Infrastructure for AI Agent and Application Development: Deploying a Private AI Server with Proxmox VE
In today’s fast-paced world, artificial intelligence is driving innovation across industries, and the success of AI projects depends on robust, high-performance infrastructure. A development team from Denmark needed a hardware platform capable of supporting AI analytics applications powered by the YOLO neural network.
Recognizing the project’s strong business potential, the INTROSERV team quickly stepped in to design, configure, and optimize the platform according to the client’s technical requirements. The result was a fully controlled, secure, and high-performance environment that allows the team to focus on developing cutting-edge AI solutions efficiently.
Goals:
Preparing a Server Platform for YOLO-Based Software Development
- Selecting an appropriate platform Choose a server configuration with GPUs within an acceptable budget to support interaction with the YOLO neural network.
- Virtualization platform The software development required multiple virtual machines for different team divisions.
- Secure connection between the data center and the development office To protect confidential information, a fully encrypted data channel was necessary.
- Disk subsystem redundancy Although the project did not require real-time object recognition, prolonged downtime due to host reinstallation or reconfiguration was highly undesirable.
- Backup and fast recovery in case of failure The project involved numerous VM configurations, so a reliable recovery source was essential for rapid platform restoration.
- Stable network connection The data source for application development consisted of video and large volumes of photos. It was crucial to support multiple parallel video streams while leaving sufficient bandwidth for smooth remote work.
Results:
Deployment of a GPU server with Proxmox VE and secure development environment
- Platform selection A dedicated server with two NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti GPUs was installed, providing sufficient performance for processing video and images with the YOLO neural network.
- Virtualization with Proxmox VE An open-source hypervisor was deployed to manage VMs, allowing GPU passthrough to virtual machines.
- VPN server and tunnel setup All traffic between the server and the development office is routed exclusively through a WireGuard VPN tunnel.
- RAID1 configuration for all storage groups Single points of failure from disk malfunctions were mitigated. Proactive monitoring with anomaly alerts was implemented.
- Backup service for rapid recovery Regular backups of all virtual machines were configured using Proxmox Backup Server.
- Stable network connection An upgraded bandwidth plan was selected to ensure smooth data transfer and uninterrupted remote work.
Context: How Computer Vision and the YOLO Neural Network Support New Software Development
A team of developers specializing in AI-driven business solutions approached INTROSERV with a request for an infrastructure capable of running neural network inference, specifically for computer vision tasks, including Ultralytics YOLO models.
Their goal was to leverage computer vision neural networks to create business analytics applications. Among their current developments, several stand out for their practical value:
- A compact security monitoring system
- A construction site equipment tracking system
- An automated warehouse inventory module
The client planned to build a flexible and convenient development platform that could be adjusted according to the requirements of each new project. They also expected expert support for server administration in case of issues during software component installation.
Privacy and data protection were key priorities, which is why they chose dedicated hosting over shared or cloud-based alternatives.
This project required not just “a rented server,” but a specialized, secure environment designed to handle the expected workloads.
The Challenge: Integrating Neural Networks with Business Process Automation Software
The primary challenge was to develop analytics software and seamlessly integrate it with neural networks.
An additional complexity came from training YOLO models on specific datasets to improve the software’s accuracy in counting and recognition tasks. The client’s development team took responsibility for solving this aspect.
Infrastructure preparation, however, was delegated to us. From the start, the project captured the interest of INTROSERV’s technical specialists. Thanks to clear goals, a well-defined technical specification, and the availability of the right hardware configuration, we quickly found an optimal solution.
We knew exactly how to handle large data transfers—including high-resolution test video streams—to the data center while maintaining 100% security.
The Solution: Dedicated GPU Servers with Proxmox for YOLO-Based Analytics
The INTROSERV team designed and implemented a multi-component solution using two dedicated servers, leveraging the Proxmox VE virtualization platform and Proxmox Backup Server. This setup allowed for efficient resource allocation, task isolation, and secure data protection through full VM backups.
Infrastructure Overview:
Multiple Virtual Machines
Virtual Machine #1: Network Gateway with pfSense
- Tasks: Secure connectivity and access control to server infrastructure.
- Implementation: A pfSense router and WireGuard VPN server were deployed. The supermarket’s internal network - where video surveillance cameras operate - was securely connected to the data center server via an encrypted VPN tunnel.
Virtual Machine #2: AI Core (YOLO + GPU)
Tasks: Fine-tuning the YOLO model with reference video frames and real-time object detection.
- Implementation: The key VM. Using PCI passthrough in Proxmox VE, the NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti GPU was assigned directly to the VM. This provided near-native performance for:
- Model fine-tuning: Custom YOLO training on surveillance footage to increase detection accuracy.
- Recognition: Real-time video stream processing, human detection, and movement tracking.
Virtual Machine #3: Analytics & CRM
- Tasks: Collect, store, and visualize data.
- Implementation: A CRM system was deployed here to receive processed data from VM #2: person coordinates, dwell times, queue sizes. The system generates movement maps, heatmaps, foot traffic graphs, and detailed business reports.
Proxmox Backup Server:
- Tasks: VM backup repository.
- Implementation: Installed on a separate server, connected via a dedicated local interface to the main server. Proxmox Backup Server ensured automated and secure backups of all VM data.
Dedicated Server Configurations Used
YOLO server
- Platform: Asus ESC4000 G4
- Location: Netherlands (Naaldwijk)
- CPU: 2x Intel Xeon Silver 4208
- 16 Core 32 Threads 2.1/3.0GHz
- Memory: 64GB REG ECC DDR4
- Disk: 2x 500GB SSD Hardware RAID 1
- Disk: 2x 3.84TB NVMe Software RAID 1
- GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB
- Port/Traffic: 2 Gbit/s - Unmetered
- VLAN: 10 Gbps VLAN
- AntiDDoS: DDOS 20Gbit/s protection
- Operating system: Proxmox VE 8
PBS
- Platform: Dell PowerEdge R240
- Location: Netherlands (Naaldwijk)
- CPU: Intel Xeon E-2236
- 6 Core 12 Threads 3.4/4.8GHz
- Memory: 16GB ECC DDR4
- Disk: 2x 250GB SSD Hardware RAID 1
- Disk: 4x 16TB SATA Hardware RAID 10
- Port/Traffic: 1 Gbps - 50TB Traffic
- VLAN: 10 Gbps VLAN
- IP-KVM: iDRAC
- AntiDDoS: DDOS 20Gbit/s protection
- Operating system: Proxmox Backup Server
INTROSERV: Your Technology Partner for Innovation
By outsourcing the entire infrastructure setup to INTROSERV, the client’s development team was able to focus fully on enhancing the AI model and working with data.
Instead of spending time on hardware selection, protection setup, and high availability configuration, the client received a production-ready platform - easily replicable across all future locations.
At the time of publication, the client has successfully integrated the analytics system, and the first retail location is already receiving daily customer behavior reports. These insights are helping management make informed decisions on sales optimization and product placement strategies.
This project proves that INTROSERV is not just a provider but a true technology partner—ready to support complex IT projects with reliable infrastructure.
This proves that INTROSERV is not just a contractor but a true technological partner capable of ensuring success in complex IT projects.
To select the optimal infrastructure for your project, please contact INTROSERV's sales department.
