System Requirements
-------------------
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We recommend using high quality server hardware, when running {pve} in
production. To further decrease the impact of a failed host, you can run {pve} in
a cluster with highly available (HA) virtual machines and containers.

{pve} can use local storage (DAS), SAN, NAS, and distributed storage like Ceph
RBD. For details see xref:chapter_storage[chapter storage].

[[install_minimal_requirements]]
Minimum Requirements, for Evaluation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These minimum requirements are for evaluation purposes only and should not be
used in production.

* CPU: 64-bit x86 (Intel 64 or AMD64). Alternatively, 64-bit ARM (arm64,
  aarch64) with an ARMv8-A or newer CPU, see
  xref:install_arm64_support[64-bit ARM (arm64) Support].

* For x86 hosts, an Intel VT or AMD-V capable CPU and motherboard for KVM full
  virtualization support. On the supported arm64 platforms, KVM
  hardware-assisted virtualization needs no equivalent CPU flag.

* RAM: 1 GB RAM, plus additional RAM needed for guests

* Hard drive

* One network card (NIC)


[[install_recommended_requirements]]
Recommended System Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* Intel 64 or AMD64 with an Intel VT or AMD-V CPU flag. Alternatively, a 64-bit
  ARM host with an ARMv9-A or newer CPU, see
  xref:install_arm64_support[64-bit ARM (arm64) Support].

* Memory: Minimum 2 GB for the OS and {pve} services, plus designated memory for
  guests. For Ceph and ZFS, additional memory is required; approximately 1GB of
  memory for every TB of used storage.

* Fast and redundant storage, best results are achieved with SSDs.

* OS storage: Use a hardware RAID with battery protected write cache (``BBU'')
  or non-RAID with ZFS (optional SSD for ZIL).

* VM storage:
** For local storage, use either a hardware RAID with battery backed write cache
  (BBU) or non-RAID for ZFS and Ceph. Neither ZFS nor Ceph are compatible with a
  hardware RAID controller.
** Shared and distributed storage is possible.
** SSDs with Power-Loss-Protection (PLP) are recommended for good performance.
  Using consumer SSDs is discouraged.

* Redundant (Multi-)Gbit NICs, with additional NICs depending on the preferred
  storage technology and cluster setup.

* For PCI(e) passthrough, the CPU and motherboard need to support an
  input/output memory management unit (IOMMU): Intel VT-d or AMD-Vi on x86, or a
  System Memory Management Unit (SMMU) on arm64.

TIP: IOMMU usually also needs to be enabled in the BIOS/UEFI. See the
xref:qm_pci_passthrough[PCI(e) Passthrough] chapter for details.


[[install_arm64_support]]
64-bit ARM (arm64) Support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{pve} supports native 64-bit ARM (arm64, aarch64) on the NVIDIA Grace Hopper
and NVIDIA Vera platforms. On other UEFI-based ARMv9-A or newer hardware,
support is best-effort. Device-tree-only single-board computers, such as the
Raspberry Pi, are not supported.

An arm64 host must boot through UEFI and describe its hardware through ACPI
(Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). {pve} does not support
device-tree-only or legacy BIOS boot on arm64.

Several x86-specific features are not available on arm64:

* Virtual machines cannot use SeaBIOS. On arm64, guests always boot through
  UEFI, provided by the ARM build of OVMF, also known as AAVMF.

* AMD SEV (Secure Encrypted Virtualization) memory encryption and Intel's
  GVT-g mediated vGPUs are x86-only.

* There is no operating-system-level CPU microcode package, unlike
  `intel-microcode` and `amd64-microcode` on x86.

A cluster can contain both x86 and arm64 nodes, but guests cannot move between
nodes of different architectures while running:

* Live migration is only possible between nodes of the same architecture,
  because a running guest's CPU state cannot be transferred across
  architectures.

* A guest, whether a virtual machine or a container, only runs on a node whose
  architecture matches the guest. Offline migration, backup and restore, or
  shared storage can move a guest's data to a node of a different architecture,
  but the guest still needs to be reinstalled or reconfigured for that
  architecture before it starts.


Simple Performance Overview
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To get an overview of the CPU and hard disk performance on an installed {pve}
system, run the included `pveperf` tool.

NOTE: This is just a very quick and general benchmark. More detailed tests are
recommended, especially regarding the I/O performance of your system.

Supported Web Browsers for Accessing the Web Interface
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To access the web-based user interface, we recommend using one of the following
browsers:

* Firefox, a release from the current year, or the latest Extended Support Release
* Chrome, a release from the current year
* Microsoft's currently supported version of Edge
* Safari, a release from the current year

When accessed from a mobile device, {pve} will show a lightweight, touch-based
interface.