Data protection software vendor Veeam has delivered its promised support for open source virtualization contender Proxmox.

Proxmox support arrived last week in the form of Veeam Backup & Replication 12.2. As detailed in a What's New? [PDF] file, the data protection tool can now create immutable backups of VMs managed by Proxmox, and store them on-prem or in the cloud.

The tool also allows VMs from other virtualization platforms - including VMware's vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, or even the Azure and AWS clouds - to be restored into Proxmox. Physical server backups can do likewise.

Veeam's announcement of the release shows why it matters by quoting a chap named James Westendorf - the director of technical services at Lake Land College, a modestly-sized university in the US state of Illinois.

"With the recent changes at VMware, we were forced to re-evaluate which hypervisor to choose for our datacenter - a situation nobody wants to be in," reads Westendorf's canned quote. It continues that the new Veeam release will help "as we look forward to being able to choose to move to Proxmox" and "provide us with the peace of mind we need during these tumultuous times."

Westendorf's remarks probably refer to two things - one of which is that it is impossible for a serious IT operation to adopt a server virtualization platform that lacks robust backup tools tuned to its peculiarities. With Veeam supporting Proxmox, the open source suite becomes easier to consider. The other is probably VMware by Broadcom's new licenses, which require subscriptions, start at 16 cores, and bundle multiple products with support.

Analysts tell The Register the licenses mean most VMware customers pay more. VMware insists its new offerings represent better value once deployed, and that the vSphere Foundation bundle of compute and storage virtualization, plus management tools, is ideal for those who focus on server virtualization. Lake Land College clearly disagrees, joining the likes of Geico, Computershare, and Boyd Gaming as confirmed VMware quitters.

Veeam's update also improved support for another VMware rival - Nutanix's AHV - by integrating it with the Prism Central management tool and improving automation. The backup software can also use multiple network adapters, which should come in handy in larger environments. Again, the availability of such tooling for AHV makes Nutanix's wares a more attractive VMware alternative.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan last week claimed his plan to sell software bundles is going so well that 85 percent of sales revenue is from VMware's flagship Cloud Foundation suite. That's a nice number, but far from a full view of how VMware is traveling on his watch. More will be revealed on Thursday when Broadcom announces its quarterly results. The Register will tune in and bring you the news. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/02/veeam_proxmox_support_arrives/