Creating VMs and LXC Containers on Secondary HDD Storage in Proxmox

After adding a secondary HDD as Proxmox storage, it can be used for new virtual machines and containers.

Creating a VM on HDD Storage

When creating a new VM:

1. Click “Create VM”
2. Select the ISO image
3. At the Hard Disk section, choose:

Storage: telcohdd1

4. Set the required disk size
5. Complete the VM creation

The VM disk will be stored on the HDD instead of the SSD.

Creating an LXC Container on HDD Storage

For a container:

1. Click “Create CT”
2. Select an LXC template
3. At Root Disk settings choose:

Storage: telcohdd1

4. Complete the setup

The container filesystem will be stored on the HDD.

Downloading LXC Templates

Adding “Container template” permission does not automatically download templates.

To download templates:

Node
 → Storage
 → CT Templates
 → Download

Choose templates such as:

• Debian
• Ubuntu
• Alpine Linux

After downloading, they become available when creating containers.

Recommended Workload Placement

A practical layout:

NVMe SSD

Use for:

• Proxmox operating system
• PBX systems
• Kamailio
• Real-time communication services
• High-performance applications

HDD Storage

Use for:

• VM backups
• Development VMs
• Test environments
• Utility containers
• ISO files
• Templates

Moving Existing VM Disks

Existing VMs can also be moved:

VM
 → Hardware
 → Select Disk
 → Move Storage
 → telcohdd1

This allows workloads to be transferred between SSD and HDD without rebuilding the VM.

Conclusion

Using separate SSD and HDD storage gives Proxmox a balanced architecture: fast storage for critical services and large-capacity storage for backups and additional workloads.