Platform9 Private Cloud Director vs OpenMetal Hosted Private Cloud

OpenMetal is a leading provider of automated infrastructure, offering a fusion of private cloud, public cloud, and bare metal solutions. Their Hosted Private Cloud offering is built on OpenStack and Ceph, providing a robust and scalable platform for businesses of all sizes.

Key Features

OpenMetal’s Hosted Private Cloud offers a range of features designed to provide a powerful and flexible infrastructure:

• Dedicated hardware: Provides high performance and resource isolation.
• OpenStack and Ceph foundation: Built on industry-standard OpenStack which provides a full set of cloud computing services, and Ceph for scalable and reliable storage.
• Rapid 45 second deployment: Quick provisioning of dedicated hardware, allowing for fast deployment of infrastructure in any of their data centers.
• Hardware management: OpenMetal manages the underlying hardware, reducing operational overhead for customers.
• Commitment to open source: No license fees for customers, and commitment to the open source community and philosophy.

Pricing

OpenMetal offers flexible pricing models, including hourly billing and long-term agreements with up to a 5-year price lock. They also provide an egress pricing calculator to help users estimate their egress costs. This allows businesses to optimize their spending and avoid unexpected bills.

Support

OpenMetal’s support philosophy centers around close collaboration and mutual success. They provide dedicated support teams, including an account manager, account engineer, and executive sponsor, to ensure customer satisfaction. They also offer Slack for engineer-to-engineer support, fostering direct communication and quick resolution of issues.  

OpenMetal has been recognized for its exceptional support and customer service. For example, they have been praised for their “culture of aligning their team with our goals”. This commitment to customer success sets them apart from many other infrastructure providers.  

Use Cases

OpenMetal’s private cloud solutions are suitable for a wide range of industries and use cases, including:

• Hosting and public cloud providers: OpenMetal’s infrastructure and features are well-suited for hosting providers who need a scalable and reliable platform to offer cloud services to their customers.
• Colocation alternative: Colocating directly within a data center has traditionally offered several benefits, including greater control over hardware and potentially significant savings in the long term. However, it also comes with challenges including high initial and ongoing costs. OpenMetal’s hosted private cloud allows businesses to rapidly scale with low starting investment and minimal operational overhead.
• Large deployments: OpenMetal’s on-demand fleet and dedicated support team can handle complex infrastructure needs and large-scale deployments.

Platform9 offers a software-defined private cloud solution with its Private Cloud Director platform. Customers can manage their infrastructure across diverse environments, including on-premises data centers, edge locations, and public clouds. Their solution provides a unified control plane for managing Kubernetes and virtual machines, simplifying operations and reducing complexity, especially in hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

Key Features

Platform9 Private Cloud Director offers a range of private cloud management features:

• Unified management: Centralized control for Kubernetes and virtual machines across diverse infrastructure.
• Kubernetes management: Integrated Kubernetes lifecycle management, simplifying deployment and operations.
• Edge capabilities: Designed for deployment at the edge, supporting distributed infrastructure.
• Self-service provisioning: Enables users to provision resources on demand, improving agility.
• Monitoring and logging: Comprehensive monitoring and logging capabilities for infrastructure health and performance.

Pricing

Platform9 offers a dual-tiered approach to pricing. The Community Edition is a free, community-supported version suitable for testing and development, or for production use by capable IT teams. The Enterprise Edition is a subscription-based model with pricing based on the number of managed nodes and the features selected. This allows organizations to scale their investment according to their needs. You’ll need to contact Platform9 sales for detailed pricing information and custom quotes.

Support

Platform9 provides different support levels depending on the edition chosen. The Community Edition relies on community forums and documentation for support. The Enterprise Edition includes comprehensive support, featuring phone, email, and knowledge base access, along with a Platform9 hosted fully managed SaaS control plane. Platform9 emphasizes providing proactive support and expert guidance to ensure user success, and boasts very high customer satisfaction scores.

Use Cases

Platform9 is a good choice for various use cases, including:

• Hybrid cloud management: Organizations hoping to unify management of on-premises, edge, and public cloud infrastructure.
• VMware migration: Businesses looking to simplify and save money on their migration away from VMware.
• Edge computing: Companies deploying applications at the edge and requiring consistent management across distributed locations.
• Containerization initiatives: Organizations using Kubernetes and seeking a simplified management experience.
• Infrastructure consolidation: Businesses aiming to consolidate their infrastructure and reduce operational overhead.

OpenMetal and Platform9 are both viable and trusted options for building a private cloud, but they cater to different needs and preferences.

OpenMetal is a good choice when:

• You require dedicated, high-performance hardware but don’t want to purchase it yourself.
• You want to manage your own OpenStack environment, but want the hardware managed for you.
• You want predictable, subscription-based pricing for your infrastructure.
• You want your services to be hosted from multiple regions around the globe, or are looking to expand into new areas.

Platform9 is a good choice when:

• You have existing infrastructure you want to use.
• You need to deploy infrastructure at the edge.
• You want the option of a community-supported free tier.
• You need a unified management plane across many different environments.

OpenMetal and Platform9 offer distinct approaches to private cloud solutions. OpenMetal provides hosted private clouds with managed hardware, giving customers control over their OpenStack environment. Platform9, on the other hand, offers a flexible, software-defined private cloud that can be deployed across various environments, catering to organizations with diverse infrastructure needs. The choice between them depends on your needs and constraints, such as the level of management, deployment flexibility, and existing infrastructure.