What is Proxmox?

Imagine you have one really powerful computer, but you want it to act like it’s many computers at the same time. That’s where Proxmox comes in.

Proxmox is a free and open-source platform that lets you run virtual machines (full computers inside your computer) and containers (lightweight apps or services) all on the same hardware. It’s kind of like turning one big house into an apartment building—each apartment is separate, but they all share the same foundation.

With Proxmox you can:

1. Run multiple systems (like Windows, Linux, or specialized servers) side by side.
2. Test things safely without messing up your main computer.
3. Back up and restore whole virtual machines if something breaks.
4. Cluster servers together so you can manage a bunch of machines as one.

In plain terms: Proxmox is a control center that lets you get the most out of your hardware by running lots of different “computers” on one physical machine.