# Overview & Roadmap

## Background

Current hardware requires disabling KVM hardware virtualization for VMs to
start at all (falls back to software emulation — slow). This is a
host/BIOS-level issue, not a Proxmox limitation, and shouldn't be needed on
new hardware. Before reusing that workaround on the new box:

- Confirm VT-x (Intel) / AMD-V (AMD) is enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
- Confirm IOMMU is enabled if passthrough is planned.
- Update BIOS/microcode first.
- Rule out running Proxmox nested inside another hypervisor.

## End goal

3-node Proxmox VE cluster with HA-managed VMs backed by **Ceph** — true
distributed shared storage, sync replication, near-zero RPO on failover
(see `02-storage-zfs-ceph.md`). Ceph needs 3+ nodes and a fast dedicated
network, so it can't exist until nodes 2 and 3 are up.

Deliberately no intermediate "ZFS + storage replication" HA step. Node 1
runs local ZFS for boot + VM storage with no cluster-wide HA until Ceph
goes live — as soon as nodes 2/3 join, VMs move onto Ceph rather than
adopting ZFS replication as a stopgap. Simpler end state, one storage
model to operate instead of two.

## Cluster fundamentals (apply from node 1 onward)

- 3 nodes minimum for real quorum. If starting with 2, add a QDevice
  (small VM or Raspberry Pi) as tie-breaker.
- Dedicated network for corosync (cluster/quorum traffic) — never shared
  with VM or storage traffic. Needs low, consistent latency (well under
  5ms); jitter matters more than bandwidth.
- All nodes on the same PVE version, NTP-synced, SSH reachable between
  nodes.
- Set VM CPU type to a portable type (e.g. `x86-64-v2-AES` or `kvm64`)
  rather than `host` if nodes will ever have different CPUs — needed for
  clean live migration.

## Rollout sequence

1. Build node 1 per `01-hardware-node1.md` — fresh PVE install on ZFS boot
   mirror, Ceph-earmarked disks left idle (or as a temporary local ZFS
   pool, to be wiped later — see `02-storage-zfs-ceph.md`).
2. Migrate VMs off old hardware via `vzdump` → copy backups → `qmrestore`
   onto the new ZFS storage (converts disks to ZVOLs). No HA yet — single
   node.
3. Apply hardening (`04-security-hardening.md`) and networking
   (`03-networking.md`) before exposing the node beyond the LAN.
4. Add nodes 2 and 3 identically (same disk/network layout).
5. Join cluster, stand up dedicated corosync network.
6. Wipe the Ceph-earmarked disks (if used as temporary ZFS) and
   initialize Ceph across all 3 nodes.
7. Migrate VMs from local ZFS onto Ceph-backed storage, then configure HA
   groups.