In one of my previous articles, I talked about my Nutanix Foundation installation on my Steamdeck. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to run an installation with the setup due to a lack of a server to image.

But things have changed since I recently acquired a Supermicro SuperServer 5019D-FN8TP! I also wrote an article about implementing Nutanix Foundation on unofficially supported hardware:

Hardware Preparation for Foundation

To be able to image my node with Nutanix Foundation from my Steamdeck, I absolutely needed to be connected to the network via RJ45, a type of connection missing from Valve’s console…

So I purchased an external dock with several USB ports and an RJ45 port that can be connected via USB-C.

I made the following connections:

• Connecting the external dock to the Steamdeck’s USB-C port
• Connecting the power supply to the dock’s USB-C port
• Connecting the network cable to the dock’s RJ45 port
• Connecting the external SSD (on which Windows is installed) to one of the dock’s USB ports

This allowed me to boot the Steamdeck from the SSD to start Windows 11!

Nutanix Foundation for a Node with a Steamdeck

As I mentioned in the previous article, I already have Nutanix Foundation installed, so I won’t dwell on that part and will move directly to the Foundation section!

For this Foundation, I used the latest version available, namely Foundation 5.9 with AOS 10 and AHV 7!

The Foundation process starts flawlessly as expected and the process completes after a while:

As you can see, imaging a node with the Steamdeck is possible! Is it relevant? No certainty, but I can at least say that “I did it!”

A few months ago, I bought myself a Steamdeck to pass the time during my convalescence after a foot operation that left me couch-locked. I had already shown you that you can manage a cluster from the Steamdeck and I wanted to push the experience a little further…

Multi-boot on the Steamdeck

To make Foundation for Windows possible to run on the Steam deck, I had to find a solution to run Windows 11 instead of the natively embedded SteamOS.

To carry out the operation, I had several options:

• replace the embedded operating system to switch from SteamOS to Windows 11 but that would add a lot of constraints to be able to play my Steam games on the console
• set up a multi-boot system with an external drive on which I would have installed Windows 11 but that would make a potentially cumbersome device to carry around…

The goal being to have an additional boot solution for my Steamdeck in order to be able to experiment with Windows on the machine in various situations without having to remove the natively embedded operating system, I opted for the second option and I started looking for an external drive that would do the trick.

While browsing the Internet, I finally came across a Kickstarter project “Genki SavePoint”: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/humanthings/genki-savepoint?lang=fr

The Genki Savepoint is a mini SSD enclosure designed for portable use. On paper, here are the promises of the case:

• Compatible SSD M.2 2230
• Max capacity of 2Tb
• Transfer speed of 10Gb/s
• 100w charging
• Integrated heat sink
• Integrated protection capacitor

So I rushed to support the project by ordering 2 cases that I finally received after a few weeks of waiting. I added a 1Tb M.2 2230 SSD to have enough space whatever use I have for it…

Exit SteamOS, hello Windows 11!

Once the case and the SSD were received, I mounted the SSD in the case and to do this, simply unscrew the heat sink to reveal the M.2 connector and insert the SSD. Once connected to the computer, the case is detected as an external hard drive.

I now had to prepare the SSD by installing Windows 11 on it using Rufus. I won’t detail the process here since the case manufacturer took care of it here: https://www.genkithings.com/blogs/blog/installing-windows-on-savepoint

Once Windows 11 was installed, I downloaded all the available drivers (https://help.steampowered.com/fr/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8) and the various software that I wanted to install next (including Foundation for Windows) and I put them in preparation on the disk. The serious stuff could begin…

Installing Nutanix Foundation

At the first boot on the case, I obviously had to do all the configuration of the operating system and install all the drivers previously installed.

Then, deploying Foundation on the Steamdeck is simple since I just had to run the file I downloaded from the official website (https://portal.nutanix.com/page/downloads?product=foundation).

Once the installation was complete, I opened the internet browser and opened the address http://locahost:8000/gui/index.html to access the Nutanix Foundation interface:

Unsurprisingly, Foundation for Windows runs flawlessly on the Steamdeck, but what about a deployment without an onboard RJ45 network port? To solve this problem, I just had to purchase a mini USB-C dock with:

• 1 RJ45
• 3 USB2
• 1 USB-C
• 2 HDMI

At this stage, the Steamdeck is “Foundation Ready” and ready to deploy clusters. However, the last question that remains is: does it work? In all honesty, I don’t know because unfortunately I didn’t have a cluster available to allow me to do a full-scale test, but as soon as the opportunity arises it will be done!