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Compute Instances ​

Compute Instances are the fundamental building blocks of the I/O Cloud Compute service. They are virtual machines (VMs) that run on top of our Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) infrastructure, orchestrated by OpenStack Nova.

Instances allow you to run your applications and workloads in a scalable, isolated, and secure environment.

Management ​

You can manage your instances through several interfaces:

  • I/O Cloud Dashboard: A user-friendly web interface (based on OpenStack Horizon) for creating and managing instances, volumes, and networks.
  • OpenStack API: A comprehensive RESTful API for programmatic access and automation.
  • Command Line Interface (CLI): The openstack command-line client for managing resources from your terminal.
  • Orchestration Tools: Compatible with Infrastructure-as-Code tools like Terraform and Ansible.

Instance Types (Flavors) ​

I/O Cloud offers various instance types, known as "Flavors" in OpenStack terminology. A flavor defines the compute, memory, and storage capacity of an instance.

Shared vs. Dedicated ​

  • Shared Instances: Suitable for general-purpose workloads. These instances share physical CPU resources with other tenants, with a standard overbooking ratio (typically up to 10:1). This provides a cost-effective solution for development, testing, and non-critical applications.
  • Dedicated Instances: Designed for performance-sensitive workloads. These instances have dedicated physical CPU cores (pinned), ensuring consistent performance and preventing "noisy neighbor" effects. The overbooking ratio is significantly lower (1:1 to 4:1 depending on scenarios), guaranteeing resource availability.

Key Management ​

To access your instances securely, I/O Cloud uses SSH Key pairs.

  • SSH Keys: When you launch an instance, you can inject a public SSH key. You retain the private key, which is used to authenticate ensuring that only you can access the instance. Password authentication is disabled by default for security.

Image Management ​

Instances are booted from images, which contain the operating system.

  • Standard Images: We provide a selection of well-known, open-source Linux distributions (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, AlmaLinux) ready to use.
  • Windows Images: (Coming Soon) Support for Windows Server images with appropriate licensing.
  • Custom Images: You can upload your own custom images (via OpenStack Glance), supported by our Ceph-backed storage, allowing you to bring your own specialized operating environments.