From Server Hunting to VM Mastery: My Proxmox Power Play

Jan 15

2 min read

Introduction

Ever dreamed of running your own server but felt overwhelmed by enterprise hardware? Me too. That’s why I dove headfirst into the world of used servers and came out the other side with a fully operational Windows VM accessible from anywhere. This is the tale of how I bought a used Dell PowerEdge R620, installed Proxmox, and conquered remote access like a pro. Spoiler: it involved some elbow grease, a bit of BIOS magic, and just a sprinkle of command-line wizardry.

Why I Chose a Used Server

Enterprise servers are built like tanks, but they cost as much as a small car when new. So why not let someone else take the depreciation hit?

What I Bought:

Server: Dell PowerEdge R620
CPU: Intel Xeon E5–2640 v2 (8 cores, 16 threads)
RAM: 48 GB DDR3
Storage: 2x SSDs for OS and VMs
Remote Access: iDRAC for headless setup

Where I Bought It:

eBay was my marketplace of choice. Plenty of reliable vendors offer refurbished servers at a fraction of the original price. A little due diligence goes a long way!

Installing the Hard Drive and Setting Up RAID 0

Setting up the storage was surprisingly simple. I installed two SSDs into the server and configured a RAID 0 array for maximum speed. It’s a bit risky since RAID 0 has no redundancy, but for this use case, speed was king.

Setting Up the Dell PowerEdge R620

Once the drives were ready, it was time to install Proxmox VE. I flashed the ISO to a USB drive, booted it up, and let the installer do its thing. A few network tweaks and firmware updates later, the server was ready to rock.

Creating a Windows VM in Proxmox

With Proxmox installed, spinning up a Windows VM was straightforward:

Uploaded the Windows 10 ISO and VirtIO Drivers ISO.
Created a VM with 4 cores, 12 GB RAM, and storage on the RAID 0 array.
Installed Windows, loaded the VirtIO drivers, and completed setup.

Enabling Secure Remote Access

For remote access, I installed Tailscale VPN on both the Windows VM and my MacBook. This created a secure, seamless connection without the hassle of port forwarding. I then enabled Remote Desktop on the VM and connected from anywhere using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app.

Lessons Learned

Don’t overcommit CPU cores. I started with 12 and my server crawled. Dropped it to 4 cores, and performance soared.
RAID 0 is fast but risky — good thing this was for speed, not mission-critical data.
Tailscale makes remote access a breeze, no port forwarding needed.

Conclusion

What started as a quest to learn server management turned into a rewarding hands-on experience. From hunting down a used server to setting up Proxmox and launching a Windows VM, this project was packed with lessons. Now, I can remotely access my VM from anywhere with lightning-fast performance — thanks to RAID 0 and some careful tuning.

Ready to build your own setup? Dive in and start tinkering!

Tools Used: