Proxmox VE：Comparing Server Virtualization Software

Many companies choose an open-source virtualization solution to simplify their IT infrastructure with server virtualization and consolidation. It helps them quickly reduce operating costs as well as maintenance and administration time. The open-source platform Proxmox VE provides full access to all functionalities, and increases the flexibility, security, and reliability of your IT infrastructure.

 

Comparing Proxmox VE to alternatives

Proxmox VE is already the best choice for thousands of satisfied customers when it comes to choosing an alternative to VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix XenServer. The following list will help you to compare Proxmox VE with alternatives in the server virtualization market:

 

Overview

Base OS: Debian GNU/Linux

License: GNU Affero GPL, v3

Full virtualization: KVM/QEMU

OS-level virtualization: Linux Container (LXC)

Architecture: x86_64

Installation: Bare-metal ISO installer

max. RAM and CPU per host: 128 TiB [64 PiB] RAM, 8192 logical CPUs, 8 sockets

 

Key Features

100% software-based yes

Clustering: yes, any node in Proxmox VE can manage the cluster (no master node)

High Availability (HA): yes

Storage: LVM, LVM-thin, iSCSI/kernel, iSCSI/libiscsi, Ceph/RBD, ZFS over iSCSI, ZFS (local), directory, NFS, CIFS, GlusterFS, Proxmox Backup Server

Virtual networking: Bridged-Networking, Open vSwitch

Guests: Linux, Windows, other operating systems are known to work

Memory deduplication/sharing: yes, KSM

Firewall: built-in, cluster-wide, IPv4 and IPv6

Cloud-ready: yes

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI): yes

 

Management

GUI: full-featured, web-based user interface

CLI: yes

API: yes (REST)

Monitoring: yes (InfluxDB, Graphite), plugins for external monitoring solutions

User Management: LDAP, AD, two-factor authentication for GUI

Permission Management: yes, granular

3rd party tools: yes

 

VM Lifecycle

Backup/Restore: yes, integrated (vzdump) & Proxmox Backup Server

Live Restore: yes (virtual machines with Proxmox Backup Server)

Migration: yes

Live Migration: yes, interchangeable CPU *configure oldest CPU type

Storage Live Migration: yes

Snapshot: yes

Template and Clone: yes

Replication: yes

Export / Import: yes

Virtual CPU Overcommit: yes

V2V: yes

P2V: yes

 

Support

Enterprise support: commercial, subscription-based

Forum support: public community forum with free access

Training courses: yes

Mailing lists: yes, for discussion, support, feature requests

Bugtracker: yes

Code repository: public (Git)

Self-learning paths: documentation, project page, videos, books, etc.

 

I recommend Proxmox for those IT professionals who want to increase the availability of their servers, to reduce the administration complexity and also to make the most of their IT budget...

-Valentín Ortiz Ferretiz