Home Lab Showdown: Proxmox vs. XCP-ng – A User’s Urgent Switch

UPDATE: A home lab user has announced a significant switch from XCP-ng back to Proxmox VE, highlighting the challenges and limitations faced during the transition. This revelation, made public today, has sparked discussions within the tech community about the evolving landscape of home virtualization solutions.

The user, who has been experimenting with XCP-ng, a platform powered by the Xen hypervisor, shared insights into their experience after attempting to rebuild their home lab. Despite the promise of XCP-ng, they found Proxmox to be superior in terms of features and community support, which are critical for effective home server management.

In a detailed log of the experiment, the user described their testing rig, featuring a Ryzen 5 1600 processor, 16GB of memory, and a GTX 1080 graphics card. They aimed to evaluate XCP-ng’s performance compared to their existing Proxmox setup. The installation process, while straightforward, required additional steps that complicated the user experience.

After successfully setting up XCP-ng on a 128GB SSD and a 500GB NVMe SSD for VM files, they accessed the management interface, XO Lite. However, the limited functionality of XO Lite prompted the need for the more robust Xen Orchestra Appliance (XOA), which demands significant resources—2 v-cores and 2GB of RAM. This requirement posed challenges for users with less powerful hardware.

Despite these challenges, the user praised the performance of XCP-ng, stating that it effectively handled multiple virtual machines, including Windows 11 and various Linux distributions. The latest version of XCP-ng, 8.3, has enhanced USB passthrough capabilities, making it easier to add external devices. However, the user expressed disappointment over the lack of native containerization support, which they find essential for modern home lab setups.

One of the most pressing issues was the paywall associated with essential features in XOA, such as backups and automation tasks. Access to these critical tools requires a premium license, which has frustrated users looking for cost-effective solutions. In contrast, Proxmox offers a more accessible environment, allowing users to manage their home labs without encountering such barriers.

As the user reflects on their experience, they reaffirm their preference for Proxmox over XCP-ng, citing ease of use and comprehensive support as key factors. They plan to continue experimenting with XCP-ng on a less demanding system but will revert to Proxmox for everyday home server tasks.

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, this switch highlights the ongoing debate around virtualization platforms and their role in modern home labs. With the growing demand for effective and user-friendly solutions, the conversation surrounding Proxmox and XCP-ng will undoubtedly continue to gain momentum.

Stay tuned for more updates as this story develops, and share your thoughts on your preferred home lab platform!