this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2025
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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.

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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Proxmox or Docker?

It's not mutually exclusive? I have a 3-node proxmox config on which I have 3 VMs running as kubenetes nodes to which I deploy containers. I also have some VMs setup for things which either don't work well as containers or which I simply don't want as containers (e.g. a couple Windows VMs for doing Windows things). Also home assistant runs in a VM since it was just easier to do USB passthrough this way.

I understand that running things in a VM provides better security than running them in a container.

Not sure what you mean by this - containers are typically easier to secure as they're minimalist. But I doubt anyone is using VMs because they think they're more secure.