Esxi vs hyper-v vs promox

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alex1002

Member
Apr 9, 2013
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I want to test drive promox. Is it 100% free
All features. Is it stable like esxi. Is it easy to backup vms?

I want to possibly have a two host cluster and do vm replication. Hyper-v I will use the preview version of r2 if need be. I'm told esxi is now capped to 32gb ram.
 

BThunderW

Active Member
Jul 8, 2013
242
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Canada, eh?
www.copyerror.com
Yup. Proxmox is quite free. It's great piece of software too. It's got a few quirks but mind you I haven't played with version 3 yet. Last time I used it was about a year ago. It was pretty rock solid for me then. The forums are quite active so community support shouldn't be a problem.
For backups I've always used backup software within the VM itself.

Free ESXi is VERY gimped. Pretty much useless for anything other than basic testing. It won't even boot on a machine with >32GB ram.
To unlock more you'd need at least the Essentials Kit that goes for about $500. If you want to add vMotion, that price goes up substantially (like 10x).

I've been running Hyper-V for a while and it runs great...as long as you don't try to manage it, remotely, without a domain. Everything is so cumbersome with Hyper-V. They really need to simplify this ala vCenter. But I love dynamic memory.
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
3,184
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Proxmox is stable and very easy to use. It clusters well, but their cluster model assumes you are doing HA. For simple clusters there are quirks you either have to live with.

For example, you really can't run a 2-node cluster effectively. You have to have an odd number >= 3 to to run it right (one of the three can be an iSCSI SAN rather than a third node). You can dork around with it and get a cluster of two to sorta work but it will always have 'quirks' running that way.

But as a standalone VM manager it's really hard to beat. Especially at the price ;)
 

Jeggs101

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2010
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I'm still trying to get HA working with Proxmox. Otherwise, easy web interface.
 

Mike

Member
May 29, 2012
482
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EU
The others are really no competition for the home market. You get to pick, virtualisation with KVM, openvz containers or even cgroups. They are quite up to date too with their packages, with features coming from all sides.
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
3,184
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Don't misunderstand my earlier comments...I think Proxmox is outstanding, especially for Home/SOHO users. The only complaint I have with it is the way they manage clustering. Managed as a stand-alone is fabulous. Managed as a true HA or as a stable cluster where you expect all of your hosts to be up all the time is pretty good. It only gets to be a PITA when you have a home/lab/SoHO and expect to be bringing VM hosts in service/out-of-service on a regular basis.
 

alex1002

Member
Apr 9, 2013
519
19
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I tried Hyper-v but cant take it -I think im too stupid for it, so many permission errors and many things to change to allow access. I got really used and love ESXi, very stable. Will play wih ProMox soon. Is there any other great visualization os for free? to be used in production.
 

alex1002

Member
Apr 9, 2013
519
19
18
I honestly tried hyper-v just don't like it. I guess I've been used to esxi for too long now.