Cluster: rpc-cyber-dc-01
A 3-node Proxmox VE cluster providing high-availability virtualization for all lab workloads.
Cluster Diagram
[Insert proxmox-cluster.drawio diagram here]
Nodes
| Node | IP | CPU | Cores/Threads | RAM | Disk | GPU | VMs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pve1 | 192.168.x.x | i9-13900H | 14/20 | 64 GB | 93 GB | — | 100, 101, 103, 105 |
| pve2 | 192.168.x.x | i5-4590 | 4/4 | 16 GB | 36 GB | — | 104 |
| bighost | 192.168.x.x | i5-12600K | 10/16 | 64 GB | 93 GB | RTX 4070 | 102, 107 |
Why These Machines?
- pve1 — A mini-PC with a laptop-class i9. Small, quiet, power-efficient, but packs 14 cores. Runs most of the lab.
- pve2 — A 10-year-old desktop. Proves you don’t need modern hardware. Runs a single Windows Server VM just fine on 4 cores and 16 GB.
- bighost — The muscle. A desktop-class i5-12600K with an RTX 4070 for GPU-accelerated AI workloads. Runs the Ollama inference server and Kali security lab.
Storage
| Name | Type | Capacity | Content | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| local | Directory | 93 GB | ISOs, backups, templates | Per-node local storage |
| local-lvm | LVM-thin | 337 GB | VM disks | Thin-provisioned, per-node |
| usbdisk | NFS | 916 GB | ISOs, VM disks, backups | Shared NFS export from pve1 via USB disk |
The NFS share (usbdisk) is key — it provides shared storage across all nodes without expensive SAN hardware. It’s literally a USB hard drive plugged into pve1 and exported via NFS.
VM Inventory
| VMID | Name | Node | vCPU | RAM | Disk | OS | IP | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | RonClaw | pve1 | 2 | 8 GB | 32 GB | Linux | 192.168.x.x | Running |
| 101 | BethClaw | pve1 | 2 | 8 GB | 32 GB | Linux | — | Stopped |
| 102 | BigBrain | bighost | 12 | 40 GB | 256 GB | Linux | 192.168.x.x | Running |
| 103 | cainfra01 | pve1 | 2 | 8 GB | 128 GB | Rocky Linux 10.1 | 192.168.x.x | Running |
| 104 | cadc02 | pve2 | 4 | 12 GB | 256 GB | Windows | 192.168.x.x | Running |
| 105 | CADC01 | pve1 | 4 | 16 GB | — | Win Server 2019 | 192.168.x.x | Running |
| 107 | Kali | bighost | 4 | 4 GB | 60 GB | Kali Linux | TBD | Installing |
GPU Passthrough — BigBrain
The RTX 4070 on bighost is passed directly to VM 102 (BigBrain) for GPU-accelerated AI inference:
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (AD104)
- PCI address: 0000:01:00.0
- CPU mode: host (full passthrough for best performance)
- Purpose: Ollama LLM server running Qwen3 models (8B, 14B, 32B parameter)
- Autostart: Yes — BigBrain comes up automatically on node boot
What is GPU Passthrough?
Proxmox can pass a physical GPU directly to a VM, giving it bare-metal GPU performance. This lets you run AI inference, video transcoding, or any GPU workload inside a VM as if the GPU were physically installed in that machine.
Cluster Features in Use
| Feature | How We Use It |
|---|---|
| Corosync quorum | 3-node cluster ensures quorum even if one node goes down |
| Shared storage (NFS) | ISOs and backups accessible from any node |
| Live migration | Move VMs between nodes without downtime (for non-GPU VMs) |
| Autostart | Critical VMs (BigBrain, cainfra01, CADC01) start automatically |
| UEFI boot | Modern secure boot for newer VMs |
What You Learn Building This
- Hypervisor installation — bare-metal Proxmox deployment
- Cluster configuration — Corosync, quorum, node management
- VM creation — resource allocation, disk provisioning, network bridging
- Storage architecture — local vs shared, LVM-thin, NFS exports
- GPU passthrough — IOMMU, PCI device assignment, driver isolation
- Capacity planning — balancing workloads across heterogeneous hardware