We have built a Proxmox staging cluster using a pair of Itel NUC Computers and an AMD NUC Computer for staging, testing, and experimental purposes.

Node Hardware

The hardware configuration for this system is as follows:

Node	Model	CPU	RAM	Storage	Network
pve1	ASUS NUC 15 Pro Tall	Intel S2 Core Ultra 7 255H 3.0 GHz (16 CPUs)	128 GB DDR5	1 TB M.2 NVMe	3 x 2.5 GbE
pve2	ASUS NUC 15 Pro Tall	Intel S2 Core Ultra 7 255H 3.0 GHz (16 CPUs)	128 GB DDR5	1 TB M.2 NVMe	3 x 2.5 GbE
pve3	GMKtec K8 Plus Mini PC	AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS 3.8 GHz (16 CPUs)	96 GB DDR5	1 TB M.2 NVMe	3 x 2.5 GbE

Each NUC has an onboard 2.5 GbE Ethernet Interface with two Plugable 2.5GB USB-C Ethernet Adapters added for additional Network Interfaces.

Proxmox Installation/ZFS Storage

Proxmox installation is straightforward. We used the same procedure as our Production Cluster.

Networking Configuration

Virtual Bridge	Purpose	VLAN	Speed	Adapter
vmbr0 (Mgmt)	Proxmox Management	Computers	2.5 GbE	LAN on NUC
vmbr1 (Services)	Services	All VLANs	2 x 2.5 GbE (Bond)	2 x 2.5 GbE USB-C Adapters
vmbr2 (Storage)	HA Storage for VMs/LXCs	Storage

The Networking configuration on our test node mirrors the setup in our Production Cluster. The table above outlines the Staging Cluster Node networking setup. A single LACP Bond (2 x 2.5 GbE) is shared between the Services and Storage vmbr’s.

Storage Configuration

The table above shows the storage configuration for our Staging Cluster Nodes. PVE-Storage is implemented on our high-availability NAS.

Proxmox Backup Server Configuration

Backups for our Staging Cluster Nodes mirror the configuration and scheduling of Backups on our production Cluster (more info here).

Additional Configuration

The following additional items are configured for our Staging cluster nodes:

• Community License to enable access to Enterprise Repositories
• SSL Certificate from Lets Encrypt
• Postfix for e-mail forwarding
• Clock sync via NTP
• Monitoring via built-in InfluxDB and Grafana