We performed a comparison between Proxmox VE and VMware Vsphere based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Of the two solutions, Proxmox VE comes out on top. When compared to VMware VSphere, it is easier to deploy and more affordable.
"It's been a stable solution."
"Proxmox VE is simple to use and it is feature rich. The fact is that it performs,"
"The solution is extremely scalable."
"There are many features included with Proxmox."
"Proxmox is free, very stable, and doesn't require more resources for memory RAM. It's fine for a small data center."
"The virtualization is good."
"We are happy with Proxmox VE. We use it as part of a cluster."
"The most valuable feature of Proxmox VE is the speed. Additionally, I can modify the solution if needed because it is open-source and the integration of any kind of API and monitoring is hassle-free."
"It is very stable and scalable, and implementation is straightforward as well."
"VMware vSphere is user friendly. It is scalable and stable."
"The scalability has been good."
"The solution is scalable."
"Stable and secure management console for virtual environments, with a diligent technical support team."
"We primarily use vRealize to troubleshoot any issues that may arise with our virtual machines, which is the main reason why we believe this solution is excellent."
"This solution is very stable. It's scalable and simple to set up."
"Also, the automated builds are being done through it, and we don't have to manually do it anymore. All of my AIS platforms are completely automated now with the VM suite."
"Proxmox VE can improve by importing OVF or OVA files directly from OVA. I need to convert all the images to raw images before importing them to Proxmox VE. If there is a solution that I can import directly from VMDK, it would be better."
"We find it difficult to find the root cause of the issues."
"It's one of those things for me to move things on to the cloud. It's not so easy. I am always on the laptop and have to monitor that because if you want to make strides; you need to stay online."
"We are using servers individually, and we are looking for a reliable application that allows us to hop between servers with high availability."
"One issue with Proxmox is that some processes are not automatic. For some processes, you have to do it manually by command line."
"A feature which should be added is the ability to encrypt the main installation."
"It might be interesting to have the ability to integrate with other cloud solutions."
"The documentation in Proxmox VE could improve."
"The support is good, but it's slow."
"The performance of the solution could be better and there could be an extra level of security."
"I would like to see VDP and other features included to back up the VMs in a native manner."
"The support for VMware vSphere can be fast or it can be slow. Recently it has been slow, they need to decrease the wait time and quality of their support."
"There should be a bit more flexibility in terms of the hardware we can use with the product."
"Higher cost than other similar solutions."
"I can't speak to any missing features. It has everything I need."
"The biggest room for improvement would be just simplicity. It is very intuitive, but it needs somebody with a lot of IT background."
Proxmox VE is ranked 2nd in Server Virtualization Software with 18 reviews while VMware vSphere is ranked 1st in Server Virtualization Software with 108 reviews. Proxmox VE is rated 8.6, while VMware vSphere is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of Proxmox VE writes "Feature rich, good compatibility, and impressive fuctionality". On the other hand, the top reviewer of VMware vSphere writes "Strong performance, works well with large infrastructures but it is quite expensive". Proxmox VE is most compared with Hyper-V, KVM, Oracle VM VirtualBox, Nutanix AHV Virtualization and Citrix Hypervisor, whereas VMware vSphere is most compared with Hyper-V, VMware Workstation, Nutanix AHV Virtualization, KVM and RHEV. See our Proxmox VE vs. VMware vSphere report.
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This is just an off the cuff quick response and not a well researched documented and referenced design.
It is, however, a conclusion after time spent in making some choices on stacks with the intent of building a cost-effective cloud platform from open source stacks. This cloud platform should also be able to quickly scale whilst (mostly) compatible and easy to migrate to AWS if and when I suddenly need to expand beyond capability.
I have a bit of a different view than most, but then again maybe not….
Let me clarify; the distinction, with regards to my statement, comes in between the decision making and conduct of operations decision-makers of large corporates and also those from really BIG business, and in BIG I am referring to the significant cloud platforms such as Amazon AWS.
Corporates have more of a conservative consumer (of big brands) approach because of ideas such as “no one has been fired for buying IBM or Cisco “ etc.
Building a business that can scale rapidly depends on cash flow since most businesses that fail is not as a result of not making enough money or even profits but rather due to a lack of cash flow. As a result, the focus should be on calculated risk and managing cash flow, therefore, keeping cost down, especially recurring costs such as licensing and support.
Now I can jump into detail of the different features and functionalities of the two products in question, which is not a bad thing to do, or I can look at lessons learned. I have used both VMWare and Proxmox (hands-on) and mostly it’s pretty much the same.
Proxmox includes CEPH for storage and KVM. A lot of the major cloud providers, including AWS, use KVM including a lot of other Open Source stacks such as docker.
Prior to KVM, AWS was using XEN and it was stated in 2016 that XEN gave better performance, and yet in 2017 AWS switched over to KVM with the cost being the driving force. Now AWS are using KVM, mainly for Linux which is currently the majority of their platform but it seems changes are in the wind for an alternative but not necessarily as a replacement.
I believe it’s a horse for courses thing, some grew up with Microsoft products and they will never use anything else and the same goes for Cisco, HP, and IBM. I am more of a bang for buck kind of guy and yes I have not run large ICT platforms (wrt to hypervisors) but I have worked with VMware and Proxmox alike but in the end it’s just hardware virtualization. Between these two products and with regards to scalability, stability, and ease of use it’s much of a muchness.
Considering my background (architecture and strategy); for me, it is not only about people, process & technology but also complexity, compatibility (which both come at a significant cost if not considered), business impact and ability to execute rapidly. I look at deployments from a “plan - build - run” perspective.
In conclusion; if you are operating at the scale of AWS then your product of choice depends on bang for the back but if your determining criteria is driven by product, say Microsoft or VMWare, because that is what your techies have skilled up on then it’s more complicated.
I am not driven by a product but rather ease of use, scalability, and fit for purpose. Therefore; if I find an opportunity for a solution that is well designed and I believe it will take off really quickly and go really big then I would use Proxmox to launch. Proxmox is an active project with a lot of development going into it, Proxmox remains relevant and are making good choices, alive and kicking.