Proxmox Virtual Environment
proxmox.com/en/proxmox-veBuild Difficulty: 4/5
A few focused days to build a solid replacement
Open-Source Server Virtualization Platform
How to Replace Proxmox Virtual EnvironmentOverview
Features
54 features across 14 categories
Authentication(3)
Support for multiple authentication sources including Linux PAM, Proxmox VE authentication server, LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and OpenID Connect
Automated synchronization jobs for authentication realms
Granular access control to all objects through role-based permission management system with access control lists for users, groups, and API tokens
Backup(7)
Advanced backup settings with fleecing capability for efficient backup operations
Template system for adding notes to backup jobs
Fully integrated backup solution with complete snapshots of running containers and KVM guests including configuration files and all data
Live backup functionality for all storage types including NFS, iSCSI LUN, and Ceph RBD with optimized backup format for quick and effective storage
Ability to restore large backups without full extraction process
Integration with enterprise-class backup solution for VMs, containers, and physical hosts with incremental backups and client-side encryption
Backup jobs can be scheduled automatically for specific days, times, and selected nodes and guest systems
Clustering(4)
Ability to scale from single node to large set of clustered nodes with fully integrated cluster stack shipping with default installation
Move running virtual machines from one cluster node to another without downtime or user impact, manageable from web interface or CLI
Manage entire cluster from any node without requiring dedicated manager node, simplifying cluster-wide maintenance tasks
Database-driven file system unique to Proxmox that synchronizes configuration files across cluster using Corosync with real-time replication and 30 MB maximum storage size
High Availability(4)
Static load balancing for high availability cluster resource scheduling
Built-in simulator allowing testing of 3 node cluster behavior with 6 VMs to learn and understand Proxmox VE HA functionality
Multi-node Proxmox VE cluster configuration enabling creation of highly available virtual servers based on proven Linux HA technologies
Resource manager that monitors all VMs and containers in cluster and automatically acts if one fails, with zero configuration needed and watchdog-based fencing
Integration(1)
RESTful API using JSON as primary data format with formal JSON Schema definition enabling fast integration with third-party management tools
Management(8)
Unix shell compatible command line interface with intelligent tab completion and UNIX man pages documentation for advanced management
Capability to perform actions on multiple resources across the datacenter simultaneously
Flutter-based Android app allowing access to Proxmox VE server and management of cluster, nodes, VMs, and containers on mobile devices
HTML5-based mobile version of web interface enabling management on the go including SPICE and HTML5 console access
Built-in system for sending notifications about cluster events and activities
Capability to map physical resources to virtual machines
Tagging system for virtual machines to organize and manage VMs
Central graphical user interface based on ExtJS JavaScript framework accessible from any modern browser for all management tasks
Migration(2)
Support for importing Open Virtual Appliance format virtual machines
Capability to import virtual machines from VMware ESXi environments
Monitoring(2)
Detailed metrics and monitoring for cluster nodes
Comprehensive system reporting functionality
Networking(4)
Full support for both IPv4 and IPv6 with transparent IPv6 support and unified firewall rules for both protocols
Flexible network configuration with bridged network model for seamless connectivity, supporting VLANs, bond interfaces, and basic network routing
Advanced networking management supporting multitenancy setups across clusters from simple NAT networks to complex overlay networks with VXLAN tunneling and BGP-based EVPN
Access control lists for virtual networks
Security(6)
Client-side encryption for backed up data to ensure data is inaccessible to attackers
iptables-based firewall running on each cluster node providing full isolation between VMs and higher bandwidth than centralized solutions
Built-in customizable firewall providing protection with support for firewall rules, macros, security groups, IP sets and aliases
Secure Boot support for enhanced virtual machine security
Virtual TPM support for VMs requiring trusted platform module capabilities
Two-factor authentication security feature for enhanced account protection
Storage(5)
Full integration of Ceph distributed object store for software-defined storage with RBD block storage and CephFS file system capabilities
Management interface for Ceph Object Storage Daemons with detailed monitoring
Block level storage from Ceph for disk images and snapshots with self-healing and scalability to exabyte level
POSIX-compliant filesystem using Ceph storage cluster for data storage with scalability and redundancy characteristics
Support for multiple storage technologies including local devices, NFS, SAN, iSCSI, SMB/CIFS, Ceph, GlusterFS, ZFS, and LVM with unlimited configuration options
Support(3)
Default stable package repository with heavily tested updates and security fixes for production environments
Production-ready feature-set with enhanced commercial support services and training to keep business running
Hands-on training courses to master Proxmox VE concepts for deploying single node or clustered multi-node setups with HA and storage
UI/UX(1)
Dark theme option for web interface
Virtualization(4)
Industry-leading Linux virtualization technology for full virtualization supporting both Windows and Linux virtual machines with near-native performance
Operating-system-level virtualization environment for running multiple isolated Linux systems on a single Linux control host as lightweight containers
Support for live migration of VMs with NVIDIA GPU acceleration
Capability to map NVIDIA devices to virtual machines
Pricing
Community
- ✓Stable and secure updates
- ✓All features: HA, Live Migration, Clustering, etc.
- ✓Community support
Basic
- ✓Stable and secure updates
- ✓All features: HA, Live Migration, Clustering, etc.
- ✓Support via Customer Portal
- ✓3 support tickets/year
- ✓Response time: 1 business day
- ✓Datacenter Manager
- ✓Enterprise Repository and support
Standard
Popular- ✓Stable and secure updates
- ✓All features: HA, Live Migration, Clustering, etc.
- ✓Support via Customer Portal
- ✓10 support tickets/year
- ✓Response time: 4 hours within a business day
- ✓Remote support (via SSH)
- ✓Offline subscription key activation
- ✓Datacenter Manager
- ✓Enterprise Repository and support
Premium
- ✓Stable and secure updates
- ✓All features: HA, Live Migration, Clustering, etc.
- ✓Support via Customer Portal
- ✓Unlimited support tickets
- ✓Response time: 2 hours within a business day
- ✓Remote support (via SSH)
- ✓Offline subscription key activation
- ✓Datacenter Manager
- ✓Enterprise Repository and support
Cost Calculator
Pricing data not available for Proxmox Virtual Environment. Check their website for current pricing.
Build vs Buy
Should you build a Proxmox Virtual Environment alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 54 features.
Buy Proxmox Virtual Environment
Better ValueBuild Your Own
Buying Proxmox Virtual Environment saves ~$73,920 over 3 years vs building.
Estimates based on 54 features and a BuildScore of 4/5. Actual costs vary.