Seeking a comprehensive option combining router and NAS in one solution.
Seeking a comprehensive option combining router and NAS in one solution.
proxmox brings up thoughts about virtualization. you can set up instances of opnsense and use tools like truenas for NAS tasks. there are some limitations here, but it seems you're open to experimenting—here are some notes: truenas requires direct disk access, while proxmox offers a workaround with QEMU disks. you might consider using a HBA for your NAS setup and routing it through the VM. running a router in virtual form means a failure of the hypervisor could cut off all network connections. essentially, putting functions on one machine increases the risk of a single point of failure.
Generally, any hypervisor can handle this, but it's better to keep them as separate devices. This simplifies resolving network issues that may arise.
Sharing my experience with PFSense virtualization… I wouldn’t recommend it. If you’re confident and prepared to handle work challenges on your hypervisor while your router VM is offline, then maybe it’s worth considering. However, if imagining a scenario where your router fails and your LAN goes down, relying on the hypervisor’s webUI to resolve the issue sounds confusing. It’s better not to virtualize your networking in this situation.
Your pfSense VM going down can disrupt the whole LAN without any fallback path to the hypervisor. That suggests you might have misplaced your priorities—centralizing VLANs and routing on the box is fine, but a switch with L3 capabilities should be the main focus.