# RackNotes

> Practical homelab and sysadmin notes for infrastructure operators. Covers Proxmox VE, Hyper-V, Active Directory, and Windows Server — with focus on operational decisions, failure modes, and recovery procedures.

RackNotes is an operator-first technical publication at racknotes.pro. Content is written for sysadmins and advanced homelab users who need to build, operate, troubleshoot, and recover infrastructure — not beginner tutorials.

## Content Clusters

### Proxmox (22 articles)
- Foundation: comparison with ESXi, what Proxmox is, ESXi migration, hardware selection
- Setup & Operations: installation, post-install tasks, updates, VM templates
- Architecture: RAM sizing, storage (ZFS/LVM-thin/Ceph), networking, backup strategy, HA clustering, GPU passthrough, shared storage, HA internals
- Troubleshooting & Recovery: random crashes, log analysis, cluster quorum loss, PBS restore, ZFS recovery, VM won't start

### Hyper-V (12 articles)
- Foundation: what Hyper-V is, installation on Windows Server 2025, post-install checklist, networking
- Architecture: VM configuration, storage (VHDX/Storage Spaces), backup (VSS/checkpoints), failover clustering
- Troubleshooting & Recovery: VM won't start, checkpoint/AVHDX issues, VM network problems, cluster and live migration failures

### Active Directory (14 articles)
- Foundation: what AD is, structure (forest/domain/OU), installation on Windows Server 2025, post-install checklist
- Architecture: Sites and Services, FSMO roles, OU design, Group Policy processing
- Troubleshooting & Recovery: replication failures, SYSVOL/DFSR issues, DNS problems, time synchronization
- Health & Maintenance: full health check checklist, DCDIAG diagnostics

### Comparisons (1 article)
- Proxmox vs Hyper-V: choosing the right hypervisor

## Content Approach

Articles prioritize: failure modes, diagnostic workflows, recovery procedures, architecture tradeoffs, verification commands, and operator checklists. Generic beginner content is explicitly out of scope.

## Article Index

- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-vs-esxi-free-2026/
- https://racknotes.pro/what-is-proxmox-ve/
- https://racknotes.pro/esxi-to-proxmox-migration/
- https://racknotes.pro/mini-pc-for-proxmox/
- https://racknotes.pro/how-to-install-proxmox/
- https://racknotes.pro/things-to-do-after-installing-proxmox/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-update-guide/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-ram-sizing/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-storage/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-networking/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-backup-strategy/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-ha-cluster/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-gpu-passthrough/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-random-crashes/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-logs/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-cluster-quorum/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-backup-server-restore/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-zfs-recovery/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-vm-wont-start/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-vm-templates/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-shared-storage/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-ha-explained/
- https://racknotes.pro/what-is-hyper-v/
- https://racknotes.pro/how-to-install-hyper-v/
- https://racknotes.pro/things-to-do-after-installing-hyper-v/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-networking/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-storage/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-backup/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-failover-clustering/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-vm-wont-start/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-vm-configuration/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-vm-network-troubleshooting/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-checkpoint-avhdx-troubleshooting/
- https://racknotes.pro/hyper-v-cluster-live-migration-troubleshooting/
- https://racknotes.pro/proxmox-vs-hyper-v/
- https://racknotes.pro/what-is-active-directory/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-structure/
- https://racknotes.pro/how-to-install-active-directory/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-post-install-checklist/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-sites-and-services/
- https://racknotes.pro/fsmo-roles-active-directory/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-ou-design/
- https://racknotes.pro/group-policy-active-directory/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-replication-not-working/
- https://racknotes.pro/sysvol-replication-issues-active-directory/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-dns-problems/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-time-synchronization/
- https://racknotes.pro/active-directory-health-check/
- https://racknotes.pro/dcdiag-active-directory/