For businesses needing dedicated virtualization infrastructure without the power consumption and complexity of traditional servers, our Compact Proxmox Edge Server delivers enterprise-grade capabilities in an energy-efficient package. Ultra-low power fanless hardware consuming just 8-25 watts, perfect for homelabs, development environments, edge computing, and small business virtualization needs.
Traditional dedicated servers consume 100-200 watts at idle and require significant cooling infrastructure. Modern low-power platforms deliver comparable virtualization performance at 8-40 watts, reducing operational costs while maintaining the isolation and control of dedicated hardware.
The compact server approach makes sense for businesses running 4-12 lightweight virtual machines, remote office infrastructure, development environments, or edge computing workloads where power consumption directly impacts monthly costs. Our fanless hardware delivers enterprise-grade virtualization at consumer-level power consumption.
What's Included
Included:
- Fanless dedicated hardware
- Dual 2.5GbE NICs
- 1 IPv4 address
- 100Mbps unmetered bandwidth
- Firewall options available
- Remote IPMI/KVM access
- Hardware replacement if failed
You Manage:
- Proxmox installation (or pay $50)
- Proxmox configuration/updates
- Guest VM support
- Backup management
- Software troubleshooting
We Manage:
- Proxmox installation & configuration
- Platform updates & patches
- Dedicated pfSense firewall
- Firewall rule management
- Security monitoring
- Platform support
You Control:
- VM creation & configuration
- Guest OS installation
- Application deployment
- Resource allocation
Available as configurable option during checkout
Hardware Specifications
Entry Tier (Intel N100): Energy-efficient 4-core processor consuming 8-12 watts under load, with 16GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD. Perfect for 4-8 lightweight VMs or 10-15 LXC containers. Fanless design means silent operation and no moving parts to fail.
Performance Tier (Intel i5-12450H): 8-core processor with 32GB RAM and 2TB NVMe SSD, consuming 15-25 watts. Handles more demanding workloads while maintaining low power consumption. Suitable for 8-12 VMs or mixed VM/container deployments.
Firewall Protection Options
Shared pfSense (Included): Multi-tenant pfSense platform with up to 5 basic firewall rules. Standard port filtering for HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, and custom ports. Rule changes processed via support ticket within 24-48 hours. Perfect for homelabs and development environments with straightforward security needs.
Dedicated VPS pfSense (+$25/month): Your own pfSense VM with unlimited rules, full admin access, VPN support (OpenVPN, WireGuard, IPsec), IDS/IPS capabilities (Suricata, Snort), and real-time configuration changes. Perfect for production environments, remote office connectivity, and security-conscious deployments.
Network Resources
Included Connectivity: 100Mbps unmetered bandwidth and 1 IPv4 address included with all plans. Perfect for web applications, API servers, development environments, and general business workloads.
Bandwidth Upgrades: Upgrade to 1Gbps (+$10/month) for high-traffic applications or 10Gbps (+$100/month) for content delivery and streaming services. All tiers include unlimited data transfer with no overage charges.
Additional IP Addresses: Add extra IPv4 addresses at $2/month each. Perfect for SSL certificates, service isolation, or multi-tenant hosting. No justification required for up to 5 additional IPs.
Use Cases
Development & Testing: Spin up multiple environments for application development, testing, and CI/CD pipelines. Low power consumption makes it cost-effective to run 24/7 development infrastructure.
Homelab & Learning: Learn virtualization, networking, and systems administration on real dedicated hardware. Run multiple operating systems, experiment with clustering, or build your own private cloud.
Small Business Infrastructure: Consolidate physical servers into VMs, run file servers, databases, and line-of-business applications. Reduce power consumption and cooling costs while maintaining control over your infrastructure.
Edge Computing: Deploy virtualized workloads at remote locations without the power and cooling requirements of traditional servers. Perfect for retail locations, remote offices, or distributed computing scenarios.
Technical Architecture
Dual 2.5GbE Network Interfaces: Each compact server includes two 2.5-gigabit Ethernet ports, allowing network segregation between management and production traffic or enabling high-availability configurations. The dual NICs support VLANs, bonding, and advanced routing scenarios.
NVMe Storage: High-performance NVMe solid-state drives deliver low-latency storage performance for VM boot times and disk-intensive workloads. The NVMe interface eliminates SATA bottlenecks, providing sustained throughput for database operations and file serving.
Remote Management (IPMI/KVM): Out-of-band management interface provides remote console access, power control, and hardware monitoring. Access BIOS settings, reinstall operating systems, or troubleshoot boot issues without physical datacenter access.
Power Efficiency Benefits
Cost Savings: At Knoxville's commercial electricity rates (~$0.10/kWh), an 8-watt server costs approximately $0.70/month in power versus $14-17/month for a traditional 200-watt server. Over a 36-month lifecycle, the power savings alone exceed $500 per server.
Environmental Impact: Reduce datacenter carbon footprint by 80-90% compared to traditional dedicated servers. Lower power consumption means reduced cooling requirements and improved datacenter efficiency.
Reliability: Fanless designs eliminate mechanical failure points. No fans means no dust accumulation, reduced maintenance, and longer hardware lifespan. Solid-state NVMe storage further improves reliability by eliminating spinning disks.
Service Boundaries
Self-Managed Plans: You receive dedicated hardware, network connectivity, and remote management access. You're responsible for Proxmox installation (or pay $50 for us to install), configuration, updates, VM management, and all software troubleshooting. We handle hardware maintenance and network infrastructure.
Managed Plans: We handle Proxmox platform management, pfSense firewall administration, security updates, and infrastructure monitoring. You maintain administrative access to create and manage VMs, but the underlying platform remains our responsibility. Perfect for teams who want to run applications without managing infrastructure.
Getting Started
Choose your hardware tier, select firewall protection, configure network resources, and optionally add management services during checkout. Setup typically completes within 3-5 business days. You'll receive remote management credentials and can begin deploying VMs immediately.
Questions About Compact Proxmox?
Not sure which configuration is right for you? Contact our team for guidance on hardware sizing, firewall requirements, and management options. We'll help you design the optimal setup for your workloads.
