Renting one large server and splitting it into your own virtual machines is one of the oldest tricks in hosting, and it still works. You decide how much memory each guest gets, you decide how many guests share a core, and you pay one fixed monthly price no matter how many machines you run inside it. Proxmox VE makes that setup approachable, and it is available as a ready image on every dedicated server we sell.
This guide covers when a private virtualisation host makes sense, which of our servers suits it, how to plan addresses and storage, and the mistakes we see most often.
Why run your own host at all
- You control the overcommit. On a public cloud you inherit somebody else's sharing ratio. On your own host you can give a database guest dedicated cores and pack twenty small test machines onto the rest.
- The price stays flat. One dedicated server, one invoice. Spinning up a tenth guest costs nothing extra.
- You can run anything. Windows guests, appliance images, old operating systems a vendor still insists on, nested lab setups. On a VPS you are limited to the image library, on your own host you are not.
- Labs and training. Build, break and rebuild whole network topologies without paying per machine.
Which server to pick
For a virtualisation host, memory usually runs out first, then storage, then CPU. Size for memory.
| Server | Threads | Memory | Storage included | Monthly from | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dual Xeon E5 2630 v3 | 32 | 128 GB DDR4 | 240 GB SSD | €209 | A home lab or a dozen small guests |
| Dual Xeon E5 2699 v4 | 88 | 256 GB DDR4 | 240 GB SSD | €299 | The value pick for many medium guests |
| Dual EPYC 9254 | 96 | 256 GB DDR5 | 2 × 1 TB NVMe | €679 | Fast storage and fast cores for production guests |
| Dual EPYC 9554 | 256 | 512 GB DDR5 | 2 × 1 TB NVMe | €959 | A small private cloud for a whole team |
Prices include a 1 Gbps unmetered port. Xeon servers are delivered in about 45 minutes and EPYC servers have a delivery estimate of 14 days, so a Xeon is the quick way to start and an EPYC is the long term home.
A rough rule for guest density: give each guest the memory it really needs, keep 8 to 16 GB back for the host and its storage cache, and do not plan to use the last 10 percent. A 256 GB server therefore holds roughly 25 guests at 8 GB each, or 50 at 4 GB.
Storage: plan it before you order
The single 240 GB SSD in the Xeon builds is fine for the host system and a few small guests, but it is one disk with no redundancy. For anything you care about, add drives at checkout. The Xeon builds take up to six SSDs and the EPYC builds up to 24 NVMe drives.
- Two disks in a mirror is the minimum for production. One disk can fail and every guest keeps running.
- ZFS is built into Proxmox VE and gives you checksums, compression and cheap local snapshots. Give it memory, since its cache lives in RAM.
- Keep backups off the host. A snapshot on the same disks is not a backup. Send backups to another machine in another city. A small VPS used as a backup target costs a few euro a month.
If you need a refresher on disk layouts, our RAID levels explainer compares the options.
Addresses: the part that surprises people
Every dedicated server includes one usable IPv4 address. That address belongs to the host. Guests that need their own public address need more addresses, so plan the network before you order:
- Private guests behind the host. Put guests on an internal bridge, give them private addresses, and let the host route and translate for them. Publish only the services that need to be public through a reverse proxy or port forwards. This needs no extra addresses at all.
- Public guests. Order a /29, /28 or /27 subnet at checkout and route it to a bridge on the host. Each guest then gets a real public address.
- Your own space. If you hold your own /24, you can bring it as an order option, or bring your own ASN with a /24 for a BGP session with us.
Mixing the two approaches is common: public addresses for the mail server and the VPN gateway, private addresses for everything else.
The first hour on a new host
- Choose Proxmox VE 8.4 or 9.1 as the image when you order.
- Log in to the web interface over HTTPS and change the root password straight away.
- Restrict the management interface and SSH with the host firewall, so only your own addresses can reach them. Our hardening checklist applies to the host as much as to any Linux server.
- Create the internal bridge and, if you ordered a subnet, the public bridge.
- Set up the storage pool and a backup job to another machine before you create the first production guest.
- Upload ISO images or templates and build one guest end to end before cloning it.
Common mistakes
- Running production on the single included disk. It works until the day it does not.
- Exposing the management interface to the whole internet. Put it behind the firewall or a VPN.
- Giving guests all the memory. The host and ZFS need some too, and an out of memory host takes every guest down with it.
- Forgetting addresses. Ordering a subnet later is possible, but planning it on day one saves a re addressing weekend.
Comparing hypervisors before you commit? Our hypervisor comparison covers the main choices.
How Noded Can Help
Pick a server on the dedicated page, choose Proxmox VE as the image, add the drives and the subnet you planned, and you have your own private cloud with root on the hardware. If you would rather not run a host at all, our VPS line gives you ready KVM machines in seven locations. Not sure which way to go? Open a ticket with the number of guests and their sizes and we will suggest a build.
FAQ
Can I install Proxmox VE on a dedicated server?
Yes. Proxmox VE 8.4 and 9.1 are ready images on every dedicated configuration, so you can choose them at checkout.
Can I run Proxmox inside a VPS?
No. Nested virtualisation is not part of the VPS product. A virtualisation host needs a dedicated server.
How many public IPs do my guests get?
The server includes one usable IPv4 for the host. Guests can share it through private addressing, or you can add a /29, /28 or /27 subnet at checkout for public guests.
Can I run Windows guests?
Yes, on your own host you can run any guest operating system your licences allow. Windows Server 2022 and 2025 are also available directly as host images if you prefer.
Is traffic metered?
No. Every dedicated server has a guaranteed port with unmetered traffic, 1 Gbps by default and faster as an option.