Afaik, publishing the metrics you’ve listed would probably count towards a survey paper or as part of a paper where existing state is described. Getting a PhD with just a survey paper isn’t something I’ve heard of. To publish a paper at a PhD level, you’ll have to either contribute an improvement over an existing state or come up with a breakthrough idea (with metrics to back it up of course).
It would help readers get a better grip of your ask if the problem statement is clearly stated.
Based on your questions, this should help:
I don’t think proxmox is free. Try docker / kind (k8s).
Well, Proxmox VE itself is free. But with their subscription plans, the main difference is that the enterprise repositories are tested, unlike the normal ones you get with the free tier.