Resilient virtualization for healthcare, bioinformatics, and AI

Proacta S.A., a Polish technology company specializing in healthcare, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence, migrated from VMware to Proxmox Virtual Environment and Proxmox Backup Server to gain predictable costs, reliable operations, and a stronger foundation for future growth.

The company develops software and technologies for medical research, laboratory diagnostics, and healthcare-related projects. Its virtualization environment supports approximately 100 virtual machines across business applications, development, data services, and core workloads for healthcare, bioinformatics, and AI-related projects.

For years, Proacta relied on its existing enterprise virtualization platform. While the environment was mature and familiar, rising licensing costs and uncertainty around future pricing made it increasingly difficult to maintain as a long-term strategy. Together with its long-standing IT partner Symbit, Proacta evaluated alternatives and selected Proxmox Virtual Environment and Proxmox Backup Server to gain a more predictable, resilient, and manageable infrastructure foundation.

The challenge: Cost control without disruption

The main driver for the project was to gain a more predictable cost model while maintaining the reliability of the existing production environment. The new platform had to support stable operations, reliable backup, and the flexibility to run mixed business, development, and application workloads.

Business continuity was the key requirement. The migration had to be planned in controlled phases, because critical systems could not be exposed to unnecessary risk or long service interruptions. This was particularly important for the Enterprise Resource Planning platform and other services supporting daily operations.

Symbit had supported the customer’s infrastructure for many years and knew the existing environment well. This helped the project team define a migration path that combined technical reliability, cost control, and manageable day-to-day operations.

Highly available, multi-site architecture

The new environment is built on a Proxmox VE cluster with 6 physical Supermicro servers distributed across 2 data-center locations to improve availability, resilience, and operational flexibility. The primary site runs 4 nodes, while the secondary site runs 2 nodes. To support stable cluster operation with the asymmetric 4/2 node distribution, the cluster uses a dedicated QDevice for quorum. Local ZFS storage pools on each nodes leverage ZFS replication to ensure fast, reliable data redundancy across sites. This architecture gives the customer a modern virtualization platform with integrated clustering, HA capabilities, efficient backup and recovery, and predictable subscription costs.

Controlled migration via Proxmox ESXi Import Wizard

The migration project began with planning in late September and was completed in mid-January. Instead of moving all workloads at once, Symbit followed a phased approach that allowed the team to validate each step and keep production services available throughout the transition.

For the move from the previous platform, the team used the Proxmox ESXi Import Wizard. This made it possible to start VMs on Proxmox VE while their disks were copied in the background, helping to minimize service interruption during migration.

Business-critical systems, including the ERP platform, were migrated during planned maintenance windows to ensure data consistency. As a result, the entire transition was completed without unplanned outages.

The final architecture includes:

• Virtualization & Compute: A Proxmox Virtual Environment cluster with 6 Supermicro nodes distributed across 2 locations (4/2 setup with a dedicated QDevice for quorum).
• Storage Architecture: Local ZFS storage with ZFS replication, supplemented by Infortrend SAS storage.
• Backup & Archiving: Dedicated Proxmox Backup Server integrated with tape archives for long-term retention.
• Scale & Workloads: Approximately 100 VMs (primarily Linux-based, including the core ERP system).

Most workloads are Linux-based, with the Enterprise Resource Planning platform as the main exception. This helps optimize operating system licensing costs while still supporting mixed workload requirements.

Lower costs and simpler operations

By moving to Proxmox solutions, the company could significantly reduce annual licensing costs and gained a more predictable cost structure. The migration also reduced dependence on proprietary licensing models and created a more flexible foundation for future infrastructure decisions.

Operationally, the IT team benefits from a stable platform, an intuitive management interface, integrated backup capabilities, and improved disaster recovery options. Day-to-day administration has become simpler, while the close integration between virtualization and backup supports a more consistent approach to infrastructure operations.

The successful migration also showed that a production environment can be modernized without major disruption. Completing the transition without unplanned outages was a central achievement of the project and an important proof point for the new platform.

Ready for the next phase of innovation

With Proxmox VE and Proxmox Backup Server in production, the company now has a virtualization platform that supports current workloads while leaving room for future expansion. Predictable support plans, flexible storage, integrated backup, and a resilient 2-location architecture provide a strong base for continued growth in healthcare, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence.

Together with Symbit, Proacta has moved beyond licensing uncertainty and built an infrastructure foundation that is easier to manage, better aligned with long-term business needs, and ready to support the next phase of innovation.

Krzysztof Radziuk
Technical Solutions Architect at Proacta S.A.

About Proacta S.A.
Proacta S.A. is a Polish technology company specializing in healthcare, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence solutions. The company develops software and technologies supporting medical research, laboratory diagnostics, and healthcare-related projects.

About Symbit
Symbit is Proacta’s long-standing IT partner and supported the planning and implementation of the migration to Proxmox Virtual Environment. The company helped design the new architecture, execute the phased migration, and implement the Proxmox Virtual Environment and Proxmox Backup Server environment.