Vanir Experimental Environment
Vanir is the experimental virtualization environment within OnyxNet.
It complements the Aesir production cluster by providing a separate location for testing, technical exploration, and configuration changes.
Deployment Status
Section titled “Deployment Status”Status: Existing environment
Role: Experimental virtualization
Physical nodes: One
Platform: Proxmox VE
Hardware
Section titled “Hardware”Vanir runs on an Intel NUC5i5MYHE.
Unlike Aesir, its complete hardware configuration has not yet been reconfirmed for this public documentation.
| Component | Configuration |
|---|---|
| System | Intel NUC5i5MYHE |
| Hypervisor | Proxmox VE |
| Physical nodes | 1 |
| Primary purpose | Experimentation |
| RAM | To be verified |
| Storage | To be verified |
| Network configuration | To be verified |
This distinction avoids presenting assumed hardware specifications as verified facts.
Why Keep a Separate Environment?
Section titled “Why Keep a Separate Environment?”Experimental work can introduce instability, resource pressure, or unexpected service behavior.
Vanir exists to provide space for that work without requiring every experiment to run inside the primary production cluster.
Its purposes include:
- Evaluating new applications
- Testing configuration changes
- Learning Proxmox features
- Exploring alternative deployments
- Prototyping supporting services
- Practicing troubleshooting and recovery
Single-Node Architecture
Section titled “Single-Node Architecture”Vanir currently contains one physical Proxmox node.
It should not be presented as a redundant multi-node cluster.
If the physical host becomes unavailable, its locally hosted workloads may also become unavailable.
This is acceptable for suitable experiments but must be considered before placing any critical service there.
Relationship to Aesir
Section titled “Relationship to Aesir”Aesir and Vanir have different responsibilities.
| Consideration | Aesir | Vanir |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Production | Experimentation |
| Node count | Three | One |
| Service expectations | Operational stability | Testing flexibility |
| Change risk | Minimize disruption | Controlled experimentation |
| Intended workloads | Production services | Noncritical and test services |
An experiment may eventually become a production service, but it should be evaluated before deployment to Aesir.
Experiment Lifecycle
Section titled “Experiment Lifecycle”A consistent test workflow can be used:
- Define the question being tested.
- Document required resources and dependencies.
- Create an isolated VM or container.
- Perform the experiment.
- Record results and unexpected behavior.
- Determine whether the approach is useful.
- Remove unnecessary experimental resources.
This process helps avoid accumulating unused guests and consuming limited hardware resources.
Current Development Direction
Section titled “Current Development Direction”Vanir will continue serving as an experimental Proxmox environment.
Future changes should prioritize:
- Efficient resource utilization
- Clear separation from production systems
- Repeatable experimental deployments
- Documented findings
- Avoiding unnecessary permanent workloads
Specific changes will be documented when implemented and validated.
Engineering Takeaway
Section titled “Engineering Takeaway”Maintaining separate production and experimental environments helps clarify risk, workload importance, and operational expectations.
Even a single-node environment can provide significant value when experiments are structured, measurable, and documented.