Proxmox

Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) is a powerful open-source virtualization platform that combines KVM hypervisor, LXC containers, software-defined storage, and networking into a single integrated solution. Alchemilla Ventures designs, deploys, and manages Proxmox infrastructure for organisations that want enterprise-grade virtualization without the licensing costs of VMware or Hyper-V.

Why Proxmox?

Proxmox VE has matured into a serious enterprise virtualization contender. With built-in high availability, live migration, Ceph integration, ZFS support, and a modern HTML5 web interface, it delivers capabilities on par with vSphere Essentials Plus — at zero licensing cost. The optional Proxmox subscription provides enterprise repository access and support. For organisations looking to reduce hypervisor licensing while maintaining enterprise features, Proxmox is the most compelling alternative.

Our Proxmox Services

• Proxmox VE Architecture & Design: We design Proxmox clusters scaled to your workloads — from a single-node deployment for a branch office to multi-node HA clusters with 100+ VMs. Our designs include:

  • Networking: Linux bridge, Open vSwitch, VLAN segmentation, bond/LACP for redundancy
  • Storage: ZFS (local), Ceph (hyperconverged), NFS/iSCSI (external SAN/NAS), LVM-thin
  • High Availability: HA manager with watchdog fencing, migration policies, and failure domains
  • Backup: Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) for incremental, deduplicated backups, or Veeam integration for existing Veeam environments

• Proxmox Cluster Deployment: Full cluster build — hardware validation, Proxmox installation (Debian-based), network configuration, storage provisioning, and cluster join. We set up corosync with redundant rings for quorum reliability, configure HA groups and resource constraints, and validate failover behaviour under controlled testing.

• VMware to Proxmox Migration: Structured migration from VMware vSphere to Proxmox VE — the most common scenario we encounter as organisations seek alternatives to Broadcom’s VMware licensing changes. Our migration methodology:

  1. Inventory and compatibility assessment of existing VMs
  2. Network and storage mapping — VLANs to bridges, VMFS/NFS to ZFS/Ceph/NFS
  3. VM conversion using qemu-img for disk images and OVF-to-Proxmox tooling
  4. Incremental migration with minimal downtime via replication
  5. Validation and cutover with rollback planning

• Proxmox Backup Server (PBS): Deploy dedicated or co-located PBS instances for enterprise backup. PBS provides:

  • Incremental, deduplicated backups (only changed blocks sent per backup)
  • Client-side encryption with per-backup keys
  • Verification jobs that validate backup integrity
  • Pruning and garbage collection policies for retention management
  • Remote sync for off-site backup replication
  • We configure backup schedules, retention policies, and monitoring to ensure your VMs and containers are always recoverable.

• Proxmox with Ceph Hyperconverged: Build hyperconverged Proxmox clusters with Ceph — eliminating the need for external SAN/NAS. We deploy Ceph across Proxmox nodes with:

  • MON/MGR/MDS services for cluster management
  • OSDs on NVMe SSDs for performance tier and HDDs for capacity tier
  • CephFS for shared file storage (ideal for ISO/library storage)
  • RBD for VM disk images with thin provisioning
  • Crush maps tailored to your failure domains (host, rack, room)
  • Ceph dashboard integration for monitoring

• Proxmox Security Hardening: Implement security best practices:

  • Firewall configuration at datacenter, node, and VM level using Proxmox’s built-in firewall (iptables-based)
  • Two-factor authentication for Proxmox web UI
  • RBAC with Proxmox realms — PAM, LDAP, or Active Directory authentication
  • TLS certificates for API and noVNC console access
  • Regular patching via Proxmox enterprise repositories
  • Audit logging and syslog forwarding

• Proxmox Monitoring & Management: Full-stack monitoring for Proxmox infrastructure:

  • Prometheus + Grafana with Proxmox exporter for metrics (CPU, memory, storage, network per VM)
  • Centralised logging with Loki or Graylog
  • Alerting on cluster health, storage usage, backup failures, and HA events
  • Managed services — 24/7 monitoring, patching, and operational support

Proxmox vs. VMware: A Practical Comparison

Feature	Proxmox VE	VMware vSphere
Licensing	Free (AGPLv3) + optional subscription	Per-socket subscription (significant post-Broadcom increases)
Hypervisor	KVM	ESXi
Containers	Built-in LXC support	Separate (TKG/vSphere Pod Service)
HA	Built-in HA with fencing	vSphere HA (requires vCenter)
Live Migration	Yes (QEMU/KVM)	Yes (vMotion)
Software-Defined Storage	Built-in Ceph	vSAN (licensed separately)
Backup	Proxmox Backup Server (integrated)	Veeam/other (third party)
Web Management	Built-in HTML5	vSphere Web Client
Multi-Site Management	Cluster-level	vCenter Server
API/CLI	REST API, pvesh, qm, pct	PowerCLI, REST API

Deployment Scenarios

• SME Virtualization: Single or dual-node Proxmox cluster replacing aging VMware Essentials — enterprise features at zero licensing cost
• Development & Testing Labs: Fast-provisioned VMs and containers for CI/CD pipelines, developer sandboxes, and test environments using Proxmox templates and cloud-init
• Edge & Branch Offices: Compact Proxmox deployments (Dell PowerEdge R250/R350, HPE ProLiant DL20) running essential local services with PBS backup to central site
• Training & Education: Proxmox-based virtual lab environments for cybersecurity training, certification labs (RHCSA/RHCE), and university computer labs

Proxmox offers a compelling path to enterprise virtualization independence. Contact us to discuss your Proxmox deployment or VMware migration strategy.