What’s the best way to set up shared file storage for a mix of VMs and containers, with snapshots and low monthly cost?

For a mix of VMs and containers, the best low-cost setup is usually a single Linux storage server exporting storage over the network, rather than trying to share disks directly between hosts.

Best overall choice

ZFS on a dedicated storage VM or small server

Use:

• ZFS for the filesystem/storage layer
• NFS for Linux VMs and containers
• SMB/Samba only if you also need Windows clients
• ZFS snapshots for cheap point-in-time backups/rollback

Why this is the best fit

• Snapshots are built in and very fast
• Low monthly cost: can run on one modest machine or a VPS with attached disks
• Works well for both VMs and containers
• Easy to manage compared with Ceph/Gluster
• Flexible: can present separate datasets for each VM/app/container

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Recommended architecture

Option A: Cheapest/simple, good for small to medium setups

One storage host

• Install Linux + ZFS
• Create datasets like:
  • tank/vm-images
  • tank/container-data
  • tank/shared
• Export them via:
  • NFS to Linux VMs/containers
  • SMB if needed for Windows

This is usually the best balance of cost and simplicity.

Option B: If you want block storage for some VMs

Use:

• ZFS
• iSCSI for VM disks
• NFS/SMB for file shares

This is useful if your hypervisor prefers block devices, but for most container and file workloads, NFS is simpler.

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Snapshot strategy

With ZFS you can do:

• Frequent snapshots for quick rollback
• Replication to another cheap machine or object storage for off-site backup

Example:

• Hourly snapshots for 24 hours
• Daily snapshots for 7–30 days
• Weekly snapshots for long-term retention

Important: snapshots are not backups. They protect against accidental deletion or bad deploys, but not against disk loss, theft, or ransomware on the storage host.

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Lowest-cost practical stack

If you want the cheapest useful setup:

• One x86 mini PC or small server
• 2 SSDs in mirror if budget allows, or 1 SSD + backups if not
• ZFS
• NFS
• WireGuard/VPN for remote access instead of exposing storage directly to the internet

If you’re in a cloud environment and want low cost:

• A small Linux VM
• Attached block volumes
• ZFS on top
• Export via NFS to your other VMs/containers

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What to avoid

Avoid these for your use case:

• Directly sharing one filesystem mount across multiple VMs using raw disk tricks
• Ceph unless you already have 3+ nodes and need high availability
• GlusterFS for small setups; it’s more complex and often less reliable than people expect
• Consumer cloud file shares if you need snapshots and good cost control; they can get expensive fast

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If you want the simplest answer

Use ZFS on one storage server and export it with NFS.
That gives you:

• shared access for VMs and containers
• snapshots
• low cost
• simple administration

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a budget hardware/cloud option list, or
2. a step-by-step setup guide for ZFS + NFS + snapshots.