Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH, developer of the open source server virtualization platform Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE), today released version 3.2. Big enhancements in this release are the SPICE multi-monitor remote viewer for virtual servers and containers (with spiceterm), the distributed Ceph storage system and Open vSwitch. Countless updates are added like qemu 1.7, improved live backup, support for VMware pvscsi and vmxnet3, a new ZFS storage plugin, latest NIC drivers and bug fixes.

Ceph Storage Server Integration
Proxmox VE 3.2 includes the ability to build the Ceph storage cluster directly on Proxmox VE hosts. Ceph is a massively scalable, open source distributed object store and file system that is very popular in many cloud computing deployments. Proxmox VE 3.2 supports Ceph’s RADOS Block Device (Ceph RBD) to be used for VM disks. Ceph storage cluster can be administered via the Proxmox web GUI and configuration is stored in Proxmox’ shared file system (pmxcfs) which is replicated throughout the cluster. Ceph is a redundant system and has no single point of failure, which makes it perfect for critical environments.

SPICE and spiceterm
Proxmox VE integrates the Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environments (SPICE) since version 3.1 as technology preview. With the new version 3.2, the user can now choose between SPICE and VNC for accessing the virtual machine consoles. Plenty of improvements were made: By using ‘spiceterm’ – a program developed by Proxmox - SPICE can be additionally used for accessing OpenVZ containers or the host shell. A spiceterm console can be resized and offers a fully functional keyboard including special characters like the pipe or @ symbol and function keys like control-c do work. On the client side, it is sufficient to install a SPICE remote viewer. Virt-viewer packages are available for Linux and Windows, and for Android there is compatible App named aSPICE.

Open vSwitch
Another enhancement of Proxmox VE in version 3.2 is the introduction of the network software switch Open vSwitch (OVS) on the host network level (a technology preview in 3.2). Open vSwitch is a multilayer virtual switch enabling massive network automation, while still supporting standard management interfaces and protocols as well as distribution across multiple physical servers. It consists of user space tools and kernel modules.

“We are totally excited with the new Proxmox VE 3.2 because it challenges the virtualization market with Ceph storage and SPICE,” states Martin Maurer, CEO of Proxmox Server Solutions. “With the integrated Ceph RBD, Proxmox users get a highly available solution with no single points of failure and extreme scalability. This makes it ideal for applications which require high available flexible storage.”

Availability of Proxmox VE 3.2
Proxmox VE 3.2 is released under the AGPL, v3 and is available as free ISO-image for download at http://www.proxmox.com/downloads

For enterprise customers, Proxmox offers subscriptions starting at EUR 49,90 per year and CPU socket.