Virtualization Platform Comparison

OpenIDCS supports 7 mainstream virtualization / container platforms. This page helps you pick the right one for your scenario.

🧭 One-Liner Recommendation

Goal	Recommended Platform
🐳 Deploy web / microservices / CI environments, fastest startup	Docker / Podman
📦 Run full Linux distros without VM overhead	LXC / LXD
🖥️ Desktop-level dev/test, need Windows / custom ISO	VMware Workstation
🏢 Enterprise production, need HA / cluster / storage migration	Proxmox VE / VMware ESXi
🪟 Pure Windows Server environment, no 3rd-party components	Windows Hyper-V
☁️ Integrate existing Qingzhou / QingCloud resources	Qingzhou

📋 Capability Matrix

Basic Capabilities

Platform	Type	Overhead	Boot Speed	Supported OS
Docker / Podman	App container	Very Low	Seconds	Linux (inside container)
LXC / LXD	System container	Very Low	Seconds	Linux
VMware Workstation	Type-2 Hypervisor	Medium	10–30s	All OS
VMware ESXi	Type-1 Hypervisor	Low	10–30s	All OS
Proxmox VE	KVM + LXC	Low	5–20s	All OS
Windows Hyper-V	Type-1 Hypervisor	Low	10–30s	All OS
Qingzhou	Public Cloud API	-	-	All OS

Feature Support Matrix

Based on actual adapters in OpenIDCS HostServer:

Feature	Docker/OCI	LXC/LXD	VMware WS	Proxmox	Hyper-V	ESXi	Qingzhou
VM Lifecycle	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Change Password VMPasswd	✅*	✅*	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Screenshot VMScreen	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Backup / Restore	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
List / Delete Backup	✅	✅	✅	⚠️	✅	✅	✅
Disk Mount / Unmount	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
ISO Mount	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Disk Check	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
Disk Migration	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌
PCI Passthrough	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
USB Passthrough	❌	❌	✅	✅	❌	✅	❌
VNC Console	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Web Terminal (ttyd)	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Note: * means changed via agent / external method; ⚠️ means partially supported.

Isolation Strength

Docker/Podman  ───────────●─────────────────→ Light (shared kernel)
LXC/LXD        ────────────●────────────────→ Medium (shared kernel + cgroup)
Hyper-V/ESXi   ────────────────────●────────→ Strong (hardware virtualization)
VMware WS/PVE  ────────────────────●────────→ Strong (hardware virtualization)
Qingzhou       ────────────────────────●────→ Multi-tenant isolation

🎯 Typical Scenarios

Scenario 1: SMB IT, Hybrid Environment

Recommended: Docker (container services) + Proxmox (core VMs)

graph LR
    OIDCS[OpenIDCS]
    OIDCS --> D[Docker: Web/API]
    OIDCS --> P[Proxmox: Core VMs]
    OIDCS --> D2[LXC: Dev Envs]

Scenario 2: IDC Transitioning to Virtualization Sales

Recommended: Proxmox + LXD

• Proxmox for KVM VMs (sold to users needing full Linux / Windows)
• LXD for container plans (cheaper, higher density)
• OpenIDCS integrates with zjmf billing for automatic provisioning / suspend / renewal

Scenario 3: R&D / Education

Recommended: VMware Workstation (local) or LXC / LXD (lightweight)

• Workstation: students can snapshot/rollback anytime, run Windows labs
• LXC: 3–5x higher density on the same hardware

Scenario 4: Pure Windows Server

Recommended: Hyper-V

• No 3rd-party hypervisor needed
• Deeply integrated with AD / WinRM / PowerShell
• OpenIDCS manages it via PS scripts

🏗️ Architecture Differences

Idle Resource Footprint

Platform	Memory	CPU	Disk
Docker Engine	~100 MB	<1%	~500 MB
LXD	~150 MB	<1%	~300 MB
VMware Workstation	~400 MB	1–3%	~2 GB
Proxmox VE	~800 MB	1–3%	~4 GB
Hyper-V	~500 MB	1–2%	~3 GB
ESXi	~1.5 GB	2–5%	Dedicated

Management Protocols

Platform	Protocol	Port	Auth
Docker / Podman	HTTPS (REST)	2376	Mutual TLS
LXC / LXD	HTTPS (REST)	8443	Mutual TLS
VMware Workstation	HTTPS (REST)	8697	Basic Auth
Proxmox VE	HTTPS (REST)	8006	Token / PAM
Hyper-V	WinRM (PS)	5985/5986	NTLM / Kerberos
ESXi	HTTPS (SOAP)	443	vSphere account
Qingzhou	HTTPS (REST)	443	AccessKey

📖 Detailed Configuration Docs

• 🐳 Docker / Podman
• 📦 LXC / LXD
• 🖥️ VMware Workstation
• 🏢 Proxmox VE
• 🌐 VMware vSphere ESXi
• 🪟 Windows Hyper-V
• ☁️ Qingzhou

Next

• 📖 Read Introduction to understand OpenIDCS positioning
• 🚀 Pick a platform and jump to its doc to Quick Start