NIKITA

The Forest of QMS

The Forest of QMS: A Tech Journey

Upgrading My CPU: A Leap in Raw Power

I’ve recently upgraded my CPU, and the performance boost is truly remarkable. My old Sandy Bridge 2500k, which has served me for over a decade, feels ancient compared to the new Ryzen 3600. Acquired for just 80 CAD second-hand, the Ryzen 3600 operates at an idle usage of 0–1%, a significant improvement over my former server that often crashed and ignored SSH requests even at idle.

Enhanced Memory for Virtual Machines

In addition to the CPU upgrade, a generous friend gifted me 64GB of DDR4 RAM. This upgrade is a substantial benefit for my Proxmox server’s virtual machines and LXC containers. Currently, I am fine-tuning my virtual Windows machine to sync seamlessly with Moonlight on my Steam Deck. Despite the lack of HDR support, controlling Windows from the Deck feels almost native, enhancing the virtual gaming experience, which is still under rigorous testing.

Smooth Configuration of AMDv and IOMMU Passthrough

Setting up AMDv and IOMMU passthrough on the Proxmox host was surprisingly straightforward. Within two hours, I had the virtual machine recognizing the GPU. This success is a significant departure from previous attempts, which were hindered by the 2500k’s lack of virtualization support and overly broad IOMMU groupings. The solution involved tweaking kernel parameters and physically relocating the GPU to another PCIe slot. This process is reminiscent of setting up the Zigbee router, which I passed through to a virtual Debian machine named Forest and subsequently hosted on Docker for Home Assistant.

Current Objectives

My current objectives include:

  • Streamlining my backup process, largely handled by Vorta.
  • Tidying up my cluttered homepage.
  • Optimizing space allocation for virtual machines.
  • Fixing VPN connections to the Proxmox host and local devices, a long-standing issue.
  • Monitoring the stability of my gaming servers, with plans to scale up memory if necessary.

Future Hardware Plans

The Rosewill case I acquired has proven excellent. Next on my wishlist is a server rack to house this 4U server, followed by an Ethernet patch panel and power switch rack. It’s surreal to experience the hardware finally functioning efficiently and being so useful. I hope my Nextcloud instance will gradually take over my reliance on external cloud services.

Conclusion

This journey through upgrading and optimizing my tech setup has been both challenging and rewarding. The improvements in performance and efficiency are significant, and I am excited about the future enhancements and optimizations. The journey continues, and I look forward to sharing more updates as I refine my setup further.