I'm ready to say goodbye to VMware for various reasons and I'm looking for direction. I've been using Debian-based systems for ages and have experience with Proxmox in a homelab setting, which I really enjoy. One of the main reasons I prefer Proxmox is that the company behind it is not pushing clients into the cloud for everything. However, since I haven't worked with Proxmox in an enterprise environment, I'm a bit hesitant. I lead a small IT team at a small to medium-sized business, and we've heavily relied on a fantastic local managed service provider (MSP) over the years. The issue is that our MSP is mainly focused on Windows systems, and I doubt they'll provide much assistance if we switch to Proxmox. We're also considering Hyper-V as an option.
Currently, I'm gathering quotes and exploring support options. Our hardware is aging, so I'm hoping to find a Proxmox partner who can provide a comprehensive package that includes new servers, storage solutions, migration, and ongoing support. We're based in midcoast Maine, so any recommendations for companies that can service our area would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
Have you looked into Scale Computing? They might have some suitable options for what you're considering!
We're currently transitioning our VMware environment to Proxmox. So far, everything has been running smoothly in our lab, and coincidentally, we're refreshing our hardware too, which should simplify the migration process. We're using three R660 servers with a pure storage array and going for NFS instead of iSCSI. It has made the shift much easier!
So, I heard that Rubrik is planning to add Proxmox support soon. However, reports from Dell say that a lot of their customers prefer sticking with VMware instead of switching over to Hyper-V or Nutanix, as Nutanix can end up being pretty pricey. Just something to keep in mind!
Plus, they probably want to push their VXrail solutions, which were overpriced even before the Broadcom controversy.
We’re currently using Cisco Hyperflex with VMware, but both are reaching end-of-life. We're considering a move to Hyper-V with a failover cluster, and for HCI, we're looking into Starwind VSAN. It's competitive with other turnkey options like Nutanix and you can buy it perpetually! I actually have a demo lined up for this week!
I've heard great things about 45Drives for hardware and Ceph support, although I haven't personally used them for Proxmox. They started offering support and professional services for Proxmox a couple of years ago and they have dedicated packages for HCI (Proxmox + Ceph) as well as compute nodes. Their sales and support teams have been fantastic and their hardware reliability is top-notch; we're running 14 servers from them without any issues.
That's interesting! Are you buying your new servers directly or working with a value-added reseller (VAR)? We've been loyal to Dell, but our VAR stopped selling Dell and only quotes HP now.