I'd like to avoid duplication where possible, but realistically I have two users. We each have a laptop and a pc. PC's are equipped with 10gb mellanox nics.

We have a freenas raidz configured Server for storage, and ESXi 6.7 server, also each equipped with 10gb mellanox nics.

However, we have an 800gb steam library on each laptop and pc, bunch of duplicated movies, each windows instance needs updating... I'd like to consolidate all of this

I can put a lot of this duplicated data on the nas, which can serve up the data to end users. I know that we can use WSUS to avoid repeated downloads, and I can make a small vm which keeps the steam library updated.

However as for windows instances, what are the benefits of active directory, where windows will natively use my hardware but everything is stored remotely vs ESX on every machine, and migrating a VM (maybe automatically) to each machine that I wish to use?

This is an apples to oranges comparison, but I'd like to take suggestions for a set up. I'm happy to spend on other software / hardware.

migrated from serverfault.com Feb 8 at 11:26

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  • Many games have custom-built executables for each installation. You cannot share the Steam library. // Most of the things you could do at this point just aren’t worth it. – Daniel B Feb 8 at 11:46
  • I've symlinked a Steam share over the network before, that seemed to work over 1Gb, bit slow. And I know you can set a directory in steam, which just contains your "steamapps" Is there a builtin that prevents you from using the same folder by more than one steamapp? The savedata is usually stored in your windows profile anyhow. – itChi Feb 8 at 11:54
  • Yes, exactly like I wrote: Custom-generated .exes mean you’d have to verify games before being able to run them. This does not apply to all games. – Daniel B Feb 8 at 11:56
  • Considering current prices of a storage hardware I believe it will not worth it. IMO. Especially for the Steam library. – montonero Feb 8 at 12:10
  • what are the benefits of active directory - In your scenario, probably none. – joeqwerty Feb 8 at 12:35

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