid

Let me introduce you to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jetkvm/jetkvm

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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waikariboy

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#3403799 15-Aug-2025 15:52

yea i done this in the past, had no issues. pass though the HDs and HBA Card. I enjoyed it cause proxmox gave me a much better vm setup vs unraids vm. Just used unraid for the file storage.

Balm its gone!

Handle9

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#3403800 15-Aug-2025 15:53

Dairusire:

iamsammajor:

yeah i think Unraid's Docker and VM for me is enough,

the only downside i have is that i use Twingate for VPN and the connector is setting inside a docker on unraid, so the docker is not going to run after reboot unless i manually login and spin up the array. but if im away from home, i cant do it remotely.

I’d suggest just turning on the flag for starting your array automatically on boot.
it’ll start the array automatically and start all your containers which you’ve got set to auto start.

I don’t really know why you wouldn’t do this. I’ve got nanokvms on all my NAS machines (or ILO) but I still autostart the array on them all.

Dairusire

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#3403850 15-Aug-2025 16:01

Handle9:

I don’t really know why you wouldn’t do this. I’ve got nanokvms on all my NAS machines (or ILO) but I still autostart the array on them all.

Probably just didn't know to be fair, which is completely okay.
I am more surprised that it's not a default 'ON' state made by unraid themselves, or a prompt when you first configure an array.

I understand some scenarios where you don't actually want it on but that's mostly instance related. Like for me this afternoon, I'm swapping chassis and adding a ton more disks. I don't want the array auto-starting because I want to configure it. So I'll turn auto-start off.