Cloud VMs
Cloud VMs
From standard to high-frequency servers, with monitoring, alerts and automatic disk growth included.
What a cloud VM is
A cloud VM is a server you rent by the hour and run your own system on. You pick the processor, the memory and the disk, and it is ready in about a minute.
A machine of your own has to be planned ahead and stays the size you bought. A cloud VM changes size from the Cloud Panel, takes extra disks, snapshots and backups, and keeps its disk on our software-defined storage instead of one machine's drive.
Why ours
Two hardware classes
Basic runs on Intel Xeon Scalable and fits most apps. High Frequency runs on AMD EPYC 4565P at up to 5.7 GHz and is about three times faster per core, for databases, builds and anything that waits on a single core.
Burst or Sustained
A Sustained server always gets 100% of its CPU. A Burst server costs less and can be held back under constant load, but never below its guaranteed share. You switch between them live, without a restart.
The disk outlives the host
Disks sit on our software-defined storage, apart from the machine the server runs on. Every disk class except Solo keeps replicas, so a failed host does not take your data with it. A 4k read answers in about 160 microseconds, measured inside an ordinary customer server.
Monitoring from the first boot
The guest agent reports memory, disk space and load to Monitoring. Your first server with monitoring on turns on our recommended alert rules, sent to Telegram or email.
A disk that grows by itself
A full root disk takes a server down in odd ways: databases stop writing and packages fail to install. With auto-extend on, the disk grows when / reaches the level you set, together with the partition and the filesystem, while the server keeps running.
You choose the level, the step and the largest size it may reach. Every grow sends you a message with the old and the new size. A disk never shrinks back, so set the largest size to one you are ready to pay for.
It works on servers from our OS templates and is on by default when you create one.
Systems and first boot
Every server starts from a cloud image of the system you pick. We build the images from the official releases and rebuild them every week, so a new server comes up with current packages.
Pass user data, a #cloud-config or a shell script, and it runs once on the first boot after our own setup. A system we do not offer installs from your own ISO over the console.
Operating systems
Official cloud images, rebuilt every week with current updates.
Need a system that is not on the list? Upload your own ISO in the Cloud Panel and install it on a server over the console.
How to start
- Create a router and a network in the Cloud Panel, if the account has none yet. Every server attaches to one of your networks.
- Create a server: pick a system, a size and a disk, and add an SSH key or a password.
- Log in over SSH as the user scamp, which has passwordless sudo.
Example usage
# user data, pasted in the wizard under User data
#cloud-config
packages:
- nginx
runcmd:
- systemctl enable --now nginx
# then, from your machine
ssh [email protected]
# if something did not happen, look here
less /var/log/cloud-init-output.logOn the server page
Terminal and console
A text terminal in the browser with copy and paste, and a graphical console for an installer or a server whose network is down.
Resize
Change the size or switch between Burst and Sustained. The disk, the addresses and the networks stay.
Backups and snapshots
Set a backup schedule in the create wizard, take a snapshot before a risky change, and start a new server from either.
Security group
A stateful set of firewall rules on every server, which you edit in the Cloud Panel.
Warden
Traffic from known bad sources and from your own deny list is dropped before it reaches a server with a public address.
Names in DNS
The server name is also its name in your DNS zones. Leave it empty and we generate one.
Questions
Basic or High Frequency?
Basic fits most apps. Take High Frequency when single-core speed is the bottleneck: databases, builds, latency-bound APIs.
Will a Burst server be slowed down?
Only under constant load or when its host runs hot, and never below its guaranteed share. A short spike changes nothing, and the full speed comes back once the load calms down.
How long does a resize take?
A switch between Burst and Sustained is live. A new size stops the server and starts it again, usually in 10 to 60 seconds. The disk and the addresses stay.
Can I move a server from Basic to High Frequency?
A resize stays within its hardware class. Create a server on High Frequency and move the data over, a snapshot makes that easier.
Can I install my own system?
Yes. Boot from your own ISO or one from our catalog and install over the console. Such a server has hypervisor metrics only, and its disk does not grow by itself.
Can the server send mail?
Outbound port 25 is blocked on every security group. Contact support to lift it.
Create your first server
A server with its own public address, ready in about a minute.