Use case · Virtualisation
Proxmox virtualisation
Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualisation platform running KVM virtual machines and LXC containers, with clustering, live migration, and high availability. Running it on a dedicated bare-metal server gives full-featured virtualisation with no licensing cost and complete control. Self-hosting on EU infrastructure keeps the virtualised workloads and their data sovereign, under European jurisdiction and your control.
Key points
- Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualisation platform for VMs and containers.
- It runs KVM virtual machines and LXC containers, managed through one interface.
- It has no licensing cost, unlike proprietary virtualisation platforms.
- Clustering, live migration, and high availability make it capable for serious use.
- Running it on dedicated bare metal in the EU keeps virtualised workloads sovereign.
What is Proxmox VE, and why host it?
Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualisation platform that lets one physical server run many virtual machines and containers, managed together through a web interface. It combines full virtual machines, using the KVM virtualisation built into Linux, with lightweight Linux containers, and adds management, clustering, and high-availability features, making it a capable platform for running virtualised workloads. Proxmox is widely used for server virtualisation because it is full-featured, open-source with no licensing cost, and gives complete control over the virtualisation, which suits organisations running their own virtualised infrastructure.
Hosting Proxmox means running it on a dedicated server, since Proxmox is a virtualisation platform installed on the hardware, turning that server into a host for virtual machines and containers. It needs a capable server with the compute, memory, and storage for the workloads it will run, and it runs directly on the hardware to virtualise it. This page focuses on Proxmox specifically; other virtualisation platforms are covered on their own pages, while what follows attends to what running Proxmox needs and why organisations choose it for self-hosted virtualisation.
Why Proxmox: open-source and full-featured
A major reason organisations choose Proxmox is that it is open-source with no licensing cost, while being full-featured enough for serious use, which contrasts with proprietary virtualisation platforms that carry licensing fees. Proxmox provides the capabilities expected of a virtualisation platform — running virtual machines and containers, clustering, live migration, and high availability — without the licensing cost of proprietary alternatives, so the cost is the infrastructure and operation. This combination of capability and no licensing makes Proxmox an economical way to run capable virtualisation.
Being open-source also gives control and avoids lock-in to a proprietary vendor. Proxmox can be run and configured freely, without dependence on a proprietary vendor's licensing and terms, which gives organisations control over their virtualisation platform. For organisations that want capable virtualisation without licensing cost or proprietary lock-in, Proxmox is an appealing choice, which is much of why it is widely used for self-hosted virtualisation. We host the dedicated infrastructure to run Proxmox, so that organisations can run this capable, open-source virtualisation platform on hardware we provide, with the control and economy that open-source virtualisation offers.
Running Proxmox on bare metal
Proxmox is installed directly on a dedicated server as the virtualisation platform, so it runs on bare metal, turning the physical server into a host that runs virtual machines and containers on its hardware. Because Proxmox virtualises the hardware to run the workloads, it needs the whole server — a dedicated machine on which Proxmox is installed and which it manages. This gives the virtualised workloads the full performance of the hardware, mediated by Proxmox's virtualisation, without an additional virtualisation layer beneath, since Proxmox itself is the virtualisation running on the metal.
This makes a capable dedicated server the foundation for Proxmox, sized for the workloads it will host. The server's compute, memory, and storage are shared among the virtual machines and containers Proxmox runs, so it must have enough of each for the intended workloads — more workloads or more demanding ones needing a more capable server. Running Proxmox on dedicated bare metal, rather than on top of another virtualisation layer, gives it and its workloads the hardware's full performance. We provide dedicated bare-metal servers for Proxmox, sized for the virtualised workloads they will host, so that Proxmox runs directly on capable hardware and its virtual machines and containers get the performance the hardware provides.
Virtual machines and containers
Proxmox runs two kinds of virtualised workload: full virtual machines using KVM, and lightweight Linux containers using LXC, each suited to different needs. Full virtual machines using KVM virtualise a complete machine, so they can run any operating system and provide strong isolation, suited to workloads needing a full, separate system. Linux containers using LXC are lighter, sharing the host's kernel like other containers, so they are more efficient for Linux workloads that do not need a full separate machine. Proxmox letting an organisation use both, managed together, is part of its flexibility.
Choosing between virtual machines and containers depends on the workload: full VMs for workloads needing a complete, isolated machine or a non-Linux operating system, containers for lighter Linux workloads where their efficiency is welcome. Proxmox managing both through one platform lets an organisation run a mix, using each where it suits, on the same host or cluster. We host the infrastructure for Proxmox to run both virtual machines and containers, sized for the mix of workloads an organisation runs, so that Proxmox's ability to run full VMs and lightweight containers together is available on hardware resourced for the workloads, letting each kind be used where it fits.
Clustering, live migration, and high availability
Proxmox can run as a cluster of multiple nodes managed together, which enables live migration and high availability — capabilities that make it suitable for serious, resilient virtualisation. A Proxmox cluster brings several servers under unified management, and across a cluster, running virtual machines can be moved between nodes without stopping them, through live migration, which is useful for maintenance and balancing load. High availability arrangements can restart virtual machines on another node if the node running them fails, so workloads recover from a node's failure automatically, keeping them available.
These clustering capabilities make Proxmox capable of resilient virtualisation across multiple servers, not just running VMs on one host. Live migration allows workloads to be moved for maintenance without downtime; high availability keeps workloads running through node failures; and unified cluster management makes running many nodes practical. Realising these needs multiple servers in a cluster, arranged appropriately. We provide the multiple dedicated servers a Proxmox cluster needs, with the networking to connect them, so that an organisation can run Proxmox as a resilient cluster with live migration and high availability — making its virtualised workloads able to be maintained without downtime and to survive a node's failure.
Storage for Proxmox
Proxmox supports various kinds of storage for its virtual machines and containers, from local storage on a server to shared and distributed storage across a cluster, and the choice affects capability and resilience. Local storage on a server is simple and fast; shared storage accessible to multiple nodes enables capabilities like live migration and high availability across a cluster, since the workloads' storage is reachable from any node; and distributed storage, such as the Ceph storage Proxmox can run across a cluster, spreads storage across the nodes with redundancy. The right storage depends on whether single-node or clustered, resilient virtualisation is wanted.
Providing storage for Proxmox means matching the storage to the virtualisation's needs — fast local storage for a single host, shared or distributed storage for a resilient cluster. Fast storage such as NVMe serves the virtual machines and containers well; and for clusters wanting live migration and high availability, storage accessible across the nodes is needed, which distributed storage like Ceph across the cluster can provide. We provide the storage a Proxmox setup needs, sized and arranged for the workloads and the resilience wanted — fast local storage, or shared and distributed storage across a cluster — so that Proxmox's virtual machines and containers have storage suited to how the virtualisation is run.
Backups and snapshots
Proxmox provides integrated backup and snapshot capabilities for its virtual machines and containers, which are important for protecting the virtualised workloads and their data. Snapshots capture the state of a virtual machine or container at a point in time, so it can be rolled back to that state — useful before changes, so a bad change can be undone. Backups make copies of the virtual machines and containers that can be restored, protecting against loss and letting workloads be recovered after failures or errors. Together these protect the virtualised workloads, which is essential given that they hold the organisation's applications and data.
Making good use of these capabilities means providing storage for the backups and arranging them to run regularly, so that the protection is real when needed. Backups need somewhere to be stored — ideally separate from the workloads they protect, so a failure affecting the workloads does not also lose their backups — and they should be taken regularly, so a recent restore point is always available. Proxmox supports scheduling backups and storing them on various storage, including separate backup storage. We provide storage for a Proxmox setup's backups, sized for the backups kept and ideally separate from the primary storage, so that the virtual machines and containers can be backed up regularly and restored when needed — giving the virtualised workloads the protection that backups and snapshots provide, on infrastructure arranged to keep those backups safe.
Self-hosted virtualisation, sovereignty, and where we fit
Running Proxmox on dedicated infrastructure gives an organisation self-hosted virtualisation under its control, and on EU infrastructure, sovereignty over the virtualised workloads and their data. The virtual machines and containers Proxmox runs hold the organisation's workloads and data, so where the Proxmox host or cluster runs governs them. VV Internet Hosting is incorporated in the Netherlands, within the EU, so Proxmox hosted with us runs under European jurisdiction and outside the direct reach of the US CLOUD Act, keeping the virtualised workloads and their data under European law and on infrastructure the organisation controls.
We host dedicated bare-metal servers for Proxmox — single servers for a Proxmox host, or multiple servers for a cluster with live migration and high availability — sized for the virtualised workloads, with the storage and networking they need, in EU datacenters under European jurisdiction. This suits organisations running self-hosted virtualisation with Proxmox that want capable, open-source virtualisation without licensing cost, full control, and European sovereignty. We are clear about our limits: we provide the dedicated hardware Proxmox runs on, not a managed virtualisation service that operates Proxmox for you. We are the dedicated, sovereign bare-metal infrastructure on which you run Proxmox — and if self-hosting virtualisation with Proxmox fits your needs, we can host it well.
Related use cases
Questions
Proxmox, answered plainly
Common questions about hosting for Proxmox.
What is Proxmox VE?
An open-source virtualisation platform that lets one physical server run many virtual machines and containers, managed through a web interface. It combines full virtual machines using KVM with lightweight Linux containers using LXC, and adds clustering, live migration, and high availability — a capable, full-featured platform with no licensing cost, widely used for self-hosted server virtualisation.
Why choose Proxmox over proprietary virtualisation?
Mainly because it's open-source with no licensing cost while being full-featured — providing VMs and containers, clustering, live migration, and high availability without the licensing fees of proprietary platforms. Being open-source also gives control and avoids lock-in to a proprietary vendor. For capable virtualisation without licensing cost or lock-in, Proxmox is an appealing, economical choice.
Can Proxmox provide high availability?
Yes, when run as a cluster of multiple nodes. Across a cluster, high-availability arrangements can restart virtual machines on another node if the node running them fails, so workloads recover from a node's failure automatically. Live migration also lets running VMs be moved between nodes without stopping them, useful for maintenance. This needs multiple servers in a cluster with suitable shared or distributed storage.
Planning Proxmox infrastructure?
We host dedicated, EU-sovereign infrastructure sized to your workload — and we will tell you plainly when something else fits better. Tell us what you're building.