backup: clarify that CLI means FS-level and highlight retention-note

[pve-docs.git] / pve-system-requirements.adoc

System Requirements
-------------------
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We recommend using high quality server hardware, when running {pve} in
production. To further decrease the impact of a failed host, you can run {pve} in
a cluster with highly available (HA) virtual machines and containers.

{pve} can use local storage (DAS), SAN, NAS, and distributed storage like Ceph
RBD. For details see xref:chapter_storage[chapter storage].

[[install_minimal_requirements]]
Minimum Requirements, for Evaluation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These minimum requirements are for evaluation purposes only and should not be
used in production.

* CPU: 64bit (Intel EMT64 or AMD64)

* Intel VT/AMD-V capable CPU/Mainboard for KVM full virtualization support

* RAM: 1 GB RAM, plus additional RAM needed for guests

* Hard drive

* One network card (NIC)


[[install_recommended_requirements]]
Recommended System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Intel EMT64 or AMD64 with Intel VT/AMD-V CPU flag.

* Memory: Minimum 2 GB for the OS and {pve} services, plus designated memory for
  guests. For Ceph and ZFS, additional memory is required; approximately 1GB of
  memory for every TB of used storage.

* Fast and redundant storage, best results are achieved with SSDs.

* OS storage: Use a hardware RAID with battery protected write cache (``BBU'')
  or non-RAID with ZFS (optional SSD for ZIL).

* VM storage:
** For local storage, use either a hardware RAID with battery backed write cache
  (BBU) or non-RAID for ZFS and Ceph. Neither ZFS nor Ceph are compatible with a
  hardware RAID controller.
** Shared and distributed storage is possible.

* Redundant (Multi-)Gbit NICs, with additional NICs depending on the preferred
  storage technology and cluster setup.

* For PCI(e) passthrough the CPU needs to support the VT-d/AMD-d flag.


Simple Performance Overview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To get an overview of the CPU and hard disk performance on an installed {pve}
system, run the included `pveperf` tool.

NOTE: This is just a very quick and general benchmark. More detailed tests are
recommended, especially regarding the I/O performance of your system.

Supported Web Browsers for Accessing the Web Interface
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To access the web-based user interface, we recommend using one of the following
browsers:

* Firefox, a release from the current year, or the latest Extended Support Release
* Chrome, a release from the current year
* Microsoft's currently supported version of Edge
* Safari, a release from the current year

When accessed from a mobile device, {pve} will show a lightweight, touch-based
interface.