I've been playing with Proxmox VE for the last few days. I'm starting this thread to discuss thoughts about it.
Why not stick with VMWare/ESXi?
I've used ESXi free for the last couple of years and have liked it. So why change now? Mainly - licensing. After buying the C6100 discussed elsewhere here I've crossed the 32GB boundary - so the free version won't do. I've also become interested in clustering/HA features (live migration) that only come with licensed versions of VMWare. Licensing my 4-node, 8 CPU cluster and doing it at a level that includes the advanced features is simply cost prohibitive for me. Also, since I'm basically running a lab, it offends my finer sensibilities that VMWare does not have a low-cost license option for non-commercial use. Heck - even the silly folks in Redmond offer Technet and MSDN options!
Why Proxmox VE?
Well, why not. I could just as easily done Xen or one of its derivatives. But about reading features and discussions from other users I just thought Proxmox VE seemed like the right fit. No science here at all. Besides - Nitro's doing Xen and we'll get good writeups from him on that. Here we can discuss another option.
What is Proxmox VE?
Proxmox VE is an open-source project bringing a coherent framework and tools built around two existing Linux virtualization concepts - KVM for full virtualization and OpenVZ for "container" virtualization. Proxmox VE is supported by a commercial support organization providing consulting and management for the project (Proxmox), while the code itself remains open source, GPL and free. This is similar in concept to how Red Hat and SUSE support Linux (except that Proxmox is a direct sponsor of the entire project while Linux itself is larger than any of its support companies).
Where to learn more about Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE start page here, Wiki here and downloads here.
Why not stick with VMWare/ESXi?
I've used ESXi free for the last couple of years and have liked it. So why change now? Mainly - licensing. After buying the C6100 discussed elsewhere here I've crossed the 32GB boundary - so the free version won't do. I've also become interested in clustering/HA features (live migration) that only come with licensed versions of VMWare. Licensing my 4-node, 8 CPU cluster and doing it at a level that includes the advanced features is simply cost prohibitive for me. Also, since I'm basically running a lab, it offends my finer sensibilities that VMWare does not have a low-cost license option for non-commercial use. Heck - even the silly folks in Redmond offer Technet and MSDN options!
Why Proxmox VE?
Well, why not. I could just as easily done Xen or one of its derivatives. But about reading features and discussions from other users I just thought Proxmox VE seemed like the right fit. No science here at all. Besides - Nitro's doing Xen and we'll get good writeups from him on that. Here we can discuss another option.
What is Proxmox VE?
Proxmox VE is an open-source project bringing a coherent framework and tools built around two existing Linux virtualization concepts - KVM for full virtualization and OpenVZ for "container" virtualization. Proxmox VE is supported by a commercial support organization providing consulting and management for the project (Proxmox), while the code itself remains open source, GPL and free. This is similar in concept to how Red Hat and SUSE support Linux (except that Proxmox is a direct sponsor of the entire project while Linux itself is larger than any of its support companies).
Where to learn more about Proxmox VE
Proxmox VE start page here, Wiki here and downloads here.
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