ITGLOBAL.COM Cloud provider utilizes vStack platform

Client: international cloud provider ITGLOBAL.COM Cloud

Manufacturer: vStack virtualization platform

Situation before cooperation

ITGLOBAL.COM Group is an international provider of cloud services, IT services and products. The company has offices in six countries, in each of which ITGLOBAL.COM has selected some of the best TIER III certified data centers. The company has been in business since 2008, when only a handful of businesses knew about cloud services.

The challenge is to find an alternative platform for virtualization

The main goal of implementing a hyperconverged platform was the desire to create a fully managed virtual data center of the corporate level based on standard server equipment.

In 2018, the ITGLOBAL.COM group of companies began to develop a strategy to enter the markets of Europe, the United States, Central and South America. To compete with large international companies, a productive and cost-effective virtualization platform was needed. This solution was vStack.

«Can vStack become an alternative to VMware? Of course, the platforms are in different weight categories, as the American vendor’s solution has been operating on the international virtualization market for many years. Until 2022, VMware was the main solution of many companies in the world. However, the accumulated experience can be both a plus and a disadvantage of the platform. For example, VMware’s code base contains a huge amount of legacy, while modern solutions are more lightweight. Also among the advantages of vStack is the price, which is at least two times lower than that of analogs».
Alexey Ezhkov, Technical Director, ITGLOBAL.COM

Project progress and specifics of implementation

vStack is a platform for building enterprise-level virtual data centers that combines traditionally disparate SDS, SDN and SDC into a single software-defined solution. The company’s specialists have created a virtual network, an implementation of the RAFT algorithm, a cluster framework, as well as an application layer and a management layer.

The platform has been in commercial operation for more than four years and during this time has shown itself to be a promising replacement for VMware. Its capabilities are enough to cover the virtualization tasks of 70% of users at a cost lower than that of its analogues. Based on vStack, you can deploy your own infrastructure as well as a public cloud.

A significant share of virtual data centers in different countries are under vStack management.

«The main goal of implementing the vStack hyperconverged platform was to meet the market’s need for cloud services. In cooperation with vStack, we will be able to maximize the use of existing resources, creating highly efficient, functional and flexible cloud infrastructures», — Vasily Belov, Executive Director of ITGLOBAL.COM, commented.

The main pros of vStack

Pros of a virtualization platform:

• lack of infrastructure complexity;
• No hardware dependency, possibility to use inexpensive equipment;
• lightweight and no redundancy in the code;
• High performance, CPU Overhead up to 2-5%;
• Correct operation under CPU Overcommit up to 900%, which is the basis for high economic efficiency;

«Correct operation at high CPU overcommit values enables cost-effective virtualization solutions. The technology involves reallocating free CPU cycles to maximize resources. This makes it possible to schedule more virtual machines and reduce the cost per virtual machine by dynamically reallocating power. This approach is especially valuable for workloads where peak spikes alternate with lull periods».

Evgeny Karpov, CEO of vStack Company

• management of the entire infrastructure through a single API, endpoint, interface;
• the ability to engage no more than one specialist to administer the platform;
• flexibility, allowing both horizontal and vertical scaling;
• the ability to promptly respond to functional changes and respond to requests for additional functionality from platform users;
• economical power consumption.

The pros of hyperconvergence:

• easy scalability. With clustering, simply add new nodes to get more VMs, memory, or storage space;
• economic efficiency. You can reduce costs by avoiding the purchase of expensive equipment and reducing the number of administrators;
• ease of operation. It is controlled from a single point through a simple and user-friendly interface;
• configurability for enterprise workloads. HCI can be configured to support the workloads of an entire company. HCI platforms support containers and virtual machines, increasing workload mobility;
• agility. Today’s companies must respond quickly to changing business IT needs. Implementing a hyperconverged infrastructure can simplify this task and increase the flexibility of IT processes.

ITGLOBAL.COM began building its clouds on vStack in 2019.

The vStack platform has its own user-friendly management interface. You can create (and manage) virtual machines, snapshots, virtual networks and data centers, and support highly customizable cloud VM images.

«vStack allows you to manage your storage, virtualization, and networking layer through a single interface. The controls are on a single screen. An administrator can connect and configure servers, monitor infrastructure health and load, and capture costs through a common dashboard without switching between tabs. This simplifies the workflow».

Alexey Ezhkov, Technical Director, ITGLOBAL.COM

The process of creating a virtual machine is as simple as possible and is accessible even to the average user. The first step (optional) is to select the data center where it will be located. The control panel shows data centers in the USA, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan and Canada. Next, the platform offers to select the operating system. In a special configurator you can assign the required amount of CPU, RAM, GB and immediately see how much it costs per month, per day and per hour.

To save time and convenience for customers, ITGLOBAL.COM specialists have added pre-installed applications that are installed on the server during deployment. Among them: WordPress, Docker, PostgreSQL, PHP, LAMP, etc. Thanks to this, the user does not need to deploy them on their own.

Result – increased economic efficiency

By implementing the vStack platform, ITGLOBAL.COM has improved the cost-effectiveness of its own public clouds.

• The company was able to provide customers with cloud services with SLA 99.9%, 100% postpaid, pay-as-you-go billing and 24/7 support in a Tier III data center.
• The speed of service delivery has increased. For example, the time to create a virtual machine takes no more than 40 seconds.
• The cost of ownership of the virtualization platform has been reduced.

ITGLOBAL.COM’s experience has shown that the vStack platform can be a good solution and a great addition to cloud providers’ portfolio. However, the scope of the platform is not limited to commercial use only. The capabilities of vStack allow it to be successfully used in financial organizations, industry, medium-sized companies, etc.