Hi all,
I am just starting building a home lab, plex server, home assistant, openwrt, proxmox, docker etc.
everytime i want to install something, say openwrt, i will have 3 options: spin up a vm, install openwrt os, or run it as a container (run it under proxmox contianers? or i can spin up a ubuntu server so run containers there?)
what is the pros and cons of each? and if i can run everythign in a container, i would not need proxmox? just install ubuntu server and containerize everythig.
and feeback/suggestions will be much appreciated.
@jackyclever welcome to the forums! Your question is a good one as each type of technology has its pros and cons. I think personally for me, running a hypervisor provides the advantage of having an abstraction layer between your software and hardware and makes for easy backups.
For instance, if you install Proxmox on your baremetal host and then spin up an Ubuntu server as a container host (docker containers) as a VM, you have the advantage of being able to easily back up this virtual machine using Proxmox Backup Server. If you didn't have this running as a virtual machine, your options to back up your Docker containers are a bit more complex when your containers on a bare metal host.
Also, running a hypervisor allows you to setup a cluster of hypervisor hosts in the future if you want to get into high availability to keep your resources and apps running if you need to take a host down for maintenance or if one fails.
Proxmox LXC containers are also a good option for a lightweight way to run very "VM-like" containers. Again, running resources as LXC containers on Proxmox gives you an easy way to back them up using PBS.
Let me know if this explanation helps with understanding the benefits of running a hypervisor vs bare metal or a VM. If docker containers I would generally recommend running a VM. If you can run an app in an LXC container in Proxmox this is a good option too.
thank you Brandon for the reply. i am following your youtube channel for sometime now, create contents very appreciate your time and efford, have been learning a lot. 😀
and for your personal reference, how would you going to install openwrt along with pihole? i am tryng to install tailscale on proxmox too, and would you spin up a vm (ubuntu server) and docker container? or purely openwrt os on a separate vm?
thank you again for your clarification.
regards
@jackyclever no problem at all! Thank you so much for support of the channel and content creation. It is comments like that, that inspire me to continue.
I would probably separate these into their own dedicated containers or VMs for simplicity and easier management. I'd recommend running OpenWRT in its own VM (as it benefits from direct access to virtual NICs and network isolation), and then spin up another Ubuntu Server VM or container (like LXC or Docker) for Pi-hole. Pi-hole in a Docker container on Ubuntu is very easy and it simplifies updates and backups.
I'd suggest running Tailscale either directly on the Proxmox host (if you prefer simplicity and secure host-level networking), or in an Ubuntu Server VM or container. I would probably lean towards deploying Tailscale in its own Ubuntu Server VM to make sure on isolation and easier troubleshooting. A common setup I'd personally go for would look something like this on Proxmox:
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OpenWRT VM: dedicated VM for routing/firewall
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Ubuntu VM (or LXC) with Docker: Pi-hole container
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Ubuntu VM (or LXC): dedicated Tailscale node
Let me know if these ideas help. Thanks again!