Solo business owner, can I use proxmox as an alternative to Windows 365?

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galffing

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May 31, 2024
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Hi all, title says it all.

I hate having multiple devices that all have a different desktop environment. Custom settings, etc.

I am *very* tempted to get Windows 365 so that my working "desktop environment" will be device agnostic.

This also helps me keep things corralled to a single place, and hopefully makes backup and security easier.

Is proxmox a solution I should consider in lieu of the $41/mo Windows 365?

Is it easy enough to configure and manage myself?

What kind of upload speed would I need for the proxmox server?

If I run the server at home or at the office, will there be much difficulty in port forwarding / firewall, etc?

How would I connect from the client device?

Thanks in advance!!!!!!
 
I think you're confusing things a bit. Proxmox is a hypervisor for VMs and LXCs. Its direct competitor is probably Vmware ESXI.

To replace Office 365 you would need to setup a proxmox server and then run something like Nextcloud as a VM.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=i...ersation=09708ed761ad607655a155ef8d9028ae3064

https://search.brave.com/search?q=h...ersation=0970653fb7715ba42cdfea58806a3e4fa3de

I would strongly recommend using a VM + Docker, as LXC "turnkey" templates can be terribly outdated. Most of them are still on Debian 12 and can be more of a hassle to get updated than a real turnkey appliance.

https://search.brave.com/ask?q=How+...ersation=09705c28cd40c9eac12c641841652e8c6cd8

If you're already competent as a Proxmox admin, you can probably set things up for self-hosting over a weekend. Otherwise you might look into hiring a local consultant for setup and support, and for business you should definitely buy a Proxmox support subscription.

I would look into Nextcloud SaaS for the first month or 3 if (as a solo business owner) you don't have the time to set it up first in homelab and get past the growing pains:

https://search.brave.com/search?q=n...ersation=0970593f0691c4eac8f2f9512dbb18c11a1c
 
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The OP is referring to a service where MS runs a Windows VM for you in their cloud. So your apps/data/settings/etc. are in one place and you just remote into the machine from other devices.

So they are thinking of setting up a Proxmox VE server with some Windows VMs that employees can RDP into.

There are SO many ways to do this, and Windows licensing can play into it. For a somewhat larger number of users, I'd probably get a Windows Server Datacenter OEM license from eBay and install that on the server (Datacenter gives you unlimited VM licenses). Then either run Windows VMs for each user or set up Remote Desktop Services. At scale, you'd probably go the VDI route.

For a smaller setup, you could buy Windows 11 licenses via eBay or other slightly sketchy methods and not break the bank, then set up a few VMs on a Proxmox VE host.

Plenty of ways to set up remote access, such as a software firewall/router or hardware such as the Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra (or higher if needed). You may need DDNS in order to reach the VPN services.

If you're a sysadmin, you can spin this stuff up over the weekend, but for someone non-technical I'd probably just suggest finding some slightly older desktop/tower machines and put them on a shelf somewhere.
 
J-Rod said:
If you're a sysadmin, you can spin this stuff up over the weekend, but for someone non-technical I'd probably just suggest finding some slightly older desktop/tower machines and put them on a shelf somewhere.
Click to expand...

I disagree. For a non-technical user ( which OP clearly is ) a managed service ( be it oiffice365 or nextcloud/onlyoffice if you don't want to depend on Microsoft) is the easiest and most frictionless variant. To save on 41 bucks by running ProxmoxVE and Windows terminal servers without a technical background is a recipe for disaster. And hiring a sysadmin will cost way more.
 
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I'm not sure how you're disagreeing with me? I said if you're a sysadmin, then by all means go for the server route, otherwise just leave your computer at the office and remote into it via VPN and RDP.

The OP also did say "solo", but it's not 100% clear whether they have additional employees that need this as well, so the $500/year could add up.

Another self-hosting option could be a Synology NAS. You can run some VMs and you also get a decent selection of apps such as "Synology Office" which gives you some basic MS365/Google functionality. Synology's "QuickConnect" feature, which is free, allows you to securely connect to the NAS services without the need to adjust any firewall rules or use a VPN.
 
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J-Rod said:
I'm not sure how you're disagreeing with me? I said if you're a sysadmin, then by all means go for the server route, otherwise just leave your computer at the office and remote into it via VPN and RDP.
Click to expand...

Then we simply had a missunderstanding, all right ;)

Of course there are enough alternatives for self-hosting but feature parity could be another concern beside maintenance burden
 
Really the only point of continuing the discussion is perhaps to help someone else who stumbles across the thread in the future with the same question.
 
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