Category: Proxmox

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Moving a Homelab to Proxmox: Improving Performance and Scalability

In this article, we’ll explore the move from a VMware virtualization environment to a Proxmox-based homelab, highlighting the benefits of the migration and how Veeam Backup & Replication (B&R) and S3 storage can improve security and availability.

Why leave VMware?

VMware is a complete virtualization solution, but its cost can be prohibitive for development environments or small businesses. In addition, scalability and performance may be limited on systems with modest resources. Proxmox, on the other hand, offers an affordable, customizable set of virtualization tools that integrates with S3 storage.

Introducing Proxmox

Proxmox is a free virtualization platform that lets you create virtual servers (VMs) on Linux. Its features include server consolidation, performance improvements, and scalability, all without requiring specialized hardware.

Veeam Backup & Replication: Built-in protection

Veeam B&R is a leading backup and replication tool for virtual environments. Its compatibility with Proxmox lets users create automated, transparent backups and reduce the risk of data loss.

S3 storage: Virtually unlimited scalability

S3 storage offers a scalable, secure way to store backups and data in the cloud. Its distributed architecture supports horizontal growth, helping control storage costs and improve availability.

Benefits of Proxmox with Veeam B&R and S3

Moving to Proxmox with Veeam B&R and S3 storage offers several benefits:

Lower cost: Proxmox is a free alternative to VMware, while Veeam B&R offers predictable costs.
Improved performance: Consolidating servers with Proxmox can free up resources and improve overall performance.
Better security: Veeam B&R provides automated, transparent backups, reducing the risk of data loss.
Scalability: S3 storage supports horizontal growth.
Conclusion

Moving to Proxmox with Veeam B&R and S3 storage offers a scalable, secure, and customizable solution for virtualization environments. By leaving behind VMware’s complexity and cost, you can make the most of Proxmox and its complementary tools.

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Uptime-Kuma

Hi there
Time to update the Lab, this time, easy monitoring for VMs, Services and Webs.

UPTIME – KUMA

Im going to show you how to easily deploy an instance inside Proxmox, containerized, ready to go.

First, go to this website and search the community script to deploy it:

https://community-scripts.org/?q=uptime

Copy the command, as shown in the picture

Go to your Proxmox Host, open a terminal, and paste the command

Hit Enter

Lets follow the script steps, as always, with screenshots:

Default is ok
Storage for template, in my case, NFS, for future HA
Container Storage, same thing, NFS for future HA
Script running, great looking.
update found, lets apply it and continue
continue…
Done!
Now you can see the Ip from our DHCP were Uptime Kuma is running.
Open up in a browser, and follow the initial wizard,
I selected SQLite.
language and credentials.
Done!

Next entry, initial config, notifications and initial monitors.

cheers.

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Building a lab with PROXMOX – Part 2 – Hypervisors Installation

Let’s continue setting up our Proxmox Lab.

Download the ISO file from the Proxmox site .

I then wrote it to a USB Thumb drive to boot and Install, I use a Mac, so I did it with BalenaEtcher.

Now, I will post a few screenshots of the installation process.

I did the same steps on the three nodes, just changing the managing IP address and hostname, the rest, the same:

Here, IP Adress and hostname!!
the other two hosts look the same, different IP address and hostname.

The OS installation is super simple,
Now, in the next entry, we will get into details with the console, initial configurations and shared CEPH storage.

Stay tuned.

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Building a lab with PROXMOX – Part 1 – HW

Hi there:
After months of thinking, I took the step to switch my lab to Proxmox,
I’ve been a Vmware “guy” for many years, but I knew the time came to give it a try, after many companies switching to it.

I decided to re-use the hardware I had from previous projects, to see the capabilities and “how tiny” the setup could be.

Here we go:

The hardware Im using is the following

  • 3 x Zima Board – 8GB RAM, Intel Celeron 4 Core
  • 3 x SSD 240GB (OS)
  • 3 x SSD 480GB (Storage)
  • 1 x Managed 1Gbps 8p Switch (HPE Office Connect)
  • Ethernet cables

This hardware was laying around in my lab from previous projects,
and now looks super cool!

The electrical consumption is very low.
Im monitoring it, but for now, 10W each node….. xD

Few more pictures here:

Cheers.