VMware ESXi or Proxmox for installing Windows Server 2022 / 2025 + Media Server, Open source SIEM?

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TestLink

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I have a Dell PowerEdge R620 server used in my Home LAB on to which I am trying to install Windows Server 2022 / 2025 and open source firewall, a media server, opensource SIEM, couple of LINUX distros etc and some other stuff to play around on the Server.

Which will be the best option for my use case - VMware ESXi or Proxmox?

Thanks...
 
Doesn't ESXi require a paid license while Proxmox is free and open source?

You'll probably get better and more detailed reviews and comparisons of the two hypervisor options on a more specialised techie site than Askaboutmoney or on Reddit etc.
 
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Broadcom ended the free use of ESXi shortly after they bought VMware. So you’ll need to look elsewhere and Proxmox does seem to be quite popular at the moment, meaning you should find plenty of support resources online.
 
Could you use VMWare Workstation Pro? It's free for personal use or you could also use Oracle Virtual Box.

blogs.vmware.com

VMware Workstation Pro: Now Available Free for Personal Use

VMware Desktop Hypervisor products Fusion and Workstation are used by millions of people every day to run virtual machines on their Windows, Linux and Mac computers. They give users the ability to quickly and easily build “local virtual” environments to install other operating systems, learn...
blogs.vmware.com blogs.vmware.com

Oracle VirtualBox

www.virtualbox.org www.virtualbox.org

I hear great things about Promox but I've never used it.
 
Páid said:
Could you use VMWare Workstation Pro? It's free for personal use or you could also use Oracle Virtual Box.
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Just to note that these are Type 2 hypervisors and not Type 1 like ESXi/Proxmox in case that's relevant to the original poster's needs.
 
I have VMware Pro FREE for personal use. Great piece of software.

But Proxmox, XCP-ng etc are type 1 hypervisors interacting directly with the server hardware. So since I have an old server, I thought why not try Proxmox.
 
TestLink said:
I have VMware Pro FREE for personal use. Great piece of software.

But Proxmox, XCP-ng etc are type 1 hypervisors interacting directly with the server hardware. So since I have an old server, I thought why not try Proxmox.
Click to expand...
Correct and yes to Clubman's comment above re CEntOS stream, most linux distros will let you run KVM. You can install a very minimal linux distro and then install KVM.
There's also stuff like OVirt which is basically a CentOS spin with KVM designed to operate as a bare minimum hypervisor - see here or https://www.ovirt.org/download/node.html

I used workstation for some years as they used to give you a license key for free when you passed the VCP, its a nice tool and easy to use but for bare metal promox or kvm would be better
 
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