🚀 Proxmox Lab

👋 Welcome to Proxmox Lab – the leading professional virtualization practice space for system administrators, IT engineers, and technology enthusiasts!

🖥️ I. Introduction to Proxmox Lab

With dozens of high-performance physical servers running Proxmox VE, we provide a complete lab environment that allows you to:
✅ Practice hands-on with real enterprise-grade systems.
✅ Learn without limits with full Proxmox features.
✅ Develop skills from beginner to advanced.
✅ Get step-by-step guidance throughout your lab journey.

🎯 II. Who Should Join

👨‍🎓 IT Students – Gain real-world experience, complete projects, and enhance your CV.
👨‍💻 System Admins / DevOps – Sharpen your skills and prepare for enterprise deployments.
🔄 Career Changers into IT – Follow a structured roadmap from zero, build a real portfolio.
🏢 SMEs (Small & Medium Enterprises) – Train staff, test solutions, run PoC projects.
🤓 Enthusiasts – Passionate about homelabs, experience enterprise-scale systems firsthand.

Hands-on Virtualization

Practice directly on enterprise-grade Proxmox VE servers.

System Administration Skills

Master VM, container, storage, and networking management in Proxmox.

Proven Lab Outcomes

Confidently deploy, optimize, and maintain Proxmox clusters & HA systems.

III. Lab Practice Content (4 Sessions)

🟢 Session 1

Overview of Proxmox & Virtualization
(duration : 4 hours)

Introduction to Proxmox Virtualization
Understand the Proxmox VE architecture and its core components, compare Type-1 vs. Type-2 hypervisors, and learn the benefits of virtualization in enterprise environments.
Creating a Bootable USB and Installing Proxmox 9.0 on a Physical Server
Step-by-step guidance on installing the latest Proxmox 9.0 from a bootable USB, establishing a solid virtualization platform from scratch.
Mastering Basic Storage (Local, NFS)
Hands-on practice with the most common storage types like Local and NFS. Learn how to add, configure, and use them for storing VMs, templates, and backups.

✅ Outcome: After this session, you will be able to successfully deploy a Proxmox 9.0 server with properly configured basic storage. This will serve as the foundation for advanced lessons on VM, networking, and high-level features.

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🟢 Session 2

Mastering Proxmox Server Administration
(duration : 4 hours)

Managing Virtual Machines & Containers (VM/LXC)
Create, configure, and operate both Virtual Machines (VMs) and Linux Containers (LXCs). Understand their differences and when to use each technology.
Configuring Networking with Linux Bridge
Learn the architecture and functionality of Linux Bridge in Proxmox. Practice connecting VMs and containers to different bridges.
Flexible Snapshot Techniques
Create & Rollback Snapshots: Freeze system states and instantly recover from failures or unsuccessful updates.
Automated Snapshots: Schedule snapshots as part of a backup strategy.
Cloning from Snapshots: Quickly replicate new VMs from existing snapshots for testing or deployment.
Creating Templates & Bulk Cloning
Turn a properly configured VM into a reusable template, then clone multiple identical VMs in minutes to optimize deployment time.
Backup & Restore VMs
Gain hands-on experience with backup and restore processes. Learn how to schedule backups, store them safely, and successfully restore systems when needed.

✅ Outcome: Gain hands-on experience with backup and restore processes. Learn how to schedule backups, store them safely, and successfully restore systems when needed.

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🟢 Session 3

Deploying & Managing a Proxmox Cluster(duration : 4 hours)

Centralized Management with Proxmox Cluster
Learn how to connect multiple physical servers into a unified cluster, build trust relationships between nodes, and manage infrastructure from a single interface.
Cluster Networking Configuration
Ensure stable and efficient communication between nodes. Understand Corosync requirements and configure dedicated cluster traffic networks for optimal performance.
Cluster Storage Configuration
Explore shared storage solutions like NFS or Ceph. Configure them to allow all nodes to access the same VM data, enabling advanced features like Live Migration.
Live Migration of Virtual Machines
Perform real-time VM migration (without downtime) from one physical node to another for maintenance or load balancing, ensuring uninterrupted service.

✅ Outcome:

Confidently deploy and manage a complete Proxmox Cluster.
Understand and configure advanced cluster networking for stability and performance.
Master shared storage solutions as the foundation for high availability and scalability.
Perform Live Migration effectively, elevating management from simple operations to optimization-level.

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🟢 Session 4

Building a High Availability (HA) System on Proxmox (duration : 4 hours)

HA Architecture in Proxmox
Learn how the HA framework works, including Quorum, Fencing, and how nodes coordinate to ensure high availability.
Configuring Quorum & Fencing
Practice setting up voting mechanisms (Quorum) to avoid “split-brain” scenarios and configure Fencing (STONITH) to automatically isolate faulty nodes and protect the system.
Implementing HA for Virtual Machines
Configure critical VMs with HA. In case of node failure, services automatically restart on healthy nodes without manual intervention.
Comprehensive Failover Testing
Simulate real-world failures (power-off, network disconnection, service crashes) to validate automatic recovery and reliability.
Monitoring & Performance Optimization for HA
Set up HA event alerts and optimize configurations to minimize failover time, ensuring services recover as quickly as possible.

✅ Outcome:

Deep understanding of HA architecture and key scenarios like split-brain and fencing.
Confidently deploy HA for mission-critical services, achieving ~99.99% uptime.
Practice real-world troubleshooting through simulated failover cases.
Proactively monitor and optimize HA performance.
Gain the capability to design enterprise-level infrastructures where downtime is not acceptable.