OpenMetal Cloud IaaS Resources

OpenMetal delivers its infrastructure through its co-location in three state of the art data centers. Businesses in these locations around the world can benefit from OpenMetal’s IaaS offering.

Our resources cover various business aspects of using OpenMetal Cloud for infrastructure delivered as hosted private cloud, object storage, and bare metal.

Our documentation for technical teams using or running the cloud is under our Technical Documentation.

The content here is generally intended for:

  • CTOs or other executives deciding if they will use an OpenMetal Cloud Core and any Expansion Nodes.
  • Technical Researchers that are developing a plan for introducing the use of a private cloud to their company.
  • General researchers of private clouds that need more information.

New to OpenMetal?

Explore the power of your own cloud. See it in action as a hosted private cloud, for SaaS companies, for hosting and cloud providers, for managed service providers, and much more. Check out transparent pricing, and even try a free trial.

Fundamental Advantage of Using OpenMetal

Your cloud uses private cloud resource management as it is fundamentally better for you.

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Cost Tipping Points

Cost Tipping Points of Public Cloud

As deployments grow, traditional public cloud becomes more and more expensive.

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Top Hosted Private Cloud Posts

The following articles discuss the advantages of private cloud hosting with OpenMetal.

 

Top Bare Metal Use Cases on OpenMetal

The following articles delve into some of the use cases that can be deployed on OpenMetal bare metal dedicated servers.

 

Top Bare Metal Hardware

The following articles delve into hardware details for OpenMetal bare metal servers.

 

Top OpenStack Posts

The following articles discuss use of On-Demand OpenStack with OpenMetal.

 

Top SaaS Provider Posts

The following articles discuss software-as-a-services (SaaS) providers’ uses of cloud with OpenMetal.

 

Top Education and Training Posts

The following articles are popular OpenStack learning resources. 

 

Top Partner and Reseller Posts

The following articles provide insight into selling OpenStack clouds through OpenMetal.

 

 

Use the articles above to explore the power of OpenMetal to deliver On-Demand OpenStack and Hosted Private Cloud. Check out transparent pricing. Or even request a trial. If you are not sure what you need, or have unique needs, schedule a complimentary consultation with our Cloud Team for assistance.

New Blog Content

Jan
21

Proxmox Storage Architecture on Bare Metal: Ceph vs. ZFS Decision Guide

A technical comparison of Ceph and ZFS storage architectures for Proxmox bare metal deployments. Covers distributed vs local storage trade-offs, hardware requirements, performance characteristics, operational complexity, and decision frameworks based on cluster size and workload requirements.

Jan
20

Cloud Native Architecture Goes Beyond Kubernetes and Containers

Learn why cloud native means more than just containers and Kubernetes. Discover how OpenStack-based private cloud delivers true infrastructure portability, vendor independence, and declarative automation better than hyperscalers. Includes practical patterns for building portable cloud native applications.

Jan
19

Distributed SQL on Bare Metal: Why HTAP Databases Benefit from Dedicated Infrastructure

HTAP databases are highly sensitive to latency, network variance, and storage performance. This article explains why bare metal infrastructure provides predictable performance, operational clarity, and cost stability for running distributed SQL systems at scale.

Jan
16

Choosing Your Next Infrastructure Provider After Equinix Metal

Equinix Metal ends service in June 2026. This comprehensive guide helps teams evaluate replacement infrastructure by philosophy rather than features. Includes decision frameworks, migration timelines, and key questions to ask providers to avoid another EOL event.

Jan
16

Infrastructure Cost Audits: The Red Flags That Repeat Across SaaS Portfolios

Infrastructure cost audits uncover the same hidden risks across SaaS portfolios: spend volatility, networking blind spots, AI inference drift, and tool sprawl. This Runway Intelligence briefing shows how operating partners and VCs use audits to protect margins, runway, and valuation.

Jan
16

Comparing Nutanix vs OpenMetal for Large-Scale Infrastructure

Nutanix offers integrated hyperconverged infrastructure with polished management tools but requires complex licensing and creates vendor lock-in. OpenMetal provides open source alternatives with 45-second deployment, fixed pricing, and no licensing fees through hosted OpenStack or bare metal servers.

Jan
14

Building Zero-Trust Network Security on OpenStack with Microsegmentation

Learn how to implement zero-trust networking on OpenStack private clouds using Neutron security groups for microsegmentation. Covers OVN performance optimization, automated policy management with Terraform, compliance mapping for PCI-DSS and HIPAA, and operational patterns for production deployments.

Jan
13

Chennai – Private Cloud and Bare Metal Dedicated Servers

OpenMetal offers private cloud, bare metal dedicated servers, and colo out of their data center near Chennai, India

Jan
13

Managing OpenStack Infrastructure with GitOps Workflows

Manual OpenStack management is risky. This guide adapts Kubernetes-style GitOps for infrastructure, covering Terraform setup, tool selection (Atlantis vs. Flux), secret management, and patterns for scaling multi-environment deployments efficiently.

Jan
09

Does OpenMetal have bare metal servers with 1TB or more of RAM?

OpenMetal offers bare metal dedicated server configurations with 1 TB (1024 GB) of RAM or more in multiple compute-heavy server tiers.

Jan
09

Does OpenMetal have bare metal servers with Intel Xeon Gold 6530 processors?

OpenMetal has bare metal dedicated server configurations built on dual 5th Gen Intel Xeon Gold 6530 processors.

Jan
09

The Infrastructure Needed for a Successful VMware to Proxmox Migration

Moving off VMware? Infrastructure planning comes first. This article breaks down specific hardware requirements for Proxmox, including CPU core counts, RAM formulas for Ceph storage, and essential network architecture to ensure your new cluster matches VMware’s performance and stability.

Jan
08

Singapore Private Cloud, Bare Metal Servers, GPU Servers – Data Center and Colo

Singapore and APAC based businesses benefit from hosting their applications on OpenMetal’s dedicated servers and cloud infrastructure located in the heart of Singapore.

Jan
07

Building PCI DSS Compliant Infrastructure for Payment Processors

Payment processors need infrastructure that passes PCI DSS 4.0.1 audits efficiently. This guide explains how infrastructure architecture impacts compliance scope, why dedicated hardware with physical network segmentation reduces systems requiring remediation, and how OpenMetal’s bare metal and private cloud support the 12 PCI requirements through certified data centers, dedicated VLANs, and fixed-cost deployment.

Jan
05

How to Prepare Your BNB Chain Infrastructure for 20,000 TPS

BNB Chain’s 2026 roadmap targets 20,000 transactions per second with new Rust-based clients and Scalable DB architecture. Node operators need to understand the dual-client strategy, hardware requirements, and infrastructure implications. Learn how to prepare your validators and nodes for this scale.

Dec
30

Forrester Predicts Two Major Cloud Outages in 2026

Research firm Forrester predicts at least two major multi-day hyperscaler outages will hit in 2026 as AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud prioritize AI infrastructure upgrades over aging legacy systems. Here’s what infrastructure leaders need to know about reducing dependency and building resilience.

Dec
19

Ceph vs MinIO: Choosing the Right Object Storage Solution

Choosing between Ceph and MinIO for object storage? This guide compares both solutions to help you make the right decision. Ceph offers unified storage with deep OpenStack integration, while MinIO delivers exceptional performance for Kubernetes-native workloads. Explore use cases and benefits.

Dec
18

What Is a Virtual Data Center and Is It Right for Your Workloads?

Virtual data centers provide cloud-based infrastructure through shared, virtualized resources. While they work well for certain use cases, hosted private cloud solutions like OpenMetal offer dedicated hardware, predictable performance, and fixed costs that better suit high-performance and production workloads.

Dec
15

FinOps for AI Gets Easier with Fixed Monthly Infrastructure Costs

AI workload costs hit $85,521 monthly in 2025, up 36% year-over-year, while 94% of IT leaders struggle with cost optimization. Variable hyperscaler billing creates 30-40% monthly swings that make financial planning impossible. Fixed-cost infrastructure with dedicated GPUs eliminates this volatility.

Dec
11

Why DePIN Compute Networks Require Bare Metal Infrastructure To Function Correctly

Render Network, Akash, io.net, and Gensyn nodes fail on AWS because virtualization breaks hardware attestation. DePIN protocols need cryptographic proof of physical GPUs and hypervisors mask the identities protocols verify. This guide covers why bare metal works, real operator economics, and setup.

Dec
09

When Self Hosting Vector Databases Becomes Cheaper Than SaaS

AI startups hit sticker shock when Pinecone bills jump from $50 to $3,000/month. This analysis reveals the exact tipping point where self-hosting vector databases on OpenMetal becomes cheaper than SaaS. Includes cost comparisons, migration guides for Qdrant/Weaviate/Milvus, and real ROI timelines.

Dec
08

The Great Cloud Rebalance: Why Smart Portfolios Are Diversifying Infrastructure

Late-stage startups and venture capital portfolios are moving away from single-provider cloud strategies toward hybrid and multi-cloud models. Learn why infrastructure cost predictability matters more than absolute spend, how cloud diversification reduces financial risk, and what steps CFOs and CTOs can take to rebalance workloads strategically for better margins and valuations.

Dec
05

How to Choose Between OpenMetal’s Five Hardware Generations for Hosted Private Cloud and Bare Metal Deployments

OpenMetal offers five hardware generations across hosted private cloud and bare metal deployments. This guide breaks down the specs, performance differences, and use cases for each generation from V1’s foundation infrastructure to V4’s latest enterprise hardware, helping you choose the right configuration for development, production, or hybrid workloads.

Dec
03

How to Build a Confidential RAG Pipeline That Guarantees Data Privacy

Overcome the trust barrier in enterprise AI. This guide details how to deploy vector databases within Intel TDX Trust Domains on OpenMetal. Learn how Gen 5 hardware isolation and private networking allow you to run RAG pipelines on sensitive data while keeping it inaccessible to the provider.

Dec
02

Why Running Cilium with eBPF on Bare Metal Outperforms Virtualized Overlay Networks

Are overlay networks killing your Kubernetes performance? Discover why running Cilium on OpenMetal bare metal outperforms virtualized clouds. We provide a technical guide on switching to Direct Routing, configuring Jumbo Frames, and leveraging dedicated hardware to maximize eBPF efficiency.

Dec
01

Predictability Is the New Efficiency: Why Late-Stage Startups Need Capacity, Not Chaos

Late-stage startups face a critical challenge: cloud cost unpredictability destroys valuations faster than inefficiency. When infrastructure bills swing 30-40% monthly without warning, finance teams can’t forecast burn rates, boards lose confidence in projections, and funding rounds become harder. Discover how the private capacity model delivers predictable infrastructure economics through fixed-cost OpenStack solutions, enabling Series C-E companies to stabilize unit economics, strengthen investor confidence, and make strategic growth decisions without fear of surprise costs.

Nov
26

Benchmarking Intel Xeon Gen 5 Performance for High Density Workloads

Maximize density with 5th Gen Intel Xeon. We benchmark OpenMetal’s Large V4 servers to reveal 21% better compute, 14x faster AI inference via AMX, and secure confidential computing with TDX. Eliminate the GPU tax and future-proof I/O.

Nov
25

Defining Success Criteria for Your Private Cloud Proof of Concept

Don’t let your migration be part of the 83% failure rate. This guide outlines 5 technical success criteria for your Private Cloud PoC from p99 latency to financial modeling, and includes a 4-week execution timeline to validate your “Public Cloud Exit” strategy.

Nov
24

Building HIPAA-Compliant Email Infrastructure: Why Healthcare Can’t Use Gmail or Office 365

Healthcare organizations using Gmail or Office 365 face HIPAA violations from encryption gaps, BAA limitations, and audit failures. Consumer email services cost $37-65/user/month for partial compliance. Building dedicated email infrastructure on OpenMetal saves 40% while ensuring full control.

Nov
20

OpenMetal Doubles Public Bandwidth Allowance Across All Hardware Tiers

OpenMetal is doubling included public bandwidth across all hardware tiers at no additional cost. XXL and XL servers now include 4Gbps per server (up from 2Gbps), Large servers get 2Gbps (up from 1 Gbps), Medium servers get 1Gbps (up from 500Mbps), and Small servers receive 400Mbps (up from 200Mbps). The upgrade eliminates bandwidth constraints for high-traffic applications.

Nov
19

10 Workloads AWS Makes Frustratingly Difficult

AWS blocks or restricts legitimate workloads like bulk email, security research, and blockchain nodes. These arbitrary limits force businesses to seek approval for basic operations. OpenMetal provides unrestricted bare metal infrastructure where your legitimate workload won’t face suspension.

Nov
17

Choosing Between Ceph Dual and Triple Replication for Production Workloads

Replica 2 or replica 3? The answer may not affect you as much as you think. Neither protects against the data loss scenarios that actually happen in production. Learn why you need a separate backup cluster regardless of replica count and how OpenMetal’s fixed pricing makes it affordable where hyperscalers make it cost-prohibitive.

Nov
14

OpenMetal and ModulesGarden Partner Up to Advance OpenStack Adoption Across WHMCS Businesses

OpenMetal and ModulesGarden turn OpenStack from a complex idea into an accessible, revenue-ready platform. OpenMetal delivers production-ready OpenStack clouds in hours, while ModulesGarden enables seamless packaging and management through WHMCS—empowering service providers to compete with hyperscalers without hyperscaler budgets.

Nov
11

Build a Secure Penetration Testing Lab with On-Demand Private Cloud Infrastructure

Public cloud providers like AWS and GCP will suspend your account for running honeypots, malware analysis, or penetration testing. Security researchers need dedicated infrastructure with nested isolation. Learn how to build a “sandbox-within-a-sandbox” lab using infrastructure VLANs and OpenStack VPCs.

Nov
10

The Replatforming Dilemma: When VMware and Hyperscalers Both Cost Too Much

Your infrastructure choice isn’t just technical—it’s financial. Broadcom’s VMware transformation and hyperscaler billing opacity create margin compression exactly when late-stage startups need improving unit economics. Open infrastructure provides the third path.

Nov
10

Why Hyperscalers Won’t Let You Build an Email Service on Their Infrastructure

Hyperscalers like AWS and GCP block custom email services, pushing you to their metered APIs. Learn why this conflict of interest hurts your business and how to build a scalable, high-volume email platform on OpenMetal’s dedicated hardware with BYOIP, private networking, and no sending limits.

Nov
06

Storage Migration from VMware to OpenStack + Ceph: Tips, Tools & Pitfalls

Learn how to migrate storage from VMware ESXi/vSAN to OpenStack with Ceph. Covers VMDK conversion tools, benchmarking, data validation, and common pitfalls to avoid.

Nov
06

Why Enterprise Workloads Need BYOIP Support That Hyperscalers Can’t Provide

Hyperscalers lock you in by owning your IP addresses. Moving infrastructure means updating firewall rules, losing email reputation, and coordinating DNS changes across partners. BYOIP gives you control over your network identity. Learn why this matters for multi-region, hybrid, and enterprise workloads.

Nov
04

Operational Visibility: When Infrastructure Predictability Isn’t Just Cost, It’s Reliability

Most cloud platforms promised predictability but delivered predictable bills, not predictable performance. True infrastructure reliability requires operational visibility—baseline latency, IO consistency, and debuggable systems. Learn why visibility isn’t a luxury—it’s the prerequisite for stability at scale.

Nov
04

Why Run Proxmox VE on OpenMetal Bare Metal Infrastructure?

Deploying Proxmox VE on OpenMetal bare metal eliminates virtualization licensing costs while providing enterprise features like HA clustering and live migration. Organizations achieve 50%+ savings versus public cloud with predictable monthly pricing. Dedicated hardware delivers consistent performance without resource contention, making this combination ideal for production workloads, database consolidation, and VMware migrations.

Nov
03

Your Cloud Bill Isn’t Just a Number, It’s Your Gross Margin in Disguise

Your cloud bill isn’t just an expense—it’s margin you can recover. See how infrastructure decisions directly impact gross margin, burn rate, and valuation for late-stage SaaS companies

Nov
03

Deciding Between Local Storage and Ceph Network Storage

Choosing between local storage and Ceph network storage isn’t just technical. It impacts your budget, performance, and uptime. Learn when raw speed matters more than redundancy, why some apps pay for replication twice, and how to scale efficiently without over-provisioning hardware you don’t need.

Oct
31

How to Choose Between Cloud Repatriation and Hybrid Expansion: A Framework for Modern Infrastructure Strategy

The “cloud first” era has given way to “cloud right.” With 21% of workloads already repatriated and 70% of organizations running hybrid architectures, the question isn’t where to run infrastructure—it’s which environment makes economic and technical sense for each workload.

Oct
29

From Spectre to Sanctuary: How CPU Vulnerabilities Sparked the Confidential Computing Revolution

The 2018 Spectre, Meltdown, and Foreshadow vulnerabilities exposed fundamental CPU flaws that shattered assumptions about hardware isolation. Learn how these attacks sparked the confidential computing revolution and how OpenMetal enables Intel TDX on enterprise bare metal infrastructure.

Oct
29

The Role of OpenMetal’s Private Cloud Core Options in Every Stage of Your Business

OpenMetal offers six server tiers (XS through XXL) running identical OpenStack and Ceph architectures. This consistency eliminates replatforming friction as you scale from proof-of-concept through enterprise production, allowing workloads to migrate between tiers without architectural changes.

Oct
28

Why Smart Companies Own Their Own Cloud – Insights from Software Defined Talk

OpenMetal’s Director of Cloud Systems Architecture, Yuriy Shyyan, exposes the hidden costs and “timeshare” tactics of public cloud providers on Software Defined Talk. Learn why billion-dollar companies rely on their own fixed-cost, open source infrastructure and how you can make the strategic move to private cloud and regain control.

Oct
27

Lowering Redundancy in Development for Cost Savings on Staging Environments

Learn how to reduce staging and development infrastructure costs by 30-50% through granular Ceph storage redundancy control. OpenMetal’s bare metal private cloud lets you configure replica 2 or erasure coding for non-production workloads while maintaining replica 3 for production, directly cutting hardware requirements.

Oct
23

Why Over-Provisioning on OpenMetal is a Feature, Not a Bug

Discover why over-provisioning on OpenMetal’s dedicated hardware isn’t wasteful, it’s a strategic advantage. Fixed monthly pricing means unused capacity costs nothing extra, enabling 4:1 CPU over-subscription, unlimited VLANs, and lower-redundancy storage that maximize ROI for bursty CI/CD workloads.

Oct
22

Building a HIPAA-Compliant Healthcare Data Lake With Ceph Storage

Healthcare organizations need infrastructure that can handle petabyte-scale medical imaging and clinical data while meeting HIPAA’s strict security requirements. Learn how OpenMetal’s Ceph-based storage delivers unified block, object, and file storage with comprehensive audit logging, encryption, and access controls all with fixed monthly pricing that eliminates unpredictable cloud storage costs.

Oct
21

Building Multi-Site High Availability Infrastructure With OpenMetal

Discover how to architect multi-site high availability infrastructure that maintains continuous operation across geographic locations. This comprehensive guide covers OpenStack deployment patterns, Ceph storage replication, networking strategies, and cost-effective approaches to achieving five nines uptime.

Additional Resources

Account Management

If you are a current customer and need to connect with your account manager or dedicated support engineer, please log in to your OpenMetal Central account and navigate to the Account Services section. 

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Pricing Estimator

Are you new to OpenMetal and need to estimate or compare costs? We stand for transparent pricing free of hidden costs and unnecessary license fees. Check out our online Pricing Estimator and then contact us if you have any questions. 

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Cloud Core

Hyper-converged 3 server cluster supplies all the top OpenMetal features in a highly available configuration – all in 45 seconds. 

Expansion Nodes

Grow your cloud with flexible building blocks.

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Storage Clusters

High performance, simple pricing, fair egress.

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Companies already create vast amounts of data every day, and the growing usage of big data and AI is now skyrocketing the need for robust, scalable storage solutions. Two popular platforms are Ceph and AWS S3. Both offer capable solutions for managing and storing large amounts of data. However their architectures, capabilities, and use cases differ quite a bit. Let’s compare and contrast these two platforms to help you decide which may be the better choice for your storage needs.

Uncategorized

In today’s world, the vast majority of organizations have adopted either a public cloud or private cloud, however, within these organizations, their IT professionals face the challenge of determining the best ROI with placement of their dollars against Cloud Services provided by either Public Clouds or Private Clouds.

Being surprised by cloud cost overruns when your budget is already stretched thin by high infrastructure costs can put you in a difficult position. Now you need to make cut backs – you can reduce resources for your projects, cut back on personnel, or take a FinOps approach to develop a comprehensive solution for your business.

In this blog we will explore cost-effective alternative cloud solutions to Amazon Web Service. 

Without question, VMware has a good reputation for cloud security and virtualization within a single management framework. But, given its high price point compounded with new acquisition uncertainties, now may be a good time to reevaluate your options. Let’s explore OpenStack as an alternative VMware Workstation with a complete guide on how to set up a virtualized workstation with OpenStack.

ELIZA (created by Joseph Weizenbaum) was one of the first natural language processing programs designed to simulate conversation. But it wasn’t until nearly 50 years later that AI tools like Siri allowed broad adoption so that many users could use natural language to interact with their devices. And while Siri had its time, never before have we had this many significant consecutive releases (ChatGPT, Gemini, Alexa) that transformed our daily lives. AI now plays a pivotal role in our daily lives, answering our questions, articulating and documenting our ideas in written and even artistic forms, driving our vehicles, cooking our food, analyzing our patterns, and recommending ads to us, etc. So what do you need to know about AI? And where do you begin if you want to leverage the endless possibilities of AI for your organization?

Ready to get started with OpenStack? Read this guide to gain valuable insights on the best hardware for your OpenStack deployment. On-Demand private clouds powered by OpenStack is OpenMetal’s flagship product, so as you may guess we know a few things about building clouds built on OpenStack, including how to automate clouds built on OpenStack for deployment in under 1 minute. In this blog we share some hardware recommendations with you, to ensure that your OpenStack journey is successful.

With more focus on big data and the need to translate many data sources to other data consumers, Apache Kafka has emerged as the leading tool for efficiently and reliably handling this. In addition to configurations, maximizing Kafka’s capabilities is tied directly to the infrastructure you select.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) has undeniably transformed the way businesses approach their IT infrastructure, offering a blend of flexibility, cost-efficiency, and scalability that traditional setups struggle to match. The benefits of IaaS extend far beyond simple cost savings, enabling businesses to stay at the forefront of technology, enhance their security measures, and focus on innovation.

Forget the myth! Open source software, with its transparent code, fosters a global community of developers who constantly improve security. This public scrutiny leads to faster bug fixes and a proven track record of security, making open source a reliable and cost-effective option for businesses.

OpenStack Alternatives

Explore alternatives to OpenStack – Apache CloudStack, VMware vCloud, Proxmox, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services. OpenStack is an open source platform composed of several independent components. These components interoperate with each other through Application Programming Interface (API).

Incorporating private clouds into your organization’s FinOps strategy offers numerous strategic advantages, particularly in terms of cost optimization and resource management. In addition to cost control and visibility that the private cloud, fixed cost model provides, private clouds offer flexibility in resource allocation and customization, enabling organizations to tailor hardware configurations for their specific workloads.

What Is ClickHouse?

ClickHouse is an open source columnar database management system created by Yandex in 2016. ClickHouse was designed to provide users with a rapid and efficient system for processing large-scale analytical queries on enormous  volumes of data. Today, organizations use ClickHouse for data warehousing, business intelligence, and analytical processing.

FinOps is more than shopping for the right price and then getting surprised by variable bandwidth costs, FinOps requires proactive management of variable cloud costs. FinOps is a cultural shift which fosters a collaborative culture within an organization, it requires all teams responsible for decision-making on cloud resources and optimizing the spend with carefully monitoring and reporting.

Who Is Using OpenStack?

Many organizations from various industries are using OpenStack as part of their cloud computing infrastructure. It may be surprising to see large scale use cases such as Walmart or China Mobile, or use cases in organizations like NASA who have stringent security regulations, but the ability of organizations to fine tune and customize OpenStack in the code makes it the ideal infrastructure software for organizations with the skills on hand to optimize their cloud as needed.

In the landscape of big data analytics, Apache Spark has emerged as a powerful tool for in memory big data processing. The foundation for maximizing Spark’s capabilities lies in the infrastructure. OpenMetal’s XL V2.1 servers offer a solution that marries high performance with cost-effectiveness for Spark clusters.

Shopping around for a new cloud service provider (CSP) is an oft-daunting task that most companies will have to deal with at least once. Reaching out to multiple providers, gathering information, trying to ensure that you ask all the right questions to make a good comparison and find the right fit for your organization. It can quickly become a blur of information!

This article and accompanying downloadable aim to make this process a bit more organized! We’ve laid out various questions in different categories such as cost, capabilities, and support that you’ll likely want to ask every vendor you speak with.

When it comes to raw performance metrics, GPUs often lead the pack. Their architecture is specifically tailored for the high-speed, parallel processing demands of AI tasks. However, this doesn’t always translate into a one-size-fits-all solution.

In this article, we’ll explore scenarios where CPUs might not only compete but potentially gain an upper hand, focusing on cost, efficiency, and application-specific performance.

The cloud has become a digital oasis, promising agility, scalability, and freedom from the shackles of on-premises infrastructure. But navigating it can be daunting, especially when faced with nearly unlimited cloud combinations – two of those being the choice between managed and hosted cloud services. Both offer the convenience of remote access and flexible resources, but beneath the surface lie distinct philosophies.

Cloud has matured dramatically in the last 10 years. In the beginning there were only a few cloud deployment model options. Today, in 2024, there are many easy and fast ways to get cloud. Let’s go through different cloud deployment models that are mature and provide a quality experience when measured against solid cloud native requirements.

Cloud Cost Optimization

Cloud cost optimization is the practice of efficiently managing the cost of your business’ cloud computing resources. An effective cloud cost optimization strategy ensures that your business gets the best value from its cloud investments. This strategy will find the right balance between performance, cost, compliance, and security for each workload or application your business has in the cloud.

Serverless computing offers a myriad of advantages but is not a universal solution. It represents a strategic choice, requiring careful consideration of application architecture, scalability needs, and financial models. If your business seeks an agile, cost-efficient, and scalable solution without the operational complexities of traditional server management, serverless computing might be the right path for your next project.

Migrate from GCP to On-Premises

Considering a shift away from Google Cloud Platform (GCP)? While GCP is undeniably a major player in the cloud computing scene, the market is brimming with alternative solutions that might offer better value for your investment. With the increasing availability of cost-effective options, you might be questioning whether GCP aligns seamlessly with your current needs.

Ready to explore the advantages of on-premises clouds alongside Todd Robinson, the President of OpenMetal? Under his guidance, delve into the details and acquire valuable insights on establishing your very own on-premises cloud. This information will empower you to seamlessly transfer workloads away from AWS with ease.

 In the beginning there were only a few cloud deployment model options.  One of these, the public cloud deployment model, was dominant both marketing wise and in the quality of the cloud experience.  Unless you were ok to wait for 4 to 12 months for a quality private cloud your only options was “to move to the cloud” at AWS.

Explore this comprehensive guide on how Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and technical executives can harness the power of on-demand private clouds for their organizations. In this blog post, we’ll explore the insights about the benefits and strategies of leveraging on-demand private clouds provided by Todd Robinson, President of Open Metal.

High unpredictable cloud bills are leading more organizations to search for more cost effective infrastructure solutions. To stay ahead of the competition without hemorrhaging capital organizations need efficient, scalable and cost-effective cloud solutions. In this blog, we’ll explore what Proxmox and OpenStack are, with a high-level comparison to help you decide which solution is best for your organization’s needs. 

CloudStack and OpenStack are two prominent open source solutions for cloud infrastructure management; understanding the key differences between them is crucial when choosing the right infrastructure for managing your workloads. In this blog, we will explore the differences between OpenStack and CloudStack, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and best use cases.

Many organizations are using Kubernetes to containerize their workloads because of the numerous benefits. These benefits include portability, scalability, reliability, automation and ecosystem. Running Kubernetes workloads on the wrong type of infrastructure can lead to a range of undesirable consequences such as: performance degradation, reliability issues, security vulnerabilities, and increased cost.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the key considerations you should keep in mind when choosing the right infrastructure to host your Kubernetes workloads.

OpenStack is one of the most popular open-source software solutions for cloud infrastructure. If you are tired of unpredictable public cloud bills or want more control over your infrastructure, you may be considering migrating workloads to an OpenStack cloud. Private OpenStack clouds are increasing in popularity as organizations seek to reduce cloud costs and have root level access to optimize their infrastructure for their workloads. This blog will cover everything you need to know about OpenStack and provide you with a step by step guide on how to get started on OpenStack. 

Security and access control are paramount to ensure the safety of data and resources when using clouds. If you’re running workloads on OpenStack clouds, then you will find Keystone to be a crucial project that will play a significant role in managing authentication and authorization for your cloud. In this blog, we will dive deep into Keystone’s Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) process, its importance, and how it empowers a stateless and scalable cloud infrastructure.

The blog delves into the technical intricacies of OpenStack Swift, a versatile data storage solution, explaining its features, use cases, and functionalities. Picture a virtual universe where your crucial files are kept safe, accessible, and effortlessly organized. That’s the remarkable world of OpenStack Swift – a potent tool that not only secures your data but also streamlines its management. At its core, OpenStack Swift is like a friendly bridge that connects people like you and me with object storage

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been prominent topics within the technology landscape for an extended period. However, the emergence of AI such as OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Google Bard has elevated the excitement surrounding these advancements. GPT-3 stands as a language model capable of generating remarkably human-like text, garnering significant attention as a transformative force in the AI realm. Yet, how do these AI and ML technologies integrate with the realm of cloud computing? Moreover, what role do open-source cloud platforms like OpenStack play in propelling the progress of such sophisticated technologies?

vGPUs with OpenStack Nova

Virtualization has revolutionized the way we use computer resources. One particular element is virtual GPU (vGPU) that has ability to deliver high-performance graphics and accelerate complex tasks. vGPU has become indispensable in industries like desktop virtualization (VDI) and remote workstations, ML/AI workloads, and scientific research.  Within OpenStack clouds, the project Nova acts as a bridge between physical GPUs and the VMs that need GPU resources. Nova  efficiently manages and allocates virtual GPUs. In this blog, we will explore Nova and vGPUs, their practical applications, and the process of setting up vGPUs with OpenStack Nova.

In this video and accompanying article, OpenMetal Infrastructure and Platform Automations Engineer, Yuriy Shyyan, delves into the challenges and opportunities faced by growing businesses when it comes to cloud infrastructure costs and vendor dependency. We present OpenStack and Ceph as powerful tools for creating personalized cloud environments. With OpenStack and Ceph, organizations can regain control over their infrastructure, extracting more value.

Ready to dive into the world of cloud computing but not sure which cloud computing platform is best to learn? With the ever-increasing demand for cloud computing skills, a career in cloud computing is a safe bet, but the decision of which platform to learn can be overwhelming for anyone planning a career in cloud computing. In this article, I will compare AWS vs Azure vs GCP vs OpenStack and explore their pros and cons can why you may want to pursue a career working on one of these cloud platforms.

Based on OpenMetal’s experience working with higher learning organizations and direct independent market research, our team has found many universities and education institutions are using open-source technologies like OpenStack to achieve its IT objectives. In this blog post, we will explore the utilization of OpenStack by universities, delving into its advantages for these educational institutions. Additionally, we will provide guidance on how to initiate your journey with OpenStack.

In this article, we’ll delve into the advantages and disadvantages of GCP, and then highlight an alternative solution for businesses seeking flexibility and scalability.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is a prominent player in the cloud computing landscape. But, not without competition from other mega providers like AWS. With the recent rise in lower cost alternative solutions available, anyone considering GCP may wonder if they are getting the best value for their dollar. GCP like every platform has its pros and cons. And when considering committing  to a cloud provider, it is best practice to thoroughly evaluate various options before committing.

The adoption of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) is on the rise as businesses seek to harness the scalability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness of cloud computing. While virtualization has been a central component of IaaS, the integration of bare metal servers introduces a new dimension to infrastructure management.

Ironic, a vital part of OpenStack, focuses on provisioning and managing bare metal servers. It seamlessly integrates with Keystone, Nova, Neutron, Glance, and Swift to provide a unified interface for managing hardware resources within a cloud environment. With Ironic, operators can treat physical servers like virtual machines, streamlining the management of resources in an OpenStack cloud. It simplifies bare metal management through a unified interface, seamless integration with OpenStack services, and automated provisioning.

AWS and GCP are leading players in cloud computing, offering a wide range of services and attractive pricing. However, choosing the right platform requires understanding their strengths, customer pain points, and alternatives. Comparing and shopping around for cloud products can be complex, with varying names and pricing structures. Transparent pricing is crucial, but some providers could improve in this area.

Octavia is an open-source load balancing solution designed for use with OpenStack. Octavia distinguishes itself by dynamically scaling up a fleet of virtual machines, containers, or bare metal servers, known as amphorae, to deliver load balancing services as needed. This on-demand horizontal scaling capability makes Octavia well-suited for cloud environments.

As on demand cloud computing choices have grown, so have customer options for how to purchase those clouds. It’s not uncommon for public clouds to offer self-service tools or a cloud hosting trial. But it is not as common for private or open source clouds. In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of using self-service tools to now buy hosted private cloud services online and how they can make the process more efficient.

While Harvester, Nomad, and Kubernetes share many similar app native features, their deployment and management approaches, as well as additional capabilities like distributed computing, can influence the best fit for your specific use case within the context of OpenStack.

SaaS providers built success on their ability to deliver quality software and service reliability as cost-effectively as possible, to maintain competitive pricing and profitability. That is why SaaS providers typically take the popular option of hosting their services on public clouds. But SaaS providers may be overlooking a number of benefits that they could gain from choosing private cloud hosting.

If you’re searching for a solution to take full control of your infrastructure, you might have come across the term “open source cloud.” But what exactly is it? In this comprehensive blog, we’ll dive deep into the concept of open source clouds and explore why they are the ultimate key to empowering organizations.

A cloud migration strategy generally follows the “land and expand” or “lift and shift” method. However, a more flexible, hybrid approach is beneficial. By adopting a flexible cloud migration approach that combines elements of both strategies, organizations can better align migration efforts with their unique requirements and constraints.

Cloud infrastructure is a critical component for SaaS platform providers and, in many cases, the business’ highest operational cost. This article goes into some of the top concerns that SaaS platform providers have about their cloud infrastructure and how an open source IaaS platform like OpenMetal Cloud can help resolve some of these pain points.

On-demand private clouds have emerged as a viable solution for businesses to reap the benefits of both reduced costs and enhanced flexibility. In this blog post, we’ll explore the evolution and benefits of on-demand private clouds and alternative cloud infrastructure solutions, and how they can maximize ROI for many businesses.

OpenStack is a powerful cloud computing platform that is backed by a vast community of developers who continuously update and improve the software. In this blog, we will discuss OpenStack projects and open source software that can be used to create a cloud environment that’s ideal for building, testing, and managing AI.

As a public cloud or cloud hosting provider, you’re no stranger to the challenge of offering competitive and profitable solutions to your customers while simultaneously reducing your workload. One way to achieve this balance is by incorporating a customizable, easy-to-manage private cloud solution into your offerings without investing in extensive infrastructure resources or requiring additional maintenance work. Well say hello to OpenMetal Cloud for Hosting and Public Cloud Providers!

As businesses realize the growing costs of cloud, it becomes even more important to find alternative solutions.
This article presents the known benefits of private cloud, the factors that make organizations hesitant about the move, on-demand private cloud as the true alternative to public cloud, and also three business use cases that could reduce cloud spend while moving from a public cloud.

Kubernetes on OpenStack is a powerful combination. It helps organizations manage their applications and services. This power duo provides the flexibility to scale up or down as needed, while also allowing for easy deployment and management of applications. This is essential for an organizations success in today’s fast paced digital age where organizations must be able to deploy their applications quickly and efficiently, at scale, and across multiple environments.

OpenStack is undeniably a powerful and versatile cloud platform that many industries continue to adopt at an increasing rate. Obviously, we’re big fans! But, like any intricate technology, having a firm understanding of its inner workings is crucial for deriving maximum efficiency, especially if your business provides cloud or primarily online services. So today, we’ll be diving into the world of subscription ratios in OpenStack, which play a vital role in resource allocation across your infrastructure.

Private, hybrid, and open source cloud solutions offer managed IT service providers unparalleled control, customization, and security. While public cloud providers may have had their place in the growth of the cloud industry, it’s apparent that the future lies in more secure and flexible environments.

OpenShift is a powerful and flexible platform that can help you simplify the deployment and management of container-based applications, accelerate application delivery, and work with different types of infrastructure. If you’re looking for a comprehensive and easy-to-use platform for building and managing cloud-based applications, this offering is an excellent choice.

With public and private clouds as the traditional options, innovative alternative clouds have emerged and are making waves. Deciding which cloud to use for your organization requires careful consideration of factors such as your unique business needs, budget, security and compliance requirements, and other important factors. 

With automation tools such as Terraform, Kolla Ansible and Heat, organizations can automate their OpenStack cloud operations and reduce the time and effort required to manage their cloud environment. When organizations automate many of the functions within their OpenStack cloud, they can benefit from increased agility, scalability, reliability, security, cost savings, and improved customer experience.

Effective cloud cost optimization will reduce unnecessary spending on cloud services, while still ensuring that the organization has access to the resources it needs. In this article, we’ll cover cloud cost management best practices and ways you can prevent spend from ballooning.

A search on “public cloud advantages” will nearly always include some statements about public cloud being “less expensive” than alternatives.  Unfortunately, this common narrative is simply not true for many situations!

More information about alternatives to public cloud is needed to help leaders in IT explain when public cloud is right or when private cloud, bare metal, colocation, or owned data centers are the right choice.

The first step for deciding to run Kubernetes is to first understand if your environment is ready to run it. After that, it’s all about figuring out where you want to run Kubernetes. From a reliability, security, and cost perspective, running Kubernetes on OpenStack is never a bad idea. In this blog post, you’re going to learn about the key reasons why you’d want to run Kubernetes clusters on OpenStack.

There are many OpenStack projects that you can use to build a cloud that can handle your use case and workloads. While OpenStack projects work well together, they also work with other popular software because the open source community continually work on ways to optimize OpenStack and ensure that it is seamless to use other open source software that you may need.

What Is OpenStack?

OpenStack is an open source platform composed of several independent components. These components interoperate with each other through Application Programming Interface (API). These components are complementary, but do not depend on all other components to function properly. This grants you the ability to build your cloud with only the components you need.

If you’re implementing a specific technology for an organization, the overarching question that you must constantly ask yourself is “why use X technology”. Business leaders and engineers must understand why and how a platform will help fill their needs. There are an incredible amount of platforms and orchestration tools in the wild today, along with some from the past, but the burning desire for Kubernetes is running red hot.

For any application that you’re deploying, chances are you’ll have some sort of sensitive information that you need to pass into the app. Because of that, you’ll need a way to store that sensitive data for your containerized workloads – this is where Kubernetes secrets come in.

In this blog post, you’ll learn about what secrets are, how to create standard Kubernetes secrets, and how to get started with the OpenStack Key Manager.

Kubernetes Volumes on OpenStack

At the beginning of the Kubernetes era, many engineers had a concern – what about apps that have to store data? Kubernetes got a “reputation” of only being for stateless applications and applications that didn’t need to store data. However, that’s vastly changed over the years when implementing Kubernetes. In this blog post, you’re going to learn how to manage Kubernetes volumes and what CSIs are, along with how to install a CSI plugin on a Kubernetes cluster running in OpenStack.

OpenMetal was a first-time Gold Sponsor at the SaaStr Annual 2022. We got the opportunity to meet with leaders at SaaS companies from around the world. And we got a chance to unveil our open source On-Demand Private Cloud product as a viable option for SaaS companies, especially those facing open/capex challenges with relation to public cloud consumption. 

Creating repeatable and automated processes, especially for creating infrastructure layers, is drastically important. It’s the make or break between creating resources at scale and clicking a bunch of buttons for 90% of your day. In the past few years, the mantra for almost every engineering team has been move faster, and the way to do that is with proper automation. 

In this blog post, you’re going to learn about an important repeatable process, creating Kubernetes clusters using Magnum.

Security is at the forefront of every engineer’s mind when it comes to Kubernetes. When it comes to security and Kubernetes from an OpenStack perspective, one of the most significant pieces is Operations security. In this blog post, you’ll learn about Kubernetes security on OpenStack and how to manage it from an Ops perspective.

Many engineers believe that OpenStack is a “thing of the past”, but it’s not. In fact, it’s becoming increasingly popular all throughout not only Telco, but auto manufacturers and any other organization that needs the ability to scale and manage workloads a certain way. With OpenStack, you get to manage and maintain Kubernetes clusters the way that you want.

In this blog post, you’ll learn about why Kubernetes on OpenStack is valuable for organizations and how you can get started with it today.

Kubernetes on OpenStack for Telco

Wherever you search for OpenStack and Kubernetes, chances are you’ll run across something around Telecommunications (telco). Although OpenStack is used across many organizations, including Mercedes Benz, telco is typically the heaviest industry when it comes to OpenStack.

In this blog post, you’ll learn about Kubernetes on OpenStack for telco, which will most likely open your eyes to why you’d want to use Kubernetes on OpenStack for any industry.

Without question, VMware has a good reputation for cloud security and virtualization within a single management framework. But, given its high price point compounded with new acquisition uncertainties, now may be a good time to reevaluate your options. More so, it may be a good time to consider adopting OpenStack vs VMware.

OpenStack is an open source cloud computing infrastructure software that can be used to manage and control large scale deployments of virtual machines or to manage storage and networking resources in a cloud. Many organizations are turning to OpenStack because it is scalable, reliable, and grants you a great degree of control over the underlying infrastructure.

Serverless computing is one of the most exciting trends in cloud computing. It gives you the best of the cloud at the best cost efficiency. Web developers and application providers recognize serverless computing as the solution that best meets their needs, and they are inventing entirely new architectures and toolsets to get the most value out of cloud functions. They are striving to build high-performance, modern applications that can serve the most users globally at the lowest cost.

This article uses current cloud adoption and usage statistics to build on the discussion (in the video) between Todd Robinson, President of InMotion Hosting, and Marc Collier, COO of OpenInfra Foundation about the current challenges around the widespread adoption of OpenStack powered infrastructure, especially in the context of private clouds for SMBs.

Edge Computing is the New Server Room

Edge computing products that move the cloud closer to you are probably good solutions, especially for teams who have already successfully made the transition to a cloud-based architecture. It is very important, however, for companies new to the cloud or who have had difficulty with the cloud to consider carefully which setup and solutions are right for their needs.

2021 Cloud Market Growth Trends

The growth of cloud computing and cloud IT infrastructure for both public and private clouds is here to stay, strengthened by our expedited need for digital transformation to accommodate the permanently changing landscape of doing business, the increased availability of the internet, the adoption of more mobile devices around the world, an upheaval of the education system and the consumption of more and more big data.

Public cloud users are finding out that for all their convenience and so-called affordability, public clouds are often not suitable for their workloads. Serious work requires serious infrastructure. Private clouds are the perfect solution for experienced cloud professionals who are tired of shocking cloud bills, or disappointing performance from their public cloud infrastructure.

OpenStack historically has major barriers for SMBs (and really all organizations, enterprises included). These factors have put OpenStack private clouds out of reach for the vast majority of SMBs or organizations with similar constraints like smaller universities or mid-sized nonprofits. Our on-demand OpenStack platform was built to make OpenStack simple and accessible for everyone.

Many articles online compare “new innovative” services offered by big tech giants against each other, implying that there are no alternatives. But that’s not true, at least not anymore.

OpenStack has thousands of developers working on various cloud-oriented projects to provide the same services these public cloud providers offer. We’re only going to cover a couple of them here, but it should give you an idea of what to look for when looking at alternatives.

Companies are moving towards cloud adoption at record rates, yet there are still business owners reluctant to take the leap. Cloud adoption can create a host of benefits for companies. In having a good cloud strategy, you can improve flexibility, increase efficiency, and boost performance. In addition, cloud adoption can allow an organization to grow its proficiencies in a way that can lead to growth and innovation.

A vast majority of organizations have adopted either a public cloud or private cloud. Within these organizations, we’ve noticed a significant challenge for the IT professionals is to determine the right placement of their dollars against cloud services provided by either public clouds or private clouds.

The power of the private cloud must not be limited to technical adepts and certified pros. With a tight focus on key technologies and tools, with easy-to-follow documentation, InMotion Hosting’s Flex Metal Cloud product will allow both new and current OpenStack users to quickly build and deploy on-demand private clouds on OpenStack.