Im stumped at what way to go ....

dbwillis

dbwillis

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Cliff Notes: Physical site owned by 2 brothers/family, server is in 1 brothers home.

I currently support a campground in Vermont, but the server is here in CT, the Manager (in VT) VPNs into a 2016 server (in an owners home with a dedicated Internet line) and then RDPs into a VM to run https://campgroundmaster.com/
Current server is an HP ML10v2 with all SSD and 32gb, setup is Server as 2016 Server, running Unifi software and the SoftEther VPN service, then 3 HyperV VMs: 'master' always on/autologon, hosting the database , (Win10, 2 cores, 6gb ram), then the Managers VM (Win10, 4 cores, 8 gb) and the Owners VM (Win10, 4 cores, 8 gb).
No issues at all, but its time to upgrade (2022+W11), was thinking going to the cloud, but the cost is a wash (3x VMs in cloud cost X per month vs dedicated Internet line for the machine at the owners house costs about the same)
Currently the campground DB is only 50mb, nightly backup to my FTP site works great, I keep 100+ backups.
Physical machines are only 2 towns over from me, so travel/accessibility isnt a problem really IF there wasn an issue. (past 3 yrs Ive only had to travel to the physical server twice)

Im torn between sticking with HyperV or going with ESX (not too familiar with ProxMox yet)
HyperV is easy for any data recovery if everything goes tits up really really bad, only needs 1 VPN connection to the 2022 server for all 3 users to connect
ESXi would require either 3 Softether VPN setups and 4 VMs (manager in VT to her VM, owner in CT to her VM, then me to the VM4 *never connect to the master) or maybe I could funnel everyone though 1 VPN connection on the 4th VM, then RDP to the 2 VMs they use daily)

I dont charge the owners for any computer support, but they also dont charge me for a weekend cottage on the 4th of July, its a handshake deal outside of any hardware needed.

Im leaning towards 2022 and 3 W11 VMs...anyone have any other input?
https://www.riversedgevt.com/
 
Cloud.

Does the owners home included backup power, redundant internet connections? Secure infrastructure?

What type of firewall does the owner have at home? Please tell me it is not a Windows Server box direct on the internet?

VPN should be terminated on your perimeter device, not with in a Windows Server box exposed to the internet

Why do they need VMs on the box?

What do they do with those VMs they could not do from their own computers?
 
Backup power yes (bbu and house has a generator)
They have an original Internet connection for the house, but a second, independent connection for just this server.
Alarms, cameras, and in a remote location, this servers in a mid level floor, locked room with AC, no windows, no Wi-Fi either.
They have a unifi gateway, no ports opened or fwd.
The VPN (on the server in ct) connects to azure, the manager (in vt) connects the VPN client to azure and back to the server.
They use the VMs for the campground software only, which connects by IP when multiple users need to share the database.
In that setup, there is a master PC that needs to be always on, sharing the db, then the campground app on the other vms opens that db when launched.
If they wanted to use there computers on site (vt and CT) for the app, one location would have to be on all the time, and I'd have to manage ports for the app to work, over the Internet.
 
hyper-v is a hot mess, but if you have some sort of account with microsoft it can be way cheaper. I would try the cloud, they will spend more but it's easier for you and definitely more redundant than someone's home. Also if you get hit by a car(i hope that doesn't happen) or move or who knows what else, their stuff is in an easy to manage portal that someone else could understand. However dealing with small business owners, they may not like that. Not sure what software they are accessing, but the whole setup seems off, can you migrate the software to the cloud and just not have vm's anymore?
 
Still leaning towards hyper v, been having the Vermont operator test esxi, hyperv and prox mox setups as well as a 3 VM hosted solution.
She hasn't noticed any negative issues
Guess it comes down to what would get picked up by another tech if I went away,
 
Maybe I'm missing something, but that seems like an awful lot of resources and complexity to host a website and a 50MB Database. Couple things I would consider doing if I was in this situation:

  1. Host it in the cloud on a VPS.
  2. Run it on Linux to get away from Windows licensing costs.
  3. Run it on Proxmox instead of HyperV/ESX to avoid licensing costs.
Also, are you really using unencrypted FTP to transfer those database backups?!?
 
I'd dump this in Azure, personally. Sounds like there is already an Azure tenant in play.
 
I could run it in the cloud, but would have to pay for 3x vdi, then Id also be in the middle of billing him for the bill the provider bills me
It's a windows only application
I believe its set for SFTP
Leaned towards HyperV due to being able to mount any VHD easy from the host for any file recovery if anything hits the fan
 
I know I'm in a small minority.. but Hyper-V is great and you can make your environment easy with it.. and easy to manage... or you can use Hyper-V in more complex environments and it will still get the job done.
 
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