Pardon my less-than-intelligent question, but is there a way to install Proxmox on a Ceph cluster?

[alexskysilk]

This is why I am trying to do my research before I go out and start buying stuff

Good plan. I hope you understand that this experiment will not ever be worth any money you put into it. You already have a working solution- and if the "politics" of the money prevent you from putting together a sane configuration you're just throwing money away for no good reason.