Private cloud on Proxmox

An open alternative to VMware with predictable pricing — or the option to run it free of charge without active support — while maintaining a high level of reliability and performance. Hosted on dedicated hardware in Tier III/III+ data centers in Germany, with 24/7 support in your native language.
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How private cloud on Proxmox works
Private Cloud on Proxmox VE is built on an open virtualization platform where the KVM hypervisor and LXC containers run within a unified management environment. Storage, networking, and data protection capabilities are built into the platform from the start, eliminating the need to purchase separate modules.
This takes routine infrastructure setup and administration off your team’s plate, allowing them to focus on core business priorities.

As a Proxmox partner, Colobridge uses the platform as the foundation and adds its own expertise: we deploy the cluster, migrate existing workloads, and provide ongoing cloud support throughout the entire lifecycle.

Private Cloud on Proxmox VE is built on an open virtualization platform where the KVM hypervisor and LXC containers run within a unified management environment. Storage, networking, and data protection capabilities are built into the platform from the start, eliminating the need to purchase separate modules.
This takes routine infrastructure setup and administration off your team’s plate, allowing them to focus on core business priorities.

As a Proxmox partner, Colobridge uses the platform as the foundation and adds its own expertise: we deploy the cluster, migrate existing workloads, and provide ongoing cloud support throughout the entire lifecycle.

Why Colobridge

16 years
in the cloud services market
4.9 points
service quality assessment
up to 15 min
support response time
Top 3
data centers in Europe. Tier III+ compliance and 99.99% uptime
GDPR & ISO 27001
meeting European information security standards
24×7×365
professional technical support and expert assistance

Private cloud on Proxmox: administration levels

Bare Metal
We provide the physical infrastructure — servers, networking, and storage. Your IT team installs, configures, and manages Proxmox independently.
Pre-setup
We deploy and configure the Proxmox cluster according to your technical requirements, including networking, storage, high availability, and backup.
Once the infrastructure has been successfully deployed, we hand it over to your team for ongoing management.
Managed Private Cloud
We fully configure and manage the cluster on your hardware with 24/7 support. You receive virtual machines as a ready-to-use service without having to administer the hypervisor or underlying infrastructure yourself.

Benefits of private cloud on Proxmox

No license fees

You only pay for support if you need it. Support accounts for a small share of your overall infrastructure budget — an option that many vendors no longer offer.

Predictable costs

The cost of private cloud on Proxmox depends only on the number of server CPUs. It is not affected by traffic volume, the number of system snapshots, or the number of CPU cores.

No vendor lock-in

Proxmox is open source, allowing you to move your infrastructure from one service provider to another with greater freedom. This reduces vendor-related risks and protects you from sudden price increases.

Easy migration from VMware

VMware virtual machines can be migrated while preserving their existing configuration and performance, without lengthy process redesign or major disruption to your operations.

Enterprise features included

Live migration, high-availability clustering, backup, and virtual networking are built into the platform. This allows you to cover core enterprise requirements without purchasing additional modules or licenses.

Single-pane management

Virtual machines, containers, storage, and cluster resources can all be managed through a single web interface, reducing the administrative workload for your IT team.

We were chosen

Migrated the ticket sales system of a large cinema chain to the cloud.
Deployed the IT infrastructure of a coffee company in a fault-tolerant cloud
Built a reliable IT infrastructure for an online microloan service

Reviews and our clients

Our company has been using the services of Colobridge GmbH for more than nine years. During this time, we have never hesitated about our correct choice of the provider. Colobridge gives no reasons to doubt the quality of the provided services, the high level of SLA, as well as the undeniable professionalism of service desk and account managers.
Anton Vasiliev

Lead IT Specialist, Deka JV

During our cooperation, Colobridge GmbH has proved itself as a reliable partner with profound competencies in IT services. Individual approach to the client, flexibility and readiness for customized solutions make Colobridge GmbH stand out from the other providers.

Yaroslav Tkachenko

Head of IT Support, StarLadder

Private cloud on Proxmox: technical implementation

Unified virtualization

A private cloud built on Proxmox allows you to run KVM virtual machines and lightweight LXC containers within the same environment. This makes it possible to choose the right format for each workload and use your hardware resources efficiently.

High availability and live migration

Built-in HA clustering automatically restores virtual machines if a node fails, while live migration allows workloads to be moved between servers without service interruption. This is particularly important for infrastructure with demanding availability requirements.

Flexible storage stack

The platform supports high-performance local storage (ZFS, LVM-Thin), traditional shared storage (NFS, iSCSI, FC SAN), and distributed software-defined storage with Ceph.
The configuration can be tailored to your specific requirements — from a compact cluster to a scalable hyperconverged infrastructure.

Built-in data protection

Backup, storage replication, and integration with Proxmox Backup Server enable fast, deduplicated data recovery. This can eliminate the need for additional third-party backup solutions.

Software-defined networking and firewall

Built-in SDN and firewall capabilities allow you to configure network isolation and security policies without additional hardware. Everything can be managed from the same console used to configure your virtualization environment.

Scalable to meet changing workloads

The cluster can grow as your requirements evolve. Compute resources and storage can be added without redesigning the entire architecture. This makes Proxmox suitable both for initial deployments and for infrastructure that needs to scale gradually.

How storage is organized

Local storage: Three cluster hosts connect to the provider’s network, while data is stored on local disks within each node using ZFS or LVM-Thin.

Shared storage over Fibre Channel: The hosts are connected via Fibre Channel to a shared storage array that is simultaneously accessible by all cluster nodes.

Reliability Confirmed by Certificates

International information security standard ISO 27001
Process quality, data protection, and business continuity 24/7
European standard for quality and service control
Guaranteed protection of financial and payment data
Environmental management, energy saving, and occupational safety

FAQ about private cloud on Proxmox

Which features are available without additional modules?

Proxmox includes live migration, high-availability clustering, backup, virtual networking, a built-in firewall, and a unified web-based management console out of the box.
This means you do not need to purchase additional licenses or extensions to deploy and operate a core enterprise infrastructure.

What are the limitations of Proxmox?

Proxmox is a mature virtualization platform, although its feature set is somewhat more limited than VMware’s in certain scenarios, such as environments requiring vGPU support.
The interface is intuitive and similar in many ways to vCenter, so teams familiar with VMware typically do not need extensive retraining after migration.
At the same time, Proxmox administration is best handled by someone with basic Linux experience, as the command line is used more extensively than in some commercial virtualization platforms.
If you choose to run Proxmox without paid support, you will not have access to active vendor support. In that case, your team will need to find solutions independently through relevant forums and community resources.

Is Proxmox suitable for complex enterprise environments?

Proxmox covers most core enterprise requirements, including high-availability clusters, distributed Ceph storage, and backup through Proxmox Backup Server.
The platform can serve as a cost-effective alternative to VMware for IT infrastructures of different scales.
For most commercial workloads, private cloud on Proxmox can provide a comparable level of reliability and performance to VMware-based solutions. We still recommend purchasing support for production environments, as its benefits significantly outweigh the relatively low cost.

How does migration from VMware to Proxmox work?

Migration takes place in several stages. First, we assess your existing infrastructure, identify critical virtual machines, and develop a migration plan.
In most cases, existing workload configurations can be preserved and workloads can be migrated without prolonged service downtime.
For more complex infrastructures, we agree on the migration sequence in advance to minimize risks and reduce the impact on business operations.

What storage options are available for private cloud on Proxmox?

The platform supports several storage options: local disks on cluster nodes, shared storage over Fibre Channel, and distributed storage using Ceph.
The right option depends on your performance, availability, and budget requirements.
Local storage is suitable for compact clusters, while shared or distributed storage is better suited to larger-scale environments.

Who manages and supports the cloud?

This depends on the service level you choose.
If you only need the physical infrastructure, administration remains your responsibility.
If you need a ready-to-use solution, we can either perform the initial configuration according to your technical requirements or take over full ongoing management, including cluster support.

Does Proxmox provide backup and recovery?

Yes. Proxmox supports built-in backup mechanisms, replication, and integration with Proxmox Backup Server.
This enables faster data recovery without requiring you to build a separate, complex data protection environment from scratch.

How difficult is it to manage Proxmox after migration?

The Proxmox interface is relatively intuitive and can usually be learned quickly by administrators who already have virtualization experience.
The main challenge is not the platform itself, but the quality of the initial cluster, network, and storage configuration.
For stable long-term operation, it is therefore important either to have an experienced internal IT team or to outsource ongoing management to us.

See more
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