Setting up a Proxmox server feels a bit like building your own spaceship in the garage. Every decision you make — from hardware to storage backend — can be the difference between a smooth launch or getting stuck in orbit with performance headaches. If you’re diving into the world of virtual machines and containers, there’s one decision that consistently trips people up: picking between ZFS and LVM-Thin.

You’re definitely not alone here — forums are jam-packed with debates, anecdotes, and the occasional horror story about these two options. Sure, both offer snapshots and flexibility, but that’s about where the similarities end. Let’s look at what real users are saying about each one so you can make an informed call for your own setup.

Imagine this scenario: you’ve installed Proxmox onto a speedy SSD, and you’re staring at that pristine 4TB SSD you bought to hold your VMs and containers. It’s all potential energy, waiting to turn into something awesome — a home lab, a test environment, or maybe a mini data center in your closet.

Before you start spinning up VMs, you need to choose how to format that disk. It’s not just a setup wizard checkbox. This decision is going to shape your…