Proxmox Dedicated Server: Sizing a Host to Replace VMware

If you run virtual machines on VMware, the licensing model changed underneath you. Broadcom now licenses VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation per physical core, and counts every CPU with fewer than 16 cores as if it had 16. On a dense modern host, that bill grows with every core you add.

Proxmox VE takes a different approach. It is open source, it runs KVM virtual machines and containers, and its optional subscriptions are priced per CPU socket rather than per core. A Proxmox dedicated server lets you test that model on real hardware before committing an estate to it. This guide covers what the two licensing models do to the cost of a host, how to size CPU, RAM and ZFS storage for Proxmox, and which builds fit which estate.

Per core versus per socket

Broadcom's rule, from its knowledge base article on counting cores (updated June 2026): count every physical core in every ESXi host you intend to license, and count any CPU with fewer than 16 cores as 16. Proxmox's subscriptions are priced per socket per year: €120 for Community, €370 for Basic, €550 for Standard and €1,100 for Premium.

Broadcom does not publish a public per-core price, so the table counts licences rather than euros. The shape is the point: the VMware column grows eightfold from the smallest build to the largest, while the Proxmox columns do not move at all. The denser the host, the wider the gap.

Proxmox states it plainly: a subscription is needed for every occupied CPU socket, and the number of cores does not affect the price. No feature is held back by subscription level, either; clustering, live migration, high availability and backup are in every tier. What the tiers buy is the enterprise repository and, from Basic upwards, support tickets: three a year on Basic, ten on Standard and unlimited on Premium.

Sizing a Proxmox host

Proxmox's own recommendations are short, and worth following exactly:

• CPU. 64-bit, with Intel VT or AMD-V for KVM. Every build in the range qualifies.
• Memory. 2 GB for the operating system and Proxmox services, plus whatever you give the guests. ZFS and Ceph need extra: roughly 1 GB for every TB of used storage.
• Storage. ZFS and Ceph are not compatible with a hardware RAID controller, so let ZFS handle redundancy itself. SSDs with power-loss protection are recommended; consumer SSDs are discouraged.
• Network. Redundant NICs, with more depending on your storage and cluster design.

A worked example: 40 virtual machines averaging 4 vCPUs and 8 GB of RAM each, stored on ZFS.

On a 2× EPYC 9554 build, with 512 GB of RAM and 256 hardware threads, that estate fits without overcommitting memory or CPU and still leaves headroom for growth and the page cache.

Which build for which estate

Memory usually runs out before cores do, so the fastest way to shortlist a build is by how many guests of your average size fit in its RAM:

The Xeon builds ship with a single 240 GB SSD, so a Proxmox host on one of them needs disks added in the configurator: six 1 TB SSDs are €60 a month and six 2 TB SSDs €120. For ZFS, choose No RAID and confirm with support that the disks will be presented to the operating system directly. The EPYC 9004 builds ship with two NVMe drives in RAID 1 for the operating system, and the 9554 and 9754 take a 24-drive NVMe option for guest storage. Understanding RAID explains how the ZFS redundancy levels map to the familiar RAID ones, and Xeon vs EPYC compares the processors in more depth.

Installing it

Proxmox VE 7, 8 and 9 are install options in the configurator on the Xeon and EPYC 9004 builds, alongside VMware ESXi 7.0 U3j, 8.0b and 9.0 if you are staying on VMware with licences you already hold. The Bucharest-only EPYC 7702 build takes a custom ISO instead. Proxmox VE 9.0 was released on 5 August 2025 and is based on Debian 13.

Plan these before you migrate

• Backups. Proxmox's backup tools need a target that is not the host itself, and ideally a copy offsite. Offsite backup storage covers sizing and cost, and NexonHost's backup storage starts at €5 per TB a month.
• Addresses for guests. Each dedicated server includes one IPv4 address. Extra addresses are €3 a month each, up to five, and a /24 is €250 a month plus a €100 setup fee.
• The cutover. Move one workload at a time, and keep the old host until the new one has run through a full backup cycle. Migrate a server without downtime is the runbook.
• Who supports what. A Proxmox subscription covers the software. NexonHost's included 24/7 ticket support covers the hardware and the network. If you want someone else inside the operating system as well, managed vs unmanaged server hosting sets out the options.

Where to start

The full range is on the dedicated servers page, with Proxmox VE as an install option at checkout on the Xeon and EPYC 9004 builds. The bare metal overview explains what single-tenant hardware includes, and the Xeon builds are provisioned in minutes if you want to run a proof of concept this week.

Specifications and pricing are as of 28 September 2026 — check the product pages for current figures.

Sources

• Counting Cores for VMware Cloud Foundation and vSphere Foundation and TiBs for vSAN, Broadcom knowledge base article 313548, updated 17 June 2026. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
• Proxmox VE pricing, Proxmox Server Solutions. Per socket per year: Community €120, Basic €370, Standard €550, Premium €1,100; cores do not affect the price; features are not limited by tier. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
• System Requirements, Proxmox VE wiki. CPU, memory, ZFS/Ceph memory rule, hardware RAID incompatibility and SSD guidance. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
• Proxmox Virtual Environment 9.0 with Debian 13 released, Proxmox Server Solutions, 5 August 2025. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
• NexonHost store configurator: operating system options, disk options, IP pricing and build prices. Retrieved 28 September 2026.
• Computed: 24 × 1.92 TB = 46.08 TB raw; guests per build = RAM ÷ 8 GB, rounded down after the host's own share.