Proxmox Virtual Environment
Proxmox Virtual Environment (also known by its acronym PVE; alternatively known as ProxmoxVE, Proxmox VE, or, simply, Proxmox; hereinafter, #PVE) is an open-source enterprise virtualization software.
To run, #PVE requires at least one physical server. #PVE can also cluster multiple physical servers. Within such a cluster, separate servers can function as cloud infrastructure nodes. So, #PVE can serve as a virtualization tool to enable small-scale cloud environments.
With regards to compute instances, #PVE supports two virtualization technologies, KVM and LXC. From a single web-based interface, #PVE administrators can (a) manage both virtual machines (VMs) and containers, (b) allocate resources such as CPU, RAM, and storage to them, and (c) deploy applications and services in a scalable and flexible manner.
Contents
Features
#PVE supports features that are particularly essential for building a cloud environment.
Virtualization
- #PVE supports both full virtualization (using KVM) and container-based virtualization (using LXC), allowing you to run a wide range of operating systems and applications.
High Availability
- #PVE includes features for high availability, such as live migration and automatic failover, which help ensure the availability of your cloud services.
Storage Management
- #PVE supports different storage types and technologies, including local storage, networked storage (such as NFS, iSCSI, and Ceph), and software-defined storage solutions, allowing you to efficiently manage storage resources in your cloud environment.
Networking
- #PVE provides flexible networking options, including support for virtual LANs (VLANs), bridges, and software-defined networking (SDN), enabling you to create complex network topologies and securely isolate different parts of your cloud infrastructure.
Resource Management
- #PVE allows allocating and managing compute resources (CPU, RAM) and storage resources (disk space, IOPS) for your virtual machines and containers, ensuring optimal performance and resource utilization.
Types of virtualization
ProxmoxVE offers two types of virtualization:
- LXC. Initially, it was based on a Docker; it is still close to what the Docker was in 2020. The Docker changed since then. With LXC containers, you can create your own template container and whenever you need, you just deploy that template.
- KVM. Usually, used for Windows.
VE has an API and between API and bash scripting, the deployment might be automatic.
By leveraging these features, you can use Proxmox VE to create a cloud environment tailored to your specific requirements, whether it's for hosting websites and web applications, running development and testing environments, or deploying enterprise-grade infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions.
Yes, Proxmox can be used to build a cloud, but it would require additional components and configurations to provide a full-fledged cloud infrastructure. Proxmox is primarily a virtualization platform, and it excels at managing virtual machines and containers. However, it lacks some essential cloud features, such as:
Self-service portal for users to provision resources Multi-tenancy and resource isolation Scalable storage and networking Automatic resource scaling and load balancing Billing and metering
To build a cloud with Proxmox, you would need to integrate additional tools and software, such as:
OpenStack or CloudStack for cloud management and orchestration Ceph or Gluster for distributed storage Open vSwitch or NSX for networking Kubernetes or Docker for container orchestration A self-service portal and billing system
Proxmox provides a solid foundation for virtualization, but building a complete cloud infrastructure would require additional components and expertise. If you're looking for a more straightforward cloud solution, you may want to consider options like OpenStack or CloudStack, which provide a more comprehensive set of cloud features out of the box.
