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