this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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Proxmox or Docker? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by communism@lemmy.ml to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I have a server with a bunch of services just as Docker containers. I see that Proxmox is popular among the self-hosting community. I was wondering why?

I understand that running things in a VM provides better security than running them in a container. But is the difference so important given the relatively low risk that an exploit happens inside a container that leads to doing damage to the host machine?

There's also obviously the additional overhead of using Proxmox. It wouldn't be an issue for me as I should have enough resources to, say replace all my Docker containers with VMs. I'm more wondering if the security difference is so massive, or if there is another reason I'm missing why people use Proxmox.

Or am I misunderstanding how people use Proxmox? I was assuming people would use it like how you use Docker, i.e. different services get their own VM/container. If you have a different kind of setup I'd be interested in hearing it.

Edit: I would appreciate if people stop being pedantic and actually read the post. Obviously I am aware that you can run containers in VMs, or containers on bare metal alongside VMs. That's not what the question is and you know it.

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[–] communism@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think in general people start out in VMs and advance to containers. If you are already using containers stick with it, otherwise you are taking a step back.

Interesting perspective—I had thought that running an entire VM would be more difficult, but I've never used virtualisation for server stuff, only ever used VMs with a GUI VM manager on my personal computer. Thanks for the input.

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 9 points 10 months ago

VMs on a server are great fun, and there are some use cases where you’d absolutely need them (as parent said, running Windows on a Linux server, etc). I virtualized my whole-network router using virtualized OPNSense which is BSD based.

If you aren’t into spending time (and, eventually , money) on a setup that does “everything”, you don’t need Proxmox.

But it’s fucking AWESOME for tinkering. I think the question to ask yourself is, do you want a homelab, or do you want to just set-it-and-forget-it?

If you want services to be there without spending time on it, keep it simple. If you want the power that added complexity brings, and you have the means (time/energy/maybe money for upgrades etc) then by all means take the leap. It’s fun as hell, if you’re into it.