Proxmox

Proxmox will let you install onto ZFS during setup with a few checkboxes and move on with your life, and that’s exactly how a lot of people end up with a storage layout they didn’t actually choose. ZFS is the best storage option built into Proxmox for most homelab setups, but it comes with tradeoffs that are easy to ignore during install and expensive to fix once you’ve got VMs and containers living on top of it. Here’s what the pool layout choices actually mean, what ZFS does to your RAM, and how to pick a shape you won’t be re-doing in six months. ...

Backups are the thing every homelab guide tells you to do and almost nobody actually verifies works until the day they need it. Proxmox makes this easier than most platforms because it ships a real backup product, Proxmox Backup Server (PBS), instead of leaving you to bolt one on yourself. Here’s how to actually set it up, what it buys you over the built-in vzdump backups, and the one step most people skip that makes the whole thing worthless if you never do it. ...

Updated Aug 12, 2026: expanded with licensing detail, backup tooling, migration notes, and a decision table. Every homelab thread eventually turns into a hypervisor argument. Here’s the practical version, based on what actually matters when it’s your own gear and your own time on the line. The short answer If you’re starting fresh in 2026, run Proxmox VE. It’s free, actively developed, has a real community, and does everything most home labs need - VMs, LXC containers, clustering, ZFS, and a web UI that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. The rest of this post is for the “but why” crowd. ...