Proxmox Virtual Environment (Proxmox VE) offers flexible, integrated storage options that suit a wide range of workloads—from lightweight containers to performance-critical virtual machines. Understanding these options is key to building a scalable and resilient infrastructure.

This article breaks down the pros, cons, and use cases of each Proxmox-supported storage backend.

Overview Table

1. ZFS (Zettabyte File System)

Best for: Local storage with software RAID, snapshot/replication, VMs and containers.

Pros:

• Built-in RAID (mirror, RAID-Z1/2/3)
• Block-level snapshots & clones
• Native compression (lz4, zstd)
• Integrated replication across Proxmox nodes
• Excellent data integrity (checksumming)

Cons:

• Requires lots of RAM (8GB+ recommended)
• More CPU intensive than LVM
• Local-only (not shared storage unless exported via NFS/iSCSI)

Example Use Case:

• 3-node cluster using local ZFS mirrors with scheduled replication

2. Ceph

Best for: Hyper-converged, scalable clusters needing shared storage.

Pros:

• Fully distributed, self-healing
• Built-in replication and fault tolerance
• Shared block storage across nodes
• No single point of failure
• Horizontal scalability (add more nodes/disks)

Cons:

• Requires 3+ nodes minimum(ideally 5)
• More complex to deploy and manage
• Needs fast networking (10GbE recommended)

Example Use Case:

• A 5-node Proxmox cluster with 3x Ceph OSDs per node, high-availability VMs

3. LVM (Logical Volume Manager)

Best for: Basic local block storage, no snapshotting.

Pros:

• Simple and fast
• Great for single-disk setups
• Low overhead

Cons:

• No snapshots (unless used with LVM snapshot manually)
• Not shared by default
• No replication or redundancy

Example Use Case:

• Single Proxmox node using LVM on SSDs for hosting VMs

4. LVM-Thin

Best for: VMs that benefit from snapshot support and thin provisioning.

Pros:

• Supports Proxmox snapshots and clones
• Thin provisioning (space-efficient)
• Faster VM deployment

Cons:

• Not shared
• No RAID or replication
• More difficult to back up externally

Example Use Case:

• Developers testing many VMs with frequent snapshotting

5. Directory Storage

Best for: Low-tech storage using basic filesystems (ext4, xfs, etc.)

Pros:

• Very simple to set up
• Works on any filesystem
• Compatible with both VMs and containers

Cons:

• No snapshots or replication
• Poor performance for large VM disks
• No redundancy

Example Use Case:

• Backup server or lab node using basic disk for VM images

6. NFS (Network File System)

Best for: Shared storage using external NAS.

Pros:

• Shared storage across nodes
• Simple to set up with a NAS
• Snapshot support if supported by the backend (e.g., ZFS on NAS)

Cons:

• Slower than local disks
• Performance depends on network and NAS quality
• Single point of failure unless NAS is clustered

Example Use Case:

• Proxmox cluster storing ISO images and backups on Synology NAS

7. iSCSI

Best for: Central block storage for multiple Proxmox nodes.

Pros:

• Block-level shared storage
• High-performance (with proper tuning)
• Can use multipathing for redundancy

Cons:

• More complex to set up than NFS
• Requires external SAN or NAS
• No snapshots unless used with LVM or ZFS on top

Example Use Case:

• Enterprise setup using Dell EMC or NetApp SAN for VM disks

Recommendations by Scenario

Proxmox Storage Integration Features

* Snapshot/cloning on NFS depends on backend support (e.g., ZFS on NAS).

Conclusion

Proxmox VE gives you unparalleled flexibility in storage choices. From high-performance setups with Ceph to minimal home labs using ZFS or LVM, there’s a storage backend for every need.

• ZFS: Best for local performance with data integrity
• Ceph: The gold standard for highly available shared storage
• LVM/LVM-Thin: Lightweight and efficient for small setups
• NFS/iSCSI: Reliable for shared external storage