Question about Proxmox VE stretched cluster between two datacenters

Question about Proxmox VE stretched cluster between two datacenters

[Iván Méndez Cairós]

Hello everyone,

We would like to know if it is possible to implement a stretched cluster with Proxmox VE in the following scenario:

  *   Two datacenters (Production and Backup/DR)
  *   Same infrastructure on both sites
  *   Dedicated virtualization servers on both datacenters
  *   Dedicated storage arrays on both datacenters
  *   High Availability between both sites
  *   Automatic failover between datacenters

The idea is that, if the main datacenter goes down completely, the backup datacenter automatically continues providing the services without manual intervention.

Is this possible with Proxmox VE?
If so, what would be the recommended architecture or best practices for this kind of deployment?

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Iván

Re: Question about Proxmox VE stretched cluster between two datacenters

[Max R. Carrara]

On Thu Jun 11, 2026 at 12:17 PM CEST, Iván Méndez Cairós wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> We would like to know if it is possible to implement a stretched cluster with Proxmox VE in the following scenario:
>
>   *   Two datacenters (Production and Backup/DR)
>   *   Same infrastructure on both sites
>   *   Dedicated virtualization servers on both datacenters
>   *   Dedicated storage arrays on both datacenters
>   *   High Availability between both sites
>   *   Automatic failover between datacenters
>
> The idea is that, if the main datacenter goes down completely, the backup datacenter automatically continues providing the services without manual intervention.
>
> Is this possible with Proxmox VE?
> If so, what would be the recommended architecture or best practices for this kind of deployment?
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Iván

Hi Iván!

Yes, that is indeed possible with Proxmox VE + Ceph. PVE tightly
integrates Ceph, resulting in a fully hyper-converged infrastructure
(HCI). The "stretch cluster" is what you want, and we do in fact have a
guide on that:

https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Stretch_Cluster

Note that in a HCI cluster storage and compute aren't separated as with
"traditional" setups, so you generally wouldn't have dedicated
virtualization servers and dedicated storage arrays. You probably know
this already, but I wanted to mention it nevertheless.

More on HCI here:

https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Hyper-converged_Infrastructure

So, to address your points individually:

>   *   Two datacenters (Production and Backup/DR)

Done with Ceph with appropriate CRUSH rules, but you do need a third
location for a tie-breaker node (see the stretch cluster guide above).

What's also possible is having three datacenters instead, but I assume
that's not within your budget. ;)

>   *   Same infrastructure on both sites

Yeah, that works excellently with the stretch cluster setup.

There are no restrictions when it comes to hardware, network topology,
etc., so how *exactly* you define your infrastructure is up to you.

>   *   Dedicated virtualization servers on both datacenters
>   *   Dedicated storage arrays on both datacenters

As mentioned earlier, storage and compute aren't separated anymore; all
nodes work as compute and storage nodes. That means no "storage boxes"
etc.

This might seem a bit strange / unfamiliar to some, but the main benefit
is that you can scale up super easily. Ceph performs better the more
nodes and OSDs you add and, with appropriate configuration (CRUSH rules
etc.), ensures that your data is replicated across both datacenters.

The exact configuration is up to you, but the stretch cluster guide does
show how you can have two replicas per location -- meaning that each
datacenter contains two copies of your data.

>   *   High Availability between both sites
>   *   Automatic failover between datacenters

Done with our HA Manager: https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/High_Availability

So yes, if one datacenter were to go down for some reason, the other one
would just continue chugging along, no manual intervention required.

That should answer all of your questions, I think. Hope that helps!

Best regards,
Max