Proxmox is taking a decisive step into the enterprise virtualization market with the release of the beta version of its Datacenter Manager, a tool designed to simplify the management of multiple hardware clusters. For organizations seeking credible alternatives to VMware in the wake of Broadcom’s acquisition, this move positions Proxmox as a serious contender.
The Vienna-based company is best known for its flagship product, Proxmox Virtual Environment (PVE), a hyperconverged infrastructure suite built on open source technologies that enables organizations to run and manage both virtual machines and containers. Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH says more than 1.6 million hosts now run on its platform, a figure that underscores its traction within both the open source community and enterprise IT departments looking for cost-efficient solutions.
Until now, Proxmox PVE clusters have largely functioned in isolation, requiring administrators to manage each one separately. In enterprise settings with dozens or hundreds of servers, this limitation has meant added complexity. Larger vendors, including VMware, already offer multi-cluster management through unified interfaces, which makes administration more efficient in environments where scalability and centralized oversight are critical. With Datacenter Manager, Proxmox is narrowing that gap.
The beta version of Datacenter Manager, currently at version 0.9, is designed to give administrators a consolidated view of all distinct nodes and clusters while also enabling basic operations such as virtual guest migrations without requiring a dedicated cluster network. It introduces features such as EVPN setup for software-defined networking, improved resource search capabilities, more streamlined metrics collection, and a revamped access control interface for managing user privileges. The beta also allows seamless upgrades from earlier alpha versions, highlighting Proxmox’s focus on stability during testing.
Technically, the project represents a significant modernization for Proxmox. Both the backend API server and CLI tools, as well as the new web-based frontend, are built entirely in Rust, a programming language increasingly favored in infrastructure projects for its performance and security characteristics. The frontend leverages a widget toolkit that Proxmox has been developing in recent years, aiming to deliver a modern user interface experience in terms of speed, accessibility, and overall design.
Basic Virtualization or Container Hosting
The current beta is based on Debian 13 ‘Trixie’ and ships with ZFS 2.3.4 alongside Linux kernel 6.14.11, underscoring Proxmox’s commitment to delivering up-to-date foundational technologies. Documentation for installation and configuration is already available through the company’s wiki, reflecting Proxmox’s open source ethos of transparency and community involvement.
Market conditions are probably helping Proxmox’s case. VMware, now under Broadcom’s ownership, is prioritizing large-scale enterprise customers and focusing less on smaller organizations that only need basic virtualization or container hosting. That has created an opportunity for alternatives like Proxmox, which combines functionality with the cost advantages of a free and open source software model. Some enterprises still view VMware as indispensable for mission-critical workloads, but many are now evaluating which applications could run just as effectively on alternative platforms.
Industry analysts have pointed out that while VMware offers advanced capabilities and a well-established ecosystem, licensing costs have become prohibitive for certain workloads. This is where Proxmox’s competitive edge lies: a feature set that covers the essentials at a fraction of the cost, bolstered by a community-driven development cycle and an increasingly professional enterprise support offering.
The beta phase for Datacenter Manager will continue until a stable version is released, which Proxmox expects later this year. In the meantime, development activity around the tool is accelerating, with the company describing its goal as laying a strong foundation that can scale alongside its major PVE releases.
By addressing one of its longstanding limitations – multi-cluster management – Proxmox is clearly aiming to move further upmarket, appealing to larger organizations that want both the flexibility of open source and the efficiency of enterprise-class management tools. Whether the Datacenter Manager becomes a true VMware challenger will depend on adoption and enterprise confidence, but the beta marks a notable milestone in the evolution of Proxmox’s platform.
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