Install Proxmox on two NVMe drives — they are not RAID-1

Why this machine works as a hypervisor

The CPU is a single-socket AMD EPYC 7543P: 32 cores / 64 threads, with AMD-V and nested virtualization. Memory is DDR4-3200 ECC RDIMM in two sizes, 128GB or 256GB. You cannot add DIMMs after you order. If you plan to split a database, a site, and a jump host into separate guests, the usual bottleneck is not core count. It is how you slice disks and how you back them up.

Servers are deployed in Tokyo, Japan. You reach Linux over SSH. The configurator can install Proxmox VE 8 or 9 directly. You do not have to land on Ubuntu and swap the image yourself. Windows is a different path — RDP — and it is not this hypervisor note.

Do not assign all 32 cores to one “do everything” guest on day one. A calmer split leaves the host 4–8 cores and at least 8–16GB, then cuts the rest by site, database, and build box. ECC matters here: many guests running for months tolerate silent errors better than laptop unified memory. Memory only comes in 128 and 256. Pick wrong and you cannot add bars later. Add up guest peaks before you install. Do not tell yourself “128 now, we will see.”

Read the two disks first

Default delivery is 2 × 1TB NVMe, no hardware RAID, each drive direct-attached. Treat that as 2TB usable: both drives are present. Nobody mirrored them first and handed you 1TB. Extra 2TB drives are direct-attached as well. They do not join a hardware array on their own.

If you read “2×1TB” as a finished 1TB mirror, you will finish the Proxmox install and either “discover” a spare disk or complain that capacity is short. That is the spec, not a fault. Two NVMe devices in lsblk is the expected result.

Three common layouts

There is no single correct answer. These three are common and easy to explain to the next person on the team.

The first layout fits people who want to get running and keep backups off the box. The second is for people who explicitly want disk redundancy and accept half the capacity. The third only makes sense if you already have a complete backup and can afford a rebuild. In every case, keep an off-box backup. The console will not invent a snapshot policy for you. If more than one person touches the host, write the layout into a ticket note or an internal doc: which disk is OS, which is data, and whether software RAID exists. The next person should be able to match lsblk without formatting a backup disk into a new virtual disk.

What to pick while you install

1. 1
   Choose Proxmox on the configurator

   Images are single-select. The default is Ubuntu 24.04. Switch it to Proxmox VE 8 or 9. You do not install something else first and swap later.

2. 2
   Size memory to guest peaks — you cannot add DIMMs later

   128GB is $449 / month. 256GB is $599 / month. Leave RAM for the hypervisor itself. Need 256GB? Choose that server. There is no memory-upgrade SKU.

3. 3
   Identify disks in the installer. Do not click an array wizard by habit

   The Proxmox installer may offer a ZFS mirror. That is an installer option, not a factory array. Match it to the layout you chose above before you continue.

This site does not offer VMware ESXi. Use Proxmox for virtualization; the two drives stay independently attached, not RAID-1.

What to verify after install

When the instance is running, the console gives you SSH. Sign in as root, confirm both NVMe devices in lsblk, then open the Proxmox web UI and add storage. Do not trust the installer summary’s “local” line alone. That often covers only the disk you selected at the time.

Need more bays? The configurator adds up to two 2TB drives at $79 / month each. They are still direct-attach. Do not expect them to join the original array by themselves. After they appear, expand ZFS or mdadm yourself, or add a new LVM store. Default bandwidth is 250 Mbps unmetered. When guest egress grows, move to 1G or 2G.

Storage names mix people up. If the installer targeted the first disk, you usually see local plus local-lvm. The second disk does not appear under “virtual disk” until you add the whole disk or a partition under Datacenter → Storage. Directory storage fits ISO and a backup buffer. LVM-thin or ZFS fits guest images. Write each disk’s job in a note so a resize three months later does not hit the wrong target.

Do not keep the only backup on the second disk

A backup on the second disk of the same machine can save you from “I deleted the guest.” It cannot save you from a whole-box power loss, a site single point, or both disks failing in sequence. Minimum bar: important guests also live off-box — object storage, another machine, or a pull from your office network.

Proxmox Backup Server can run as another guest, but if it sleeps on the same two disks as the source, the value is thin. Write “off-box” into the runbook first, then decide whether the second disk is an ISO library or a local snapshot buffer.

Nested virtualization can be enabled. Do not make “Proxmox inside a guest” the default architecture. You already have a dedicated machine. Another layer is useful for an isolated lab, not for production sites or databases. Those belong on first-level guests — one less failure domain. Need a Windows guest? Install it inside Proxmox. Do not reinstall the whole box as Windows Server just for one Windows workload. That throws away the hypervisor path.

What this means on the server you rent

This is not a product brochure, but disk planning has to use the right numbers: Tokyo, two memory sizes, default dual disks direct-attach, no setup fee. Monthly rate = server price + extra disks × 79 + bandwidth surcharge + extra IPs × 2 + OS surcharge. Due multiplies that by months. There is no discount. Proxmox sits in the included image list. It does not add an OS charge.

You can complete an order without signing in. Power actions (on, off, reboot) go through tickets in the console. That path is not the same as SSH. Do not read “reinstall from the web UI” as a capability this site already ships. Reinstall or a new disk layout follows the ticket flow in Help.