Proxmox VE: virtualization without the vSphere license

Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualization platform combining KVM (kernel-based virtual machines) and LXC (Linux containers) under one web-managed cluster, built on Debian. It’s a direct, fully open-source alternative to proprietary hypervisor platforms like VMware vSphere — clustering, live migration, and software-defined storage integration included, with no per-socket licensing.

Why this matters for a storage server

Compute and storage have converged for a lot of workloads: rather than a separate SAN feeding a separate virtualization cluster, hyperconverged infrastructure runs both on the same nodes. Proxmox VE is 45Drives’ open-source answer to that pattern — and because it integrates natively with Ceph, the storage layer and the compute layer can be genuinely the same open-source stack, not two vendors’ products duct-taped together.

How 45Drives uses it

45Drives’ Proxinator hyperconverged infrastructure line is built directly on Proxmox VE, paired with Ceph for the underlying storage — VM and container workloads run on the same cluster that also serves as a self-healing, distributed storage pool. That’s the same Ceph described on the Ceph page, just consumed by Proxmox’s virtualization layer instead of (or in addition to) file/object sharing.

Why that matters if you’re evaluating storage

• No per-socket or per-core licensing. Proxmox VE’s core platform is free and open source; paid support subscriptions are optional, not a requirement to use it in production.
• One open-source stack, not a vendor stack plus a storage vendor’s stack. Compute and storage sharing the same Ceph foundation means one thing to learn, one community to lean on.
• A real alternative to proprietary hypervisors, not a toy — Proxmox VE runs production workloads at real scale across a large user base independent of any one hardware vendor.

Learn more

• proxmox.com — the official Proxmox project
• Proxmox VE documentation

See Ceph for the storage layer Proxinator builds on, or Build Your Own for a hands-on Ceph deployment you can try on your own Proxmox cluster.