Blockchain is a decentralized database technology that tries to approach very important questions in a different way to traditional (centralized) databases. Ultimately, these questions boil down to:

• What is the truth?
• Who gets the last word on what the truth is?

In information management circles, we’ve tried to find a way to the ‘single source of truth’ for decades. Information sprawls. Being able to have a definitive answer on any one matter – whether that’s the last version of a memo or the real-time stock in a retail store – is incredibly valuable.

After all, if you’ve worked in an office for any length of time, you’ve probably renamed a file to something like ‘version 2.5 final final THIS ONE’ – and inevitably, it’s not ‘final’. This analogy doesn’t quite work because blockchain isn’t a file storage technology, but we’ll come back to that later.

Blockchain’s answer to defining truth is democratic. As its name suggests, information is stored in blocks, and these blocks are linked together in a chain. The order of this chain is documented, so once a change is made, it becomes an indelible part of ‘history.’ This establishes ‘truth’ by tying historical facts (or transactions) together so that one is linked to the next – and altering one event means altering the entire chain of events, rather like needing to rewrite an entire history book from the change of one small detail.

Let’s look at an example in practice.

When a change occurs in a blockchain network (like buying a cup of coffee with cryptocurrency) the information is sent to the network and preliminary checks are done – for example, checking that you have enough money to buy the coffee.

If there are any blockchain experts reading this, let’s assume it was a very expensive and significant coffee, because smaller transactions are often handled slightly differently in blockchain, in what we call Layer 2 Networks. We’ll come back to these later in the series.

Once the transaction has been verified, it’s then packaged up with other transactions to form a block and linked to the previous block in turn.

Next, the network has to make sure that the block is valid. This is done through a process called consensus, or validation, and is handled slightly differently depending on the network. Bitcoin uses a system called ‘Proof of Work,’ where different users work to verify complex equations that prove that the block’s contents haven’t been altered and that it does really link to the previous block. If anything has changed in the block since it was submitted, the equation doesn’t work and the block is rejected.

This is a computationally intensive process and requires a lot of electricity, particularly at scale. At one point, Bitcoin used as much electricity as all of Norway, so there are many other alternatives. For example, Solana uses ‘Proof of Stake,’ where the parties involved in verifying the block put forward assets (in this case, actual cryptocurrency). Then, the lead validator builds the block and adds a digital signature to it so as to say that they checked it, and that they have a real stake in the matter (i.e. money). This data is then re-checked by other validators, who vote on the validity. If there are enough ‘yes’ votes, then the block is agreed upon.

Of course, this does rely on trust, but there are usually big penalties for validators who ‘cheat.’ For example, they can have their stake removed, and/or they can be restricted from contributing to validation in future.

Solana also uses a system called ‘Proof of History’ to help it process a large number of transactions, which is a bit different to other systems.

But once approved, the block is then officially part of the chain, and the transaction can be completed – and you can get your Americano.

To define blockchain in another way: it creates a system of establishing trust and control without one single authority. Trust is distributed between all the different parties involved in the network. In fact, almost anyone can become a blockchain validator, although each network has its own requirements to do so.

As we’ve seen, blockchain is much bigger than just Bitcoin; the distributed database structure can be applied to all kinds of settings. We’ve seen organizations using blockchain to verify where tuna fish were caught, to ensure that they were ethically fished, and that the handling of said tuna could be traced from supermarket to distributor, and back to the person who caught them in the ocean.

Another major application for blockchain is in identity verification. Blockchain systems can help to check the validity of something without violating its privacy.

For example, imagine that you’ve discovered the famous Narnia wardrobe. You’ve decided to try to prevent people from sneaking in and causing chaos, so you’ve created a password-protected way to get in. You’re trying to qualify for state support to redevelop your house into a tourist attraction, so you need to prove that the wardrobe is the real deal. On the other hand, you don’t want to just give out the password because you’ll have government officials popping in and out all the time, conjuring infinite amounts of Turkish Delight and smuggling talking badgers out under their coats.

Blockchain’s answer to this is simple: you pop inside and take a selfie with Aslan and Mr. Tumnus, showing conclusively that you have access. This is how Self-sovereign identity works, which requires blockchain to link the wardrobe with the selfie. The two need to be linked – after all, you could have just popped into your friend’s magical wardrobe and taken a photo of some other lion and faun!

Many age-verification systems work in similar ways. For example, in many countries it’s illegal to give credit to someone under 18, so having a credit card is proof that you’re older than this, without having to show your passport or driving license. And in this case, it’s vital to show that the credit card is linked to the person using it, or the system doesn’t work.

Finally, it’s worth knowing that there are a number of different ecosystems within blockchain. Although they’re not strictly specialized, we can generalize that Bitcoin is focused on currency, Solana tends to being more of a platform for decentralized apps, and Ethereum is known for facilitating transactions quickly and making use of smart contracts – an ecosystem similar to Avalanche, but Avalanche has a modular approach focused on speed.

This picture is further muddied by the fact that there are public and private blockchains, which are also subdivided, but which essentially dictate who can see the blockchain and who has permission to be on it.

In our next blog post, we’ll go into a bit more detail about the blockchain world, focusing on the truths that IT leaders need to know. In the meantime, if you want a clearer, more practical view of how blockchain fits into real-world infrastructure, you can explore our resources and customer success stories on our website.

They say superheroes are evolved humans. VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is becoming the evolved private cloud platform.

Not just a routine upgrade, VCF 9 represents an entire shift in how private cloud infrastructure is built, operated, and consumed, efficiently and cohesively.

When companies have traditionally modernized their infrastructure, they’ve upgraded it in pieces: whether compute, networking, storage or automation tools. But over time, this discombobulation can cause problems, including configuration inconsistency, upgrade schedule variations, tool sprawl, complex dependencies, higher operational risk…

Until today.

VCF 9 is reframing this old model, so that private cloud operations and cloud consumption can sit at the center of the platform, able to be upgraded in a coordinated, stack-wide manner. Unified by a single lifecycle engine and a consistent policy model, they can now enjoy integrated automation across the full stack.

For those organizations who may be modernizing VMware environments – especially those consuming managed services such as OVHcloud’s upcoming Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service – this shift has measurable operational and economic impact. They are being rescued by a new full-stack software platform, you might say.

Read on to better understand the future of VMware Cloud Foundation 9, and what it means for the future of private cloud.

1. One Interface for Private Cloud Operations

VCF 9 provides a unified operational experience through the VCF Operations Console.

Instead of managing lifecycle tasks across disconnected tools, administrators are gaining centralized visibility for:

• Fleet-wide lifecycle management
• Security posture and compliance
• Certificate and identity management
• Diagnostics and health monitoring
• Global upgrades and patch orchestration

This reduces one of the biggest hidden costs in enterprise infrastructure: operational drift.

According to an IDC Business Value study sponsored by Broadcom, organizations running VCF environments have reported:

• 61% faster deployment of new workloads
• 34% lower infrastructure costs compared to traditional three-tier environments

The key driver is not just automation, it’s platform consistency.

For customers consuming managed VCF services, that will translate into more predictable maintenance windows and reduced operational risk.

2. A Unified Cloud Consumption Experience

Private cloud only delivers full value when it behaves like cloud.

VCF 9 strengthens the consumption model through VCF Automation, and is providing:

• A modern self-service interface
• Unified APIs for infrastructure provisioning
• Infrastructure as Code support
• Policy-based governance built into deployment
• Integrated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) constructs for multi-tenancy

This allows infrastructure teams to offer curated service catalogs or developer-driven IaaS consumption models – without having to sacrifice governance.

Instead of tickets and manual coordination, application teams will now be able to provision:

• Virtual machines
• Networking constructs
• Storage volumes
• Kubernetes clusters

All governed by centralized policies. The result: faster delivery with controlled oversight.

3. Memory Tiering with NVMe: Production-Ready Efficiency

With VCF 9, Advanced NVMe Memory Tiering allows NVMe devices to function as a second tier of memory, intelligently placing memory pages to extend effective capacity without scaling DRAM costs linearly. In a context where infrastructure costs and hardware availability are becoming critical constraints, this capability helps organizations extract more value from existing servers.

Key enhancements in VCF 9 include:

• DRS and vMotion awareness
• Mixed-cluster flexibility (enabled on some hosts or all)
• Redundancy support via multiple NVMe devices
• Encryption at VM and host level
• Default DRAM: NVMe ratio shift to 1:1 (2× memory by default), customizable up to 1:4

Broadcom internal testing observed:

• Up to 40% TCO savings for most workloads
• Up to 25–30% increased CPU utilization
• Improved VM consolidation ratios

These results depend on workload profiles, particularly environments with high allocated memory but lower active memory.

In practical terms, Memory Tiering allows organizations to run more workloads on the same hardware footprint, improving infrastructure efficiency at a time when compute capacity, DRAM availability, and cost pressures are increasingly shaping infrastructure decisions.

4. Cost Transparency Built Into the Platform

Private cloud economics are increasingly under scrutiny. VCF 9 integrates:

• Chargeback and showback capabilities
• Capacity planning and optimization insights
• Cost allocation across tenants
• Predictive modeling for infrastructure scaling

According to VMware’s internal cloud economics analysis, organizations may be even able to achieve:

40% cost reduction compared to native public cloud alternatives

Again, results vary by environment, but cost predictability is a core advantage of modern private cloud operating models.

5. Security, Sovereignty, and Governance by Design

VCF 9 reinforces security as a built-in platform layer:

• Centralized identity federation
• Certificate lifecycle management
• Compliance monitoring
• Integrated security operations visibility
• VPC-aware segmentation

This matters for regulated industries and sovereign cloud environments, where operational consistency and policy enforcement are not optional.

Private cloud becomes less about “location” and more about operating model: governance is embedded into infrastructure.

6. What This Means for OVHcloud Customers

VMware Cloud Foundation 9 is also changing how service providers design managed environments.

To align with the domain-based architecture and lifecycle model introduced in VCF 9, OVHcloud is developing a new offer: Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service.

Key elements include:

• VCF license portability to OVHcloud
• Enforced Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies (avoiding local user models)
• Pre-configured vSAN hosts within cluster designs
• Seamless maintenance window scheduling
• Roadmap including 1-AZ and 3-AZ stretched cluster versions (currently in Alpha for business-critical workloads)

It’s important to distinguish:

• VCF provides the unified platform. OVHcloud builds the managed operational framework around it.
• The goal is not just to run VCF 9, but to operationalize it cleanly, and at scale.

A Strategic Version, Not a Cosmetic One

VMware Cloud Foundation 9 marks a fundamental shift:

• From component integration to unified platform
• From manual lifecycle orchestration to fleet-wide automation
• From infrastructure provisioning to cloud consumption models
• From siloed tooling to consolidated operations

For infrastructure architects and CTOs, this version matters because it reduces friction across the entire private cloud lifecycle.

Less manual intervention.
More deterministic upgrades.
Better resource efficiency.
Stronger governance.

And for managed service customers, it means a private cloud that behaves like a cloud, but under your control.

VCF 9 is becoming the new private cloud platform built to meet modern demands head-on. Super, by design.

Find out more about VMware on OVHcloud: https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-ie/solutions/vmware/

Join the Alpha and be the first to test Private VMware Cloud Foundation as-a-Service: https://survey.ovh.com/index.php/547617?lang=en

No need to fear it! Revolutions are revolutionary. And they are always necessary for progress—in virtualization and in life.

Nay to fear, compatriots, as today is a day for courage. Today, we do not make incremental improvements nor routine product updates, today, we dive in to the subject of VCF 9.0—a true paradigm shift in virtualization itself. For the millions of businesses running VMware infrastructure, the ground has moved—literally and figuratively—towards the future, and towards democratization. With the evolution of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), customers must rethink how they operate, migrate, and modernize. And at OVHcloud, we’re armed and ready to face any opposition.

In fact, we’ve been ready. For over 15 years, OVHcloud has partnered with VMware to deliver high-performance, secure, and trusted cloud solutions to organizations across Europe and beyond. And now, as VMware undergoes one of its biggest transformations in history under Broadcom, OVHcloud is delivering new offers to help customers migrate at scale from A to Z—with a radically simplified stack, transparent pricing, and a uniquely open model. This means that we are ready to arm you for revolution too: after all, to win any battle, we need our allies.

This isn’t just about a product launch. It’s an entire virtualization ecosystem rebooted: new hardware, new software stack, and a modernized architecture that enables organizations to go from bare metal to full workload deployment in around an hour—and not six months, as it once was. Challenging? Yes. Worth it? Without a doubt. Time to suit up and move the troops forward—towards the freedom of the future.

How the field of tech changing—and why it matters

For years, VMware’s legacy architecture required extensive technical know-how and costly certifications. Networking, storage, security—each a specialized field. And provisioning a datacenter? Painfully slow. In contrast, the new era of virtualization is about convergence, automation, and accessibility. VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 was created to democratize access to modern infrastructure. This revolution is to designed benefit the masses!

And this tech change isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about empowering teams to focus on innovation rather than orchestration. With OVHcloud’s support, our customers can now simplify operations, reduce vendor lock-in, and build future-ready infrastructure.

VCF: empowering migration at scale

At the heart of this revolutionary transformation lies VMware Cloud Foundation, the cornerstone of Broadcom’s new strategy. VCF offers a unified, full-stack platform that integrates compute, storage, networking, and management to simplify operations and accelerate digital transformation for small or large enterprises, and their partners.

But while the technology enables unprecedented agility and automation, recent licensing changes have introduced significant challenges for smaller deployments. OVHcloud responded by offering flexible solutions on shared hardware, preserving the accessibility and performance of VMware while optimizing cost efficiency for all.

Yann Meguira, VMware Product Unit Director at OVHcloud, explains:

“Broadcom’s new pricing policy imposes a minimum of 16 cores per license, which makes all small hosts unviable from a price-performance perspective. Our long-term strategy at OVHcloud has been to protect our customers. We therefore wanted to develop an offer on shared hardware to enable customers who wish to continue benefiting from the power of VMware with extremely competitive costs.”

OVHcloud: your trusted VMware partner and ally

We’ve supported organizations of all sizes through their cloud journey—from large enterprises to smaller actors—allowing them to benefit from solutions starting at just €299/month (launch pricing until June 2026). The new Public VCF as-a-Service offerhelps to democratize what was once accessible to only the biggest, strongest players. And to simplify a transition that can be complex, OVHcloud offers VMware ESXi Images, easing deployment and adoption for our bare metal servers.

And OVHcloud ensures full data sovereignty through SecNumCloud, C5, HDS, PCI-DSS and other industry-leading certifications; in fact, in 2020, we were named Leader of Hosted Private Cloud in Europe by Forrester. In 2024, VMware recognized us as Pinnacle Partner and CSP of the Year. Trust is integral when forming an alliance.

Our dedication to the cause goes beyond tech. As a trusted name in tech, OVHcloud builds its own servers and maintains strict control over infrastructure, all this while conserving both energy and costs with our patented water-cooling technology.

Fighting the good fight

Unlike our competitors in the field, we believe in contractual transparency and the freedom to cancel your contract. That means: no hidden fees, no surprise price hikes, and support for our customers’ existing agreements—even through big shifts like the VCF migration. And for those ready to embrace the future? We reward pre-commitment to our new stack with early access, pilot testing, and optimized pricing—currently underway with around 100 strategic partners.

The result? A future-ready, sustainable, sovereign infrastructure that empowers businesses to innovate securely, without compromise. We have your back, and we keep our promises. How’s that for a reliable ally?

A strategic alliance, built to last

Few partnerships in the cloud ecosystem have lasted and evolved with as much resilience and shared innovation as the one between VMware and OVHcloud. Keeping our friends close, we have enjoyed more than 25 years of VMware innovation and 15+ years of joint momentum, continuously delivering solutions of scalability, sovereignty, and simplicity.

This long-term commitment has led to key milestones in our history:

• 2011: Launch of OVHcloud’s Hosted Private Cloud
• 2017: Acquisition of VMware vCloud Air
• 2020: OVHcloud named Leader of Hosted Private Cloud in the EU by Forrester
• 2021: SecNumCloud qualification added to a growing list of certifications
• 2024: Recognized as Pinnacle Partner and Cloud Service Provider (CSP) of the Year in Europe
• 2025: Launch of first VCF-based offer Public VCF as-a-Service

A recognized leader in technology and trust

Our VMware-based solutions are awarded by the powers that be, and trusted by enterprises and public organizations alike:

• Certifications: SecNumCloud, C5, G-Cloud, Agid, HDS, PCI-DSS
• Awards: VMware Cloud Verified, Sovereign Cloud, and Zero Carbon Committed Partner
• A presence that spans Europe, North America, and strategic markets worldwide

Two strategies, one seamless experience

To be prepared for any circumstance, OVHcloud has designed a comprehensive portfolio of Managed VMware solutions:

• Public VCF as-a-Service (Ideal for small and medium customers)

• Entry-level VMware Cloud Foundation at €299/month
• Shared infrastructure, fully managed
• Perfect for development, test environments, or smaller production workloads
• Fast deployment and easy scaling

• Managed VMware vSphere (Ideal for large, regulated, or demanding workloads)

• Dedicated infrastructure with the highest certified cloud offers
• Built-in hyperconvergence, NSX networking, and enterprise monitoring
• Fully compliant (SecNumCloud, ISO, GDPR) and backed by 24/7 support
• Used by governments and large enterprises for secure cloud operations
• Provides professional services and solution architects to build the perfect combination of OVHcloud services

• Private VCF as-a-Service (Coming soon)

• The next generation of Managed VMware vSphere based on VCF 9
• Support for BYOS/BYOL to enable migration of VCF licenses to OVHcloud
• Will exist as a managed stretched cluster on 3-AZ (already in alpha) for business critical workloads
• All the best of OVHcloud expertise on the modern foundations of VCF 9

Access to all OVHcloud’s product portfolio and services

It’s not just a cloud—it’s the cloud of the future

The cloud we’re building is about more than preparation or infrastructure. It’s about empowering transformation for the betterment of us all:

• Dramatically shorter deployment times (from months to hours)
• Full-stack automation and simplified management
• A clear, sustainable Green IT roadmap with 0.20T CO₂e/MWh carbon usage in 2022

This is a new foundation that bolsters the enterprise cloud. Built to support digital sovereignty, environmental goals, and business agility, without compromise on cost or control.

VMware may have changed the rules of tech history—but with OVHcloud, you can now choose how you approach the future. 

Encouraging migration without the battle wounds

We know that migration means more than just moving workloads. It requires retraining teams, rethinking architectures, realigning budgets and maybe losing some good people along the way. That’s why we’ve:

• Simplified the stack
• Kept our lock-in policies
• Adjusted our offer and hardware to conserve the best price/performance ration within the new licensing rules
• Provided professional services and solution architects to build the perfect combination of OVHcloud services

We’re encouraging organizations to make revolutionary leap right now, because the future is already here—waiting for you to grab the horns.

Time to rally the troops

The world of virtualization is changing fast, and it’s not slowing down. With Broadcom reshaping how VMware is delivered and licensed, and with new solutions like VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2 and 9.0 becoming the new standard, the path forward is clear: it’s time to modernize, simplify, and migratetoday.

At OVHcloud, we’ve anticipated this shift. We’ve designed a full-stack, sovereign, and sustainable cloud, purpose-built for organizations who want freedom, transparency, and performance without breaking the bank (or the SLA). Whether you’re a small business looking for a solid entry point or an enterprise needing certified infrastructure and 24/7 expertise, we’ve got your back in this fight!

Because let’s face it. When you’re in the trenches, migration can feel complex. So, we’ve removed the barriers to allow for a fair battle:

✔️ Transparent pricing
✔️ No vendor lock-in
✔️ Support for your existing VMware licenses
✔️ Early access and guidance from our expert teams
✔️ Hardware we design and build in-house, optimized for VMware workloads

This is not just about keeping up. It’s about staying ahead—with the right ally, and at the right time in history—with OVHcloud and VMware.

Forward ho!

🔗 https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/hosted-private-cloud/

🔗 https://www.ovhcloud.com/fr/solutions/migration-program/

Crack, splash, boom! In 2024, the VMware ecosystem endured a seismic shift. Broadcom acquired VMware and quickly introduced a controversial change in its pricing model — shifting from a vRAM-based system to one centered on per physical core (pCore) licensing — and shaking the veritable ground users stood upon.

What once allowed customers to pay for what they used (GB of reserved memory) suddenly turned into a fixed core-based cost model of costly uncertainty. This expensive paradigm shift — a complete disruption of customer expense and infrastructure woe — was particularly painful for the SMBs, or small and mid-sized enterprises. With their small configurations (less than 16 cores per host), they had not been using advanced VMware features as NSX, yet were suddenly facing all new requirements to obtain a license.

Innovation, disrupted.

As a solution for these customers over the last 15 years, OVHcloud has delivered the most powerful, certified VMware platform across 3 continents: Managed VMware vSphere, a dedicated and fully-managed VMware service.

Though this change did not impact customers with large configurations and many activated features, OVHcloud customers that were using small hardware configuration of managed VMware vSphere environments were now struggling to find footing on this new shaky ground, as were their service providers. Our Managed vSphere offers were significantly impacted by the rise in cost, a fact that could have a devastating impact on our customers.

Even as many businesses found themselves suddenly uprooted and disoriented, we at OVHcloud were proud to provide a new avenue for migration and choice, while maintaining a trusted continuity of service. The great OVHcloud solution allowed our customers to keep using our services while mitigating this destabilizing change — their building foundations standing strong once again.

A new way forward: OVHcloud migrates you to Public VCF as-a-Service

The idea of “Innovation for Freedom” is at OVHcloud’s very core: we believe in the accessibility of tech for all. As such, we proudly launched a large-scale initiative to propose to the most impacted customers the migration from Managed VMware vSphere to our brand new Public VCF (VMware Cloud Foundation) as-a-Service, sparing them from suffering broken infrastructures, a would-be massive price hike, and the painful bruises of manual migration.

We saw an opportunity to support our customers during a challenging time, rather than leaving them to navigate licensing changes on their own. This situation prompted us to innovate and develop new solutions that would benefit our customers, ensuring they could continue to thrive without disruption.

Why with Public VCF as-a-Service? 

Customers were primarily concerned with the price increase stemming from the change, rather than the product. The transition toward VCF makes sense and bring a lot of good things, and VMware is a strong and efficient solution. So we addressed the price, kept the quality, and included a seamless migration for our customers a key part of the project’s objectives.

• A cost-effective shared infrastructure that absorbs the spike in core-based pricing.
• A seamless transition with no reskilling required, one that mirrors the existing VMware environment.
• A sovereign and trusted cloud — our datacenters are located in Europe and Canada, aligned with GDPR, ISO/IEC 27000, and SecNumCloud certifications.

Customer segmentation: a tailored migration strategy

Our hero strategy? Trying to save as many as we can! To optimize risk-sharing and minimize disruption, we grouped our customers based on their technological context. We started with:

1. Customers with a simple footprint —often without hybrid capabilities.
2. Microsoft-licensed customers — operating with centralized licensing servers.
3. Network virtualized customers — heavy NSX deployments needing precise mapping.
4. vSAN/Hyperconverged environments — complex storage structures requiring careful transition.

How we rebuilt the tech city: fully automated, risk-free migration

Like a city crumbled by disaster, migration at this scale required more than planning—it demanded precision. That’s why OVHcloud built a fully automated orchestration stack (based on Golang — and we used open-source zPod project during the R&D phase). Here’s what that blueprint looked like:

• Pre-checks: Scan for blockers, validate configurations, freeze periods.
• Customer context creation: Networking (VXLAN/VLAN), NFS storage, user access.
• Migration execution: vMotion, IS and billing mapping, end-of-window verification.
• Final validation: Public IP, health checks, affinity rules, segment profiles.

Challenges overcome

We came together on this one — it wasn’t a simple “lift and shift” of the rubble. Among the technical and operational challenges our teams tackled:

• Lifecycle and deployment hardening at scale
• Layer 2 connectivity and VXLAN bridging
• Multi-tenant orchestration with LACP complexity
• Preserving customer-specific network and software topologies

It must be said, these are real-world obstacles were such that only an experienced partner could solve and fix them efficiently. OVHcloud is proud to not have shrunk away from the challenge, and to count this among the wins that will help keep the tech world growing strong.

Why this matters: freedom, continuity, and cost protection

What makes the OVHcloud solution unique? We decided to prioritize the big picture and the every-customer, seeing the future we could rebuild together and not the money we could skim on the side. Innovation, freedom, togetherness. We stand tall in OVHcloud’s values, while even managing to:

• Ensure a price freeze for 9-12 months, despite the VMware price hike, while we migrated the customer to their new “Public VCF as-a-Service” environment
• Not allow a service disruption, and planning migration while running, with “hot” vMotion and real-time storage mapping
• Introduce License Portability (BYOL) coming soon—bring your existing VMware licenses and activate in minutes to Managed VMware vSphere, not weeks.

Power of Choice, Powered by OVHcloud

OVHcloud’s Managed VMware solutions offer businesses a fully managed, enterprise-grade virtualization platform that combines VMware’s industry-leading software with our trusted infrastructure, support, and security.

Current Managed VMware solutions

With VMware’s new pricing model placing pressure on thousands of businesses, OVHcloud didn’t just react—we innovated. We designed a new way forward, delivered it with little cost to you, and scaled a migration model that turns a pricing crisis into a platform evolution that you can rebuild on.

Continuing the transformation

Like heroes who care, we won’t stop here. We will keep on adapting our offering to the need of our customers: 

• New hardware for Managed VMware vSphere, reviewed to better fit the new licensing rules and provide, as always, the best price/performance ratio
• A whole new managed VMware Cloud Fundation solution to give you all that VCF 9 has to offer, including a fully managed stretched cluster version already in alpha
• For those seeking on-premise solutions, with OPCP (On-Premise Cloud Platform) already allows to bring VCF at home

To our customers, big and small: we see you, and we value you. Your freedom to choose, adapt, grow and stay safe, even in the face of disaster—this is our mission that we are proud to uphold.

Up, up and away!

Artificial intelligence has quickly become the cornerstone of digital innovation. From text generation to image recognition and intelligent automation, AI is redefining how organisations extract value from data.

At OVHcloud, we believe this transformation shouldn’t only belong to the tech elite – it should be open, accessible, and built on trusted, sovereign infrastructure.

This vision drives everything from our AI Endpoints and AI Deploy solutions to our Hugging Face partnership, which empowers developers to run open inference models directly in the cloud. But beyond those flagship initiatives, AI also lives in the everyday – in the data that powers recommendations, insights and smarter user experiences.

And that’s where PostgreSQL + Vector capabilities come in.

Vectors: Where data meets understanding

At its core, AI systems function by decoding relationships between words, images or user behaviours. To do that, machine learning models translate these entities into vectors — mathematical representations that capture meaning and similarity.

A vector representation allows a system to measure how close two pieces of data are. It is the foundation of semantic search, recommendation engines, facial recognition and anomaly detection systems.

Traditionally, companies needed to move their datasets from transactional databases into specialised “vector databases.” While vector databases are effective for purely vector-centric workloads, this approach often comes with higher complexity, data duplication, and integration overhead. These challenges are not ideal for production-grade systems that demand reliability and compliance.

PostgreSQL + pgvector: AI where your data already lives

Instead of creating yet another database to maintain, PostgreSQL offers an elegant solution: the pgvector extension. With pgvector, organisations can store, query and compare vectorised data alongside traditional relational data, using the same SQL syntax they already know. pgvector also allows you to build full or partial indexes to speed up similarity search.

In other words, PostgreSQL becomes not just your source of truth, but also your foundation for AI experimentation and delivery.

Here’s what this means in practice:

• Simplified architecture: Keep data in one place. No ETL pipelines or synchronisation risks.
• Familiar SQL workflow: Run similarity searches directly in SQL, with ACID guarantees intact.
• Faster time to value: Build and iterate AI use cases faster, without learning a new database technology.

This is AI grounded in operational reality — a pragmatic path for enterprises to explore machine learning use cases safely and efficiently.

A practical use case: Real-time product recommendations

Imagine an e-commerce company managing both product and customer data in Managed PostgreSQL at OVHcloud, ensuring access to the latest, most performant features.

By combining pgvector with embeddings generated from an open-source model, the team can:

1. Convert product descriptions and user preferences into vector representations.
2. Store these vectors in PostgreSQL columns alongside stock levels, pricing and metadata.
3. Run a similarity search that finds relevant products instantly: for example, recommending ‘eco-friendly alternatives’ or ‘similar styles’ while ensuring only in-stock items are shown.

The entire process happens within PostgreSQL — no need for external vector databases or data duplication.

The result: real-time, AI-enhanced customer experiences powered by trusted, open technology.

The enterprise reality: AI without reinventing the wheel

In the rush to ‘go AI’, many organisations risk overcomplicating their architectures by chasing the latest dedicated vector databases. While those solutions have their place, PostgreSQL’s maturity, ecosystem and extensibility make it uniquely suited for the vast majority of enterprise AI workloads.

For most companies exploring AI, starting with what they already know, PostgreSQL, means solid foundations, less risk, faster learning and lower cost.

The OVHcloud advantage: Open, managed, secure

OVHcloud’s partnership with Aiven, which brings proven expertise in managing PostgreSQL at scale, ensures our customers benefit from the latest capabilities as soon as they are production-ready, without operational difficulties. Let your teams focus on their product rather than worry about database resources and infrastructure.

Additionally, OVHcloud customers can benefit from a service-level agreement (SLA) of up to 99.99% via its Multi-Availability Zone (3-AZ) regions. These regions feature geographically separated zones with independent power, cooling and network systems, providing true fault isolation.

At OVHcloud, we see PostgreSQL as more than a database. It’s a bridge between today’s workloads and tomorrow’s intelligent systems. And as AI workloads evolve, we’ll continue to integrate the technologies that matter: from vector search and AI embeddings to seamless connections with AI Endpoints and Hugging Face models.

PostgreSQL, widely recognised as one of the most advanced open-source relational databases, continues to set the standard for performance, scalability, and flexibility. Its ability to evolve quickly—thanks to an active, committed community—means that every release introduces features that tackle real-world challenges for developers, database administrators, and IT leaders.

Since PostgreSQL 14 in 2021, we’ve seen rapid innovation: richer data types, faster and more efficient queries, stronger replication, and simpler ways to manage complex workloads. For organisations building SaaS platforms, cloud-native applications, or analytics pipelines, these advancements translate directly into faster time-to-market and more resilient systems. This is exactly what’s covered in this blog.

OVHcloud makes it easier for you to run production-grade PostgreSQL in the cloud. Our partnership with Aiven, a company with deep expertise in managing PostgreSQL at scale, ensures our customers benefit from the latest capabilities as soon as they are production-ready, without operational difficulties. Additionally, OVHcloud customers can benefit from a service-level agreement (SLA) of up to 99.99% via its Multi-Availability Zone (3-AZ) Regions. These regions feature geographically separated zones with independent power, cooling, and network systems, providing true fault isolation.

Why stay current with PostgreSQL releases?

Upgrading to the latest PostgreSQL release isn’t just good practice; it’s a strategic advantage:

• Performance and scalability – New releases bring optimisations for query execution, indexing, and parallel processing, enabling applications to scale without losing speed.
• Developer-friendly features – Additions like the MERGE command or improved JSON handling cut through complexity and unlocks potential.

• Security and compliance – Updated authentication, encryption, and replication methods keep data secure and meet modern compliance needs.
• Community and support – The PostgreSQL community focuses its energy on the latest versions. Staying current means benefiting from the latest patches, fixes, and extensions.

Key PostgreSQL milestones since v14

Here’s a breakdown of key highlights from PostgreSQL 14, 15, 16, and 17.

v14 (2021)

• JSON enhancements simplified working with nested JSON values, making it easier for applications with dynamic data structures.
• Multiranges enabled efficient handling of non-contiguous date or number ranges, ideal for scheduling systems or financial datasets.
• LZ4 compression for large text/binary fields reduced storage needs while improving read speeds.

Impact: Developers gained more expressive tools for complex data types while infrastructure teams saw improved storage efficiency.

v15 (2022)

• SQL MERGE command brought easier and faster upserts, replacing complex multi-step queries for conditional inserts/updates.
• Improved sort performance, compression, and replication capabilities for entire schemas.

Impact: ETL pipelines and data warehousing workflows became simpler, and applications with heavy update logic ran more smoothly and efficiently.

PostgreSQL v15 introduced the SQL MERGE command, a game changer for these workflows. Updating or inserting data into a database can be a multi-step process. In data warehousing, ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) pipelines often require complex scripts to handle conditional logic: “if the record exists, update it; if not, insert it.” This is both slow and hard to maintain. SQL MERGE allows you to perform these “upsert” operations quickly and easily with a single command, which cleans up your queries and speeds up data ingestion.

The OVHcloud advantage: With OVHcloud Managed PostgreSQL, you don’t need to worry about the underlying infrastructure. Simply connect to your instance, run the new MERGE command, and you’ll immediately see performance improvements in your data sync. And what if this data merge ends up needing a bigger instance? No worries, you can quickly scale up your instance. Our team handles resource management, so your team can focus on extracting insights from data.

v16 (2023)

• Parallelisation of full and right outer hash joins delivered major speed boosts for analytical workloads on large datasets.
• Logical replication from standby enabled greater read scaling and more flexible high-availability architectures.
• Faster bulk data loading improved ingestion for analytics and big data projects.

Impact: High-demand apps and analytics platforms could handle larger workloads with less tuning effort.

v17 (2024)

• Enhanced logical replication failover provided finer control in HA environments.
• Improved querying using advanced SQL/JSON made it easier to manipulate complex data structures.
• Incremental backups reduced backup times and storage requirements.

Impact: Businesses running mission-critical workloads gained more resilience, and backup operations became lighter and faster.

Downtime in mission-critical applications is costly, and every second counts. Setting up your database to handle failover without data loss requires a complex, manual process for configuring replication and standby servers.

Recent versions have made major strides in high availability (HA).

• v16 enabled logical replication from a standby server, which is perfect for read scaling and distributing workloads.
• v17 introduced enhanced logical replication failover, giving you more granular control and automated, seamless transitions in HA environments.

The OVHcloud advantage: OVHcloud’s Multi-Availability Zone (3-AZ) Regions are architected for true fault isolation. By combining this physical resiliency with the latest logical replication features, we’re able to deliver a 99.99% SLA. Our managed service handles the complex setup, monitoring, and failover management, so your application is always available; without your team lifting a finger.

Looking ahead: PostgreSQL 18

Expected in September 2025, PostgreSQL 18 is set to refine logical replication further, introduce more advanced index types, and expand native vector support—creating new possibilities for AI and ML pipelines that require quick, high-dimensional data searches.

Migration made easy with OVHcloud

Every release packs in useful features, but upgrading PostgreSQL can be tricky, with compatibility checks and rollback planning in the mix. The fear of breaking compatibility, losing data, or facing unexpected downtime often stops organisations from adopting valuable new features. OVHcloud’s managed service removes this friction:

• Latest versions available instantly in your OVHcloud Control Panel once production-ready. When you’re ready, upgrade your production instance with just a few clicks in the OVHcloud Control Panel.
• Test before you commit: Easily spin up a staging environment with the new PostgreSQL version with a few clicks to test migrations before going live. This way, you can test your applications and queries in a safe space before making any changes to your live data.
• Built-in safety nets: Access built-in backups and rollback options for seamless upgrades. OVHcloud provides automated backups and rollback options, so you can confidently upgrade, knowing you can revert to a stable state if needed.

Once upgraded, you can start taking advantage of new features right away, whether it’s optimising queries with improved parallel joins or simplifying business logic with the MERGE command.

The bottom line

PostgreSQL’s journey from v14 to v17—and soon v18—is proof of the open-source community’s ability to innovate while keeping the database robust and reliable. PostgreSQL’s continuous improvements are its superpower. From the MERGE command in v15 to enhanced replication in v17, each update brings tangible benefits that elevate performance, developer experience, and system resilience.

Staying current isn’t just about having the latest tech; it’s about unlocking performance, security, and features that keep your applications competitive.

With OVHcloud Cloud Databases for PostgreSQL, powered with our partner Aiven, you get all of these benefits without the complexity of managing the database yourself—freeing your team to focus on building what matters.

Why product icons matter

Product icons add visual appeal and clarity to graphics and presentations, among other advantages:

• Consistency: they give all OVHcloud products the same look and feel.
• Accessibility: they make technical concepts easy for everyone to understand.
• Efficiency: teams save time on media projects thanks to OVHcloud’s library of ready-to-use icons.

Where do I find product icons?

You can find product icons in our Brand Hub, a central repository of OVHcloud graphics. Need a custom icon? This library is packed with options, adapted to your needs, to download and use.

There are over 100 product icons in the OVHcloud library, sorted into Compute, Network, Storage, and many other categories. They represent a broad selection of OVHcloud solutions, making it easy to create custom visual aids that match your specific needs. The main icon categories include:

• Compute: for computing resources (dedicated servers, VPS, Bare Metal servers).
• Network: for network components (load balancers, VPN, and firewalls).
• Storage: for storage solutions (Object, Block, and File Storage).
• Telephony: for solutions like VOIP, SIP Trunk or Fax, and SMS.
• Containers: for Kubernetes, Docker and other container orchestrators.
• Databases: for managed databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, and more).
• AI & Machine Learning: for AI tools and platforms.
• Identity & Security: for WAF, IAM, DDoS protection and other cybersecurity tools.

Unlock the full potential of product icons

Our product icons are versatile and designed for maximum visual and technical impact, mainly in:

• Architectural layouts: product icons, integrated with tools such as Excalidraw, Lucidchart, Microsoft Visio, or Diagrams.net clearly and fully illustrate complex infrastructure, or customer solutions.
  
  
• Standard repositories: the standard graphics available on the OVHcloud internal Confluence platform also include product icons, giving it a refined and uniform look.

Tips for using product icons

Here’s how to get the most out of our product icons:

• Visual simplicity: don’t cram too much into your visuals; a few key icons should do the trick.
• Accessibility: Pick the right colours and contrast levels to make your media more readable for everyone.
• Consistency: always use the official OVHcloud icons for a well-balanced brand image.

Documentation and training materials

Generated icons aren’t just useful for architectural design; they are also effective educational and communication resources. No matter your role—trainer, technical writer, product manager, or marketing manager—you can use these icons to present your content plainly and professionally.

• Clearer understanding: product icons in well-structured visuals make it easier for users (new and existing), partners, and internal teams to grasp technical concepts.
• Highly engaging materials: quality visuals make for better user guides, product overviews, and technical articles, to capture your audience and get your message across.
• Faster training and onboarding: new employees or customers can quickly learn about and navigate the OVHcloud ecosystem and universes, thanks to standardised icons.
• Strong brand and professional image: incorporating OVHcloud icons into your media elevates its visual appeal, creating a unified and professionallook—aligned with market standards.

From technical presentations to online training and sales pitches, product icons are a universal language that effectively communicate information and showcase OVHcloud’s expertise. Beyond technical charts, icons are also useful in user guides, training materials, technical articles, and marketing presentations.

Conclusion

With product icons, you can organise, document, and structure your work more efficiently, making it resonate every step of the way. Whether you’re sketching out ideas for customers, working with your team, or documenting your projects, product icons make your message sharper and way more memorable.

Up to now, OVHcloud had offered a Managed Caching service based on the renowned Redis engine. We helped our customers to effortlessly scale their caching or real-time data management instances. A particularly useful asset for example in e-commerce sites and apps.

As Redis’ 2024 licensing model changed, introducing dual source-available licences with Redis 7.4. We took the strategic decision to discontinue this Managed Caching service. That’s why we will transition to Managed Valkey, its open-source alternative, in the Spring of 2025.

Why Valkey? A fully open-source alternative

Valkey is an open-source fork of Redis developed under the Linux Foundation. Through Valkey, our users benefit from a seamless and reliable alternative to Redis OSS. Its mission aligns with OVHcloud’s core values:

• 100% open-source: unlike Redis’ new licensing model, Valkey remains fully open-source. True to our words: ensuring freedom, transparency, security and long-term sustainability.
• Seamless compatibility: Valkey is designed as a drop-in replacement for Redis. It means customers can continue to use the same commands, data structures, and configurations.
• Community-driven innovation: as an Open-Source project, Valkey benefits from a thriving developer ecosystem, allowing for collaborative advancements and continuous improvements.

By choosing Managed Valkey, OVHcloud is ensuring that customers have access to a high-performance caching solution. Both future-proof and aligned with open-source values.

On top of that, this choice aligns with our partner Aiven’s decision to stand firmly as an early supporter of and committer to Valkey. Thanks to our long-term partnership with this unicorn, OVHcloud is now able to provide multiple managed services to its ecosystem. Lately, we demonstrated our partnership during the last OVHcloud Summit. On this much expected ecosystem event, we presented the many specific use cases we cover together.

What this means for OVHcloud customers?

Managed Valkey, which we will run on version 8.0, ensures full compatibility with Redis OSS 7.2.4. It’s now making it easier for users to transition their existing applications without disruption:

• Effortless migration: our teams have designed an automated transition process. This requires no changes on the customer’s end and no service disruption.
• Full support & documentation: comprehensive guides, migration tools, and expert assistance will be available to facilitate the switch.

Looking ahead: OVHcloud’s vision for Managed Databases

Beyond Valkey, we are constantly expanding our Managed Databases portfolio. Our goal? To provide cost-efficient, high-performance, secured and transparent solutions for our customers. Recent developments include:

• Expanding database engines to new regions to ensure high availability and low latency worldwide, more recently in Singapore and the USA.
• Upcoming ClickHouse Deployment, enhancing our analytics database functionality by Q3 2025.

Our Databases Public Cloud Roadmap on GitHub remains available for customers who want to stay informed about our future developments.

🚀 Let’s build the future of open source databases – together!

Today, we’re not going to talk about why you should protect your data. Because you know you should. In this article, we’ll discuss the different data backup options available, and the ideal software, skills and storage package for you.

In this article, we’ll discuss the different data backup options available, and the ideal software, skills and storage package for you.

Introduction

In the backup world, we can identify two major non-exclusive options for running backups:
Enterprise Backup Solutions and Specialised Backup.

Enterprise Backup Solutions are software capable of executing multiple backups from different sources to a wide choice of destinations. They usually have a very user-friendly User Interface/Command-Line Interface, powerful scheduling capabilities, a range of flexible features, and come with compliance and certifications. They provide extensive support, with large communities you can rely on in the long term.

On the other hand, some applications and/or databases have their own Specialised Backup mechanism. They’re optimised, efficient and extremely popular due to their high performance and, quite often, they don’t need additional licences. However, very often you need to rely on the application/database administrator to take care of the backups.

To summarise:

• Enterprise Backup Solutions are fairly universal, can easily support a company-wide backup strategy, are user-friendly and can meet detailed pre-requisites.
• Specialised Backups are high performance and low cost which is appealing, but they can be difficult to use within a global backup strategy and administrators require specific knowledge.

As well as the tool used to move data, we must consider that data has a source and a destination. Keeping in mind the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies of your data (your production data and 2 backup copies) on 2 different media (disk and tape for example) with 1 copy off-site for disaster recovery), and the amount of sources in a modern IT system, both the choice of software solution and hardware platform used to store the backups must meet both the Global Backup Strategy and… your budget. There is also 3-2-1-1-0 backup strategy, which is another option. After all, even if the technical possibilities are infinite, the budget isn’t.

Enterprise Backup Solutions

So, let’s look at the most practical choices you can make to protect your precious data, whilst not having to rob a bank or ten. And to be honest, we’re mainly going to be looking at cloud services. Not just because we’re a cloud services company, but because cloud storage makes a lot of sense. We’ll demonstrate why.

There are numerous Enterprise Backup Solutions on the market and some have been around for a while. You’ve probably used one, and you’re probably still using that same one today. Why? Because you developed expertise in it, and you built your backup strategy based on its features and recommendations. And that makes sense. Your staff’s experience and skills should never be discounted when investigating opportunities for expanding your backup strategy for new workloads or changing to a cloud service. But very often, this expertise translates very easily to new systems, thanks to the use of standard vocabulary and similar mechanisms. So changing to a new Enterprise Backup Solution shouldn’t be too frightening, as expertise is rarely lost; but usually expanded.

Today, all Enterprise Backup Software supports cloud backup. Whether it’s from the cloud or to the cloud. And it doesn’t come as a surprise, as a lot of workloads are in the cloud – and backups too.
Remember the 3-2-1 rule? The cloud is particularly good for storing your off-site copy given that there are hosting locations all over the world.

OVHcloud Enterprise Backup Solutions

At OVHcloud, our IaaS products are compatible with all major Enterprise Backup Software, and some, like Veeam and HYCU, are even certified to run on our Enterprise platforms. And we also provide the adequate licences so you don’t have to use yet another provider.

You can pair Veeam/HYCU solutions with nearly any Operating System/application and benefit from advanced integration with VMware and Nutanix hypervisors. They have certified compatibility with Network File System / Common Internet File System /Object Storage and you can even add features to improve security.

It’s slightly outside the scope of this article, but our Managed VMware platform even has a Zerto option, allowing you to add replication to the highly recommended backups.

Our Public Cloud instances can be protected using snapshots and backups. All our Bare Metal servers include an external storage of 500GB which can used for your backup. This storage can be extended by up to 10TB.

Other Enterprise Backup Solutions

If you want more control over your backup strategy, leveraging your expertise and fitting it to your specific requirements, it is possible to build your own backup infrastructure with OVHcloud.

 All the major players in the Enterprise Backup market are compatible and already used by OVHcloud’s customers. To mention but a few: Veeam, HYCU, Datamotive, Nakivo, Veritas Technologies, Scality, CommVault, Rubrik, Acronis and Cohesity.

Open-Source Backup Solutions

And of course, if you’d rather use open-source software, Bacula is a perfectly viable option, or the simple but robust rsync. After all, if you just need to keep a reasonably updated copy of your data somewhere else, the simplest tool can often do the job. There’s many open-source options…

Specialised Backup Solutions

Kubernetes workloads

In the Cloud Native / Public Cloud / PaaS environment, you have access to and compatibility with the main players too:

• Velero
• CloudCasa
• TrilioVault
• Veeam Kasten
• and many others.

Application/Database workloads

But what if you use specific application/database mechanisms?
Given that our promise is to be open, agnostic and reversible, we do not block third party software from interacting with your data. So as long as you have the expertise to install and manage them, you can use them and make the most of our large storage portfolio.

Many solutions integrate a mechanism from, for example, pre-backup and post-backup to launch backup of your databases. Of course, if you use your databases with our VMware by Broadcom and/or Nutanix offer, you can rely on Veeam Enterprise and HYCU.

As specified earlier, all major players in the Enterprise backup Software have modules for database protection: Nakivo, Veritas Technologies, Scality, CommVault, Rubrik, Acronis and Cohesity

OVHcloud PaaS Backup

Our Public Cloud instances can be protected using snapshots and backups and our Managed Kubernetes are compatible with several industry leading backup software such as Velero, Triliovault and CloudCasa.

Here is the recap’ of how our Public Cloud Managed products are protected and your options:

SaaS Backup and Solutions

When we’re talking about cloud and Specialised Backup, we can’t forget to mention the SaaS offers. As much as they’re convenient, affordable and widely available, making sure that your data is safe is not always included in the contract. It’s always worth researching this before committing, or you might discover unsuspected charges for your backup.

At OVHcloud, we have a large portfolio of partners who can help. You can find our complete partners directory here.

For Microsoft Office 365 backup, RG system provides a solution hosted on OVHcloud datacentre.

For Cybercriminality incidences, SI Vital solution maintains access to your vital, uninterrupted data and applications, as well as a secure, professional communications platform. A business continuity solution co-constructed with OVHcloud.

Different Types of Storage For Your Backup

Whether you are using an Enterprise Backup Solution or a Specialised Backup mechanism, you can store the backups on dedicated servers (Bare Metal storage), dedicated storage (NAS/HA, Enterprise File Storage), or the current global preferred choice for backup: Object Storage.

All OVHcloud storage solutions : https://www.ovhcloud.com/en/storage-solutions/

And because a picture is worth a thousand words (and that’s about how many words you’ve read so far in this article):

Object Storage & Cold Archive

Object Storage is particularly well-adapted to backup because:

• data growth is not limited by the underlying hardware
• it’s cost-effective
• it’s pseudo disconnected or fully disconnected in some cases
• it’s application/Operating System agnostic
• it’s friendly to static data
• it works with tapes.

Our Object Storage options are:

• Standard Object Storage: ideal for general backups.
• Performance Object Storage: ideal for critical and large backups as its high performance reduces backup and restore time.
• Cold Archive: ideal for meeting the legal requirement for data conservation and disconnected backup for safety.

Block Storage

Block Storage is still a very attractive option for storing backups because of its predictable performance and safety inherent to direct access to storage and RAID. It is the favoured media for on-premises infrastructure as storage arrays are widely available and distributed across datacentres. This distribution and the potential replication options provided by the storage arrays allow you to keep your data safe without causing you headaches. One caveat to mention is that Block Storage it is mostly reserved for server backup since end users don’t have easy access to centralised Block Storage.

File Storage

If you want to protect your users’ shares/export, File Storage is very convenient and access to the data is not bound to physical connections as is often the case for Block Storage. As long as you have access rights and network connection, using File Storage for backup is easy. Most File Storage also provides snapshots, and even though it can’t be considered a backup solution, it does provide a fast recovery mechanism. Advanced File Storage solutions provide replication and High Availability mechanisms.

Expert & Partner Ecosystem

And if you feel intimidated, our Professional Services, Solution Architect and partners can help you make an educated choice and a solid migration. But what if your data is already in the cloud? How is it protected and how can it be?

Well, the devil is in the detail, and very often, protecting your data is your responsibility, not your provider’s. So never ever assume that because your data is in the cloud, it’s automagically protected in the case of an incident.
What we do at OVHcloud is provide access to snapshots for some of our services. But there’s no Service-Level Agreement associated with these snapshots and they may not respect the 3-2-1 rule, hence are not backups.

• OVHcloud Professional Services
• OVHcloud Partner directory
• OVHcloud ISV directory
• OVHcloud Marketplace

Conclusion

Let’s finish by talking about the ideal global backup service approach for you, encompassing software and storage. The main differentiator is going to be: how much control do you want over your backup? Once you have an inventory of the data you need to backup, the first step is to check compatibility with existing or future Enterprise Backup Solutions. Most of the time, you’ll find several solutions that are able to support your needs and protect a vast majority of your data, even if they’re both on-premise and in the cloud. Having all your data in the same place is of course easier, but it rarely happens.

Then you need to verify which of the Software Solutions you’re considering are suitable for your backup strategy. And this is the perfect time to step back and evaluate. Have you missed anything? Does everything follow industry standards? And finally, who can help you find the best compromise between safety and cost. Ideally, we’ve answered all these questions above, so let’s have a look at what we can offer here:

How do you get your data closer to your business while navigating move to cloud complexity? How can you ensure better infrastructure performance for your customers worldwide? Discover OVHcloud Local Zones: a groundbreaking compute solution for you, your customers and partners’ global expansion.

In this blog post, you will learn how to navigate through cloud architectures challenges. Unlock a realm of opportunities to expand globally while acting locally. Find out how to enhance your business with closer-to-use cloud infrastructure.

From centralized data centers to local data

For years, the traditional cloud architecture relied on a few centralized data centers. This often lead to data residency issues and unsatisfying user experience due to latency. Now, with our global infrastructure deployment concept comes a new era. OVHcloud Local Zones shorten the long distances travel of your data. Ensuring localized owned management of your infrastructure. You can now have the power to choose wherever you want to host your data globally and how to protect the most sensitive ones locally. 

“Cross-border data transfers can have a huge positive impact on the economy by 2030 if we make the right decisions now.” – Hilary Mine, President of DIGITALEUROPE 

How to help your data navigate the right way with Local Zones

OVHcloud’s Local Zones extend the reach of its infrastructure to key urban hubs across several countries. Within the coming years, we will offer new infrastructure in 150 cities. These infrastructures simplify localization of sensitive data. On top of that, it improves application performance across the board, without imposing exorbitant costs or complexities on organizations. 

Three Ways Local Zones Help International Companies 

1. Store Data Locally: Operating in multiple countries often entails grappling with regulatory complexities. Local Zones enable businesses to store data within the same country. With a minimized latency, ensuring faster content delivery, and facilitating data localization and protection. 
2. Scale with Confidence: Locating data centers nearest to areas of high user demand is strategical. That’s why Local Zones allow companies to deploy at scale and expand their services seamlessly. All of this while maintaining reliability and freedom of choice. Always, at the best price performance ratio.
3. Improve User Experience: In an age where consumers demand lightning-fast responsiveness, Local Zones facilitate the hosting of services locally, resulting in lower latency and higher user satisfaction.

Expand Safely with Local Zones 

That’s right. It goes without saying that data residency and state-of-the-art computing are crucial. What’s more, reduced latency and international expansion make OVHcloud an indispensable partner for companies on the road to digital transformation. Especially if you’re looking to gain a competitive edge in the global marketplace.

Ready to Elevate Your Business with OVHcloud? 

Whether you’re navigating complex data localization or sensitiveness or striving to deliver unparalleled user experiences, OVHcloud’s Local Zones can offer.  

OVHcloud Local Zones make real the principles of Edge Computing offering businesses robust, flexible, and secure cloud solutions. Don’t miss our suite of offerings including:

• B3 compute instances,
• Block storage,
• Object Storage S3 compatible
• Volume snapshots
• Automatic back-up
• An expanding array of new features coming up!
  
  OVHcloud isn’t just meeting industry standards—it’s setting the pace.

And the perspective for your business development with Local Zones doesn’t stop there. Indeed, with Kubernetes, volume snapshots, automatic back-up on the horizon: the future looks brighter than ever for those seeking top-tier cloud services. Meanwhile, you can already learn how to create a kube cluster in a Local Zone through managed rancher service (thanks Aurélie).

So, just dive in! The OVHcloud Local Zones journey is only just beginning…

Our upcoming local zones deployment worldwide:

• Boston
• Oslo
• Helsinki
• Copenhagen
• Manchester
• Salt Lake City
• Phoenix

Reach out today to explore how OVHcloud can help you gain a measurable competitive advantage in an increasingly digital world.