Modern manufacturing requires more than just machinery. It demands a flawlessly operating IT system. For a small manufacturing enterprise in Poland, reliability became a critical issue: three aging local servers running Windows Server 2016 were physically obsolete, and the risk of a sudden business process shutdown had become too high. INTROSERV engineers and system administrators implemented a project to fully virtualize this environment using the Proxmox VE hypervisor, ensuring a seamless migration of mission-critical services.
Objectives
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Stability: Transitioning from worn-out local hardware to an enterprise-class server in a Tier-III Data Center.
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Security: Isolating the internal network using a software router and establishing secure VPN communication channels.
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Manageability: Centralizing management of all resources and automating backup processes.
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Cost Efficiency: Shifting the IT infrastructure to an OPEX model, eliminating costs related to hardware procurement, on-site engineers, and local maintenance.
Results
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Minimal Downtime Migration: The infrastructure was migrated without halting production processes and with minimal IT downtime.
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Improved RTO/RPO: Recovery time in the event of a failure or the need to restore data was reduced from dozens of hours to mere minutes, thanks to the implementation of Proxmox Backup Server.
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Enhanced Security: All RDP traffic is now encapsulated within a WireGuard VPN, eliminating brute-force attack risks on Windows services.
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Optimization: Three physical units were replaced by a single powerful server based on a modern hardware platform.
The Context
Initially, the client maintained a classic fleet of three servers running Windows Server 2016. These hosted:
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Active Directory: A domain controller managing rights and access.
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RDP farm: Workstations for office and production staff.
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File storage and database.
The equipment was located directly at the production facility in a dedicated server room. The existing power redundancy could only handle brief outages, and cooling was limited to a basic ventilation system.
Infrastructure Configuration
New Architecture:
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Hypervisor: Proxmox VE.
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Virtual Machines: 3 migrated Windows Server 2016 images.
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Network Gateway: Mikrotik CHR software router at the entry point.
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Security: WireGuard VPN for employee access.
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Backup System: Dedicated Proxmox Backup Server with data deduplication.
The Challenge
The primary difficulty in such scenarios is hardware compatibility. Active Directory and Microsoft licensing systems are highly sensitive to changes in hardware identifiers. Without proper hypervisor configuration, the first boot of a virtualized system often fails.
A fresh installation was not an option: years of operation had resulted in a massive accumulation of specific settings, access permissions, and linked accounts. Any migration error would prevent employees from logging in, effectively paralyzing business operations. Maintaining continuous business processes required extensive planning and the selection of the right migration tools.
The Solution
Our system administrators utilized a P2V methodology using Microsoft’s Disk2vhd combined with rigorous preparation:
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Pre-migration Preparation: We performed an Active Directory health check, created a system state backup, and recorded network settings and MAC addresses for subsequent transfer.
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Image Creation: Using Disk2vhd with the Volume Shadow Copy option, we created full images of the live systems without requiring downtime.
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Migration to Proxmox: VHD images were converted to the qcow2 format. Virtual machines were initially configured with IDE/SATA controllers and emulated network adapters to ensure compatibility during the first boot.
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Post-migration Optimization: Once AD functionality was verified, VirtIO paravirtualized drivers were installed to boost disk and network performance.
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Network Topology: A virtual switch was configured within Proxmox. Only the software router is directly connected to the public interface. RDP servers are only accessible after establishing a WireGuard connection, making the infrastructure "invisible" to port scanners.
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PBS Implementation: A dedicated backup server was configured. Through Proxmox and PBS integration, INTROSERV administrators enabled block-level incremental backups, allowing the entire infrastructure to be backed up in minutes.
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Monitoring: Finally, Zabbix-based monitoring was configured for all virtual instances, as well as the Proxmox VE and PBS hosts.
Technological Partnership: Driving Business through IT Expertise
The migration to Proxmox VE allowed this small Polish enterprise to obtain Enterprise-level IT infrastructure for the cost of a single server rental. The updated infrastructure provided by INTROSERV ensures:
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Total Data Integrity: All AD settings and RDP sessions remained intact while running on modern hardware with NVMe storage.
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Independence: The company no longer needs to maintain physical hardware; management is handled via a web interface, and hardware uptime is the responsibility of the hosting provider.
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Fault Tolerance: The new server is housed in a data center with guaranteed power and cooling. In the event of a failure, the system can be restored almost instantly.
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Infrastructure Optimization: Moving away from purchasing and maintaining proprietary servers resulted in a reduction of annual IT costs by approximately 30%.
Do you want to move your infrastructure to a modern virtualization platform without risking your business? We are ready to audit your servers and prepare a migration plan. Contact us to discuss your project!
