🎯 Project objective

Take an enterprise tower server straight off the shelf, identify and document every component, build a fault-tolerant storage array, and install a hypervisor that's reachable from the school LAN.

Deliverables

• Full hardware inventory with part numbers and datasheets
• RAID array sized for the four planned VMs
• Live Proxmox VE host on a static management IP
• Screenshots proving each milestone

📋 The build sequence

• Part 1 · Flash a USB drive with the Proxmox ISO using Rufus
• Part 2 · Enter BIOS, set USB boot priority
• Part 3 · Build the RAID array in the controller utility
• Part 4 · Install Proxmox VE on the array · verify the dashboard
• Part 5 · Upload ISO images to Proxmox storage

Constraint: every IP we used had to come from instructor — the school LAN 10.10.0.0/16 is shared with other teams.

Asset details

Why this platform fits

• Enterprise-grade hardware — hot-plug drives, ECC RAM, redundant PSUs — built for 24/7 lab use
• iLO 4 lets us install and operate without ever touching the physical machine
• Smart Array P420i gives us hardware RAID — faster than software RAID and survives a host reinstall
• Four onboard 1 GbE NICs give us room to segment traffic in later weeks
• Two CPU sockets and 24 DIMM slots = headroom for future expansion

Compute

Memory

Storage

Networking

Power & Cooling

Firmware

Tools and assets we needed

• USB drive (4 GB minimum, used DD-mode flash so existing data is wiped)
• Rufus 4.7 from \\itsdc3\its
• Proxmox VE 6.4-1 ISO (later upgraded to 8.2.2)
• Keyboard + monitor for console access
• Static IP from instructor on 10.10.0.0/16
• Patch cable to school LAN port

Procedure

1. 1Plug the USB drive into a school PC
2. 2Open File Explorer → type \\itsdc3\its in the address bar
3. 3Open Rufus 4.7
4. 4Under Device, select your USB drive (check the "list USB devices" box if needed)
5. 5Click SELECT → navigate to \\itsdc3\its → pick Proxmox 6.4-1 ISO
6. 6Partition scheme: MBR for Legacy BIOS, GPT for UEFI
7. 7File system: FAT32
8. 8Click START
9. 9When prompted, choose DD mode — required for Proxmox
10. 10Wait for Rufus to finish, then safely eject

Why DD mode matters

Proxmox's installer image is a hybrid ISO — it expects to be written byte-for-byte to the USB, not extracted as files. ISO mode (the default) leaves the bootloader in a state where the server can't find the installer.

If you forget DD mode, the symptom is a USB that BIOS recognizes as bootable but that drops to a black screen or "no operating system found" right after POST.

Output

A bootable USB containing the Proxmox VE installer. Anything that was previously on the drive is gone.

⚠ Double-check the device dropdown before clicking START — Rufus will happily wipe the wrong drive.

On the HP ML350p Gen8

1. 1Plug keyboard + monitor into the server
2. 2Power on, watch for the HP splash screen
3. 3Press F9 repeatedly for RBSU (ROM-Based Setup Utility)
4. 4Or, simpler: press F11 at POST for the one-time Boot Menu override
5. 5From the boot menu, pick the USB device — the server boots straight into the Proxmox installer

F2 is for Dell servers; HP uses F9 / F10 / F11. Always check the on-screen prompt during POST — different vendors map different keys.

Procedure

1. 1Reboot, watch POST for the Smart Array banner
2. 2Press F8 to enter ORCA (Option ROM Configuration for Arrays)
3. 3If a stale array exists: Delete Logical Drive first erases data
4. 4Choose Create Logical Drive
5. 5Press Space on each of the 3 drives at Port 11, Box 1, Bays 1–3
6. 6Select RAID 5; defaults: 256 KiB stripe, Accelerator Enable
7. 7Press Enter to commit, F8 to save, Esc to exit

Result

1 logical drive · 3 TB total (one drive's capacity reserved for parity) · parity init runs in the background. Array survives one drive failure.

ⓘ HP ORCA auto-starts parity initialization — no separate F2 → Initialize step like Dell PERC controllers require. The lab doc's "Initialize" step is for Dell hardware.

⚠ Drives are mismatched ages (2010 / 2018). Run weekly SMART checks; the oldest drive is statistically most likely to fail first.

Options we considered

Why this was the right call

• 3 drives = RAID 5 is the natural fit — minimum drive count met, best space efficiency for the disks we have
• Survives a single drive failure with no data loss — important given our mixed-age drive pool
• 3 TB total comfortably hosts 4 planned VMs plus ISOs, snapshots, and backups
• Hardware RAID on the P420i is faster than ZFS on this generation, with no HBA flashing required

What success looks like

• ✓ Proxmox VE 8.2.2 running
• ✓ Node tctmachine visible under Datacenter
• ✓ local storage mounted · 2.7% used (base system)
• ✓ local-lvm thin pool ready · 0.0% used (waiting for VMs)
• ✓ Internet reachable via 1.1.1.1
• ✓ TLS, login, summary widgets all functional

Quick checks from the host shell

# confirm IP + gateway
ip addr show eno1
ip route

# confirm internet + DNS
ping -c 2 1.1.1.1
ping -c 2 google.com

# confirm storage
pvesm status

Procedure

1. 1From a school desktop, open https://10.10.10.10:8006
2. 2Log in as root
3. 3Sidebar tree: Datacenter → tctmachine → local (not local-lvm)
4. 4Center pane: click the ISO Images tab
5. 5Click Upload
6. 6Click Select File… → navigate to \\itsdc3\its
7. 7Pick an ISO → confirm Upload
8. 8Repeat for each ISO planned for Week 2

Why this happens now

Proxmox needs installer media available before any VM can be created. The ISOs sit in local storage and get attached as virtual CD-ROMs to new VMs in Week 2.

ISOs we staged

• Ubuntu Server — for the Jump Box and Linux Server
• Windows Server — for the AD / DNS / DHCP / IIS roles
• Windows 10 — client machine for testing
• Ubuntu Desktop — Linux client for testing

Storage path on the host: /var/lib/vz/template/iso/

✓ With ISOs staged, Week 2 can start immediately — no waiting on uploads.

Done

• ✓ Every component identified and documented
• ✓ iLO 4 reachable for remote management
• ✓ RAID 5 array built on 3× 1 TB SATA (3 TB total)
• ✓ Proxmox VE 8.2.2 installed on the array
• ✓ Static management IP 10.10.10.10/16 on eno1
• ✓ Web UI live at https://10.10.10.10:8006
• ✓ Internet reachable (DNS 1.1.1.1)

Screenshots captured for the demo

• POST banner showing the RAID 5 array, 1785 error cleared
• ORCA main menu with the logical drive present
• Proxmox installer summary screen
• Proxmox login + node dashboard

Carried into Week 2

• Create vmbr1 (DMZ · 172.16.0.0/24) and vmbr2 (LAN · 192.168.0.0/24)
• Stand up the Jump Box on vmbr1
• Deploy Windows + Linux servers on vmbr2
• Wire NAT and port-forwarding between zones