Can I run this alongside a windows install? Okay to shut down for nights

[MissedApex992]

I have a secondary PC that in a perfect world would pull double duty as a HTPC and server. What would be the best way to do this? Windows on a VM or HexOS on the VM? Never actually done any of this, just researched it and been waiting for this simplified solution.

Also, would it be safe to shutdown nightly? I’m a bit of an energy use freak and would prefer not to leave it on every night when it would be idle. 
 

Hardware is a 13600k, 32gb ram, 4x 14TB red pros, no GPU currently. 
 

End usages would be file storage/backup, plex, photo backup, google drive replacement, and windows for still being able to use it like a normal PC for simple usage. 

[Magnus]

Hi there! We fully intend to support running Windows in a VM with hardware Passthrough for great performance for the use case you’re talking about.  
 

Also, it’s completely okey to turn off a server as long as you do it properly in the GUI and not just flip the power switch!

[Mandolith]

3 hours ago, MissedApex992 said:

I have a secondary PC that in a perfect world would pull double duty as a HTPC and server. What would be the best way to do this? Windows on a VM or HexOS on the VM? Never actually done any of this, just researched it and been waiting for this simplified solution.

Also, would it be safe to shutdown nightly? I’m a bit of an energy use freak and would prefer not to leave it on every night when it would be idle. 
 

Hardware is a 13600k, 32gb ram, 4x 14TB red pros, no GPU currently. 
 

End usages would be file storage/backup, plex, photo backup, google drive replacement, and windows for still being able to use it like a normal PC for simple usage. 

On the same page, with the same question

[Sparkrdom]

From my understanding, yes to both questions. HexOS in a VM is still being tested in beta, but I've seen people mention it works. YMMV.

 

And yeah, why wouldn't you be able to shut it down? It's just a file server with some apps installed.

[alexanderhuzar]

I'm running TrueNas Scale from a VM. Why is because I need to run IMMICH and NextCloud. Docker Desktop has memory leaks and BSODs Windows anytime from 5 minutes to 12 hours. I will not run Linux. I don't have the space for another physical machine for TrueNas Scale. Virtual Machine it is.
Other reasons why I'm a Windows on bare metal and TrueNas on a VM is because the HTPC is performing quite a lot of other functions - it's a NAS, it's a web server for multiple websites, it runs all the arr apps and qbittorrent and sabnzbd and my wife uses it with mouse and keyboard to watch YouTube and other video streaming sites and we also use it for light productivity or to share things with guests. It sits behind our TV in the living room.

Windows from a VM from within HexOS has it's appeals, specifically Windows requires a reboot at least once a month for things like updates and other stuff. My only concern here is the user experience. If your wife used Windows from a VM on HexOS, could she click on something that takes her to the HexOS hypervisor (home screen) where she could do some damage? Also I'd have to require GPU acceleration for Windows in order to do things like decode 4K video and play it back on the TV. The more stable and/or "feature-complete" OS should be the hypervisor, in this case, for me anyways, Windows on metal wins.

For any curious, my post detailing my setup, specifically focusing on NextCloud: 

 

[MissedApex992]

Thanks all, sounds like I’m buying a license today. 

[Canadianhummus]

I don't see why you cant just partition and switch from os to os without having to use virtualization. The only use case for vm's is if you want to run in parallel. 

Edited Monday at 06:21 AM by Canadianhummus

[BeanieDan]

I am currently testing it out in Virtual Box VM. It does work very well and easy to set up with some tweaks I had to work out..

It will be safe to shutdown for a night. However please do remember that HexOS is in beta, so things will change and break.

Any major important data, keep backed up somewhere else or on another system.