After Broadcom changed VMware's licensing model, many businesses were faced with their virtualisation bill again. Proxmox VE is the alternative people talk about most.
Migration is possible, but it isn't a "we'll move it over a weekend" job. We recommend this order:
- Inventory: Which virtual machine, which operating system, how much disk, and which licence is it tied to? The virtualisation rules for Windows Server and SQL licences should be reviewed separately.
- Storage decision: Continue with the existing SAN/NAS, or move to Ceph or ZFS? This decision directly affects performance and backup.
- Backup: Proxmox Backup Server, or Proxmox support in the backup software you already use. A rollback plan should be ready before the migration.
- Pilot: A trial with a few non-critical machines. Proxmox's ESXi import tool makes this easier; VirtIO drivers, network configuration and performance are measured here.
- Gradual migration: Critical systems in maintenance windows, keeping the way back open.
Licence costs go down, but the real gain comes from the team being able to manage the new setup with confidence. That's why documentation and monitoring (Grafana, Prometheus) should be part of the migration.
At SMB Teknoloji we provide migration planning, installation and maintenance for moving from VMware and Hyper-V environments to Proxmox VE.