Skip to main content

How to Add Storage Capacity on Proxmox

Please see the video above for more details, I did however want to leave the differences between each storage type below for your easy reference.

For a single secondary drive dedicated to running VMs/LXCs with local snapshots and Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) integration, LVM-Thin is the most ideal storage type.

Why LVM-Thin is the Best Fit​

  • Native, Instant Snapshots: Supports fast block-level snapshots and clones for both VMs and LXC containers without filesystem nesting overhead.
  • Storage Efficiency: Allocates space dynamically as VMs write data (thin provisioning), allowing efficient disk utilization.
  • Low Overhead & High IOPS: Operates directly at the block layer without the CPU, memory cache (ARC), or write-amplification penalties that single-disk ZFS incurs on consumer SSDs.
  • PBS Compatibility: PBS handles backups at the QEMU block dirty-bitmap layer, making it completely agnostic to whether you use LVM-Thin or ZFS.

How Other Options Compare​

  • LVM-Thin
    • Snapshots: ✔️ Native
    • PBS Backups: ✔️ Storage-agnostic dirty bitmap
    • Performance & Wear: Minimal overhead; low SSD write wear
    • Verdict: Best choice for a single drive.
  • Single-Disk ZFS
    • Snapshots: ✔️ Native
    • PBS Backups: ✔️ Supported
    • Performance & Wear: Higher RAM usage; high write amplification on non-enterprise SSDs
    • Verdict: Overkill for 1 drive (no RAID redundancy benefits to offset wear).
  • Directory (ext4/XFS)
    • Snapshots: ✔️ (Requires qcow2)
    • PBS Backups: ✔️ Supported
    • Performance & Wear: Extra filesystem layer overhead
    • Verdict: Good for storing ISOs/templates, but suboptimal for VM performance.
  • Standard LVM
    • Snapshots: ❌ No snapshots in PVE
    • PBS Backups: ✔️ Supported
    • Performance & Wear: Near zero overhead
    • Verdict: Avoid if you need snapshots.

Quick Setup in Proxmox VE Web UI​

  1. Go to your Node -> Disks -> LVM-Thin.
  2. Click Create: Thinpool.
  3. Select your secondary drive, name the volume group/pool (e.g., nvme-thin or data2), and click Create.
  4. The new storage pool will automatically appear under your node, ready for VM/LXC disks with full snapshot support.

Follow Us on Social Media​

YouTube
Discord
Apparel
Patreon
Reddit
Rumble