Proxmox Hypervisor
Proxmox VE is the foundation of the homelab compute stack. All workloads run as either VMs (for OS-level isolation) or LXCs (for lightweight containers with direct kernel access).
Storage layout
local-zfs → VM disks, LXC root volumes (SSD mirror)
unraid-smb → Bulk data mounts (NFS from Unraid, read/write)
pbs → Proxmox Backup Server target (separate node)Key VMs
| VM | Purpose | vCPUs | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
ha-os | Home Assistant OS | 2 | 4 GB |
docker-host | Primary LXC for Compose stacks | 4 | 8 GB |
pihole | DNS + DHCP | 1 | 512 MB |
pbs | Proxmox Backup Server | 2 | 4 GB |
HA OS as a VM
Running Home Assistant OS as a Proxmox VM (not in Docker) is the right call for a production home automation deployment. It gives HA Supervisor full access to add-ons, direct USB passthrough for Zigbee/Z-Wave dongles, and clean snapshot-based backups.
See the blog post HA OS in a VM is the right call for the full reasoning.
Backup strategy
- Proxmox Backup Server runs on a dedicated VM, backs up all VMs/LXCs nightly
- Retention: 7 daily, 4 weekly, 3 monthly
- PBS datastore lives on Unraid (NFS mount) for capacity
- Unraid parity protects the underlying data