Mairie de Rouen

Why Proxmox VE ?

CIO at the Mairie de RouenPierre Dedieu explains why and how the choice was made in favor of Proxmox VE and, among the many reasons, our interlocutor first mentions the economic aspect and more specifically the increase in the prices of their proprietary virtualization solution “ First of all, between what it costs us compared to what it pays us, the balance is poor and then with their recent evolution, there is an explosion in their prices and a decrease in the functionalities that are delivered in their basic product. For example, being able to compress, which is essential, now costs an additional license with our proprietary virtualization solution »

A strategic choice

The challenge was to find a cost-effective virtualization system that was compatible with Oracle in particular. The risk, as Pierre Dedieu explains, was “ to be liable
for an Oracle license for each processor of the infrastructure when only a small part allows Oracle to run (…) In addition Oracle offered us paid cloud and therefore to put our databases virtually outside. All this increased from a budget of 23 000€/year to 300 000€/year ». The
Open Source Virtualization Solution Proxmox VE It has therefore emerged as the best way to circumvent this licensing and overhead problem, while providing guarantees of compatibility with Oracle. You have to know that Proxmox VEHowever, this is what Oracle is using for its virtualization part, and this is what Oracle is trying to sell. The system actually runs its machines on KVM. Which is the same technical foundation that is used Proxmox VEWhich is rather reassuring. »

“The expertise of téïcee on Proxmox VE was a plus”

The solution Proxmox VE seemed very interesting in several respects but, as Pierre DEDIEU points out, he lacked the expertise and support to get started and it is at this level that téïcée came into play " i just searched via Proxmox VE which service companies had the certification on the product and that's how i came across téïcée (…) The expertise of teïcee on Proxmox VE was a plus (…) We were looking for expertise on the product to have some kind of insurance in case of difficulty, to have assistance, so that we could be fixed quickly. What's called MCO, operational readiness. ».
Support was also crucial to quickly switch physical infrastructure to virtual infrastructure Proxmox VE.

Accompanying the téïcée which has been particularly appreciated seems to give way to lasting collaboration as Pierre Dedieu would like to point out, “ At the beginning of the year, the assistance that had been used was renewed for an additional year, and that is expected to continue. ». Moreover, Pierre Dedieu explains that the IT department of the City of Rouen is being pooled with that of the metropolis, which ultimately involves a redesign of teams and rooms. Other assistance projects requiring the expertise of téïcée are therefore conceivable and all the more so since the expertise related to Open Source is still so rare.