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.

  • Zikeji@programming.dev
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    3 days ago

    I switched to Docker ages ago and don’t regret it. The other benefit aside from the “works on my machine” is that usually it’s very easy to back up with minimal bloat, especially for projects that don’t document what you should be backing up.

    I can, and have, switch hosts on a moments notice and only have to mess with DNS updates.

    Although I’ve been procrastinating switching to rootless Docker.

    The only thing I run on a VM right now is Home Assistant. But I do that with Cockpit and KVM/virsh.