Virtual Machine Instances

OVHcloud offers a wide range of instances to meet your computing, memory, storage, and performance needs.

• General Purpose instances - these instances provide a balance between computing power, memory and storage. They are suitable for a wide range of applications and workloads.
   
• Compute Optimised instances - these instances are designed for compute-intensive workloads, such as data processing, modelling, simulation and rendering.
   
• Memory Optimised instances - these instances are designed for memory-intensive applications, such as in-memory databases and data analytics. They have a high amount of RAM.
   
• Storage Optimised instances - these instances are perfect for workloads requiring fast, high-capacity data storage, such as massive databases or streaming applications.
   
• Graphics Processing Unit (IPU) instances - these instances are equipped with graphics processing units (GPUs) and used for tasks, such as machine learning, 3D visualisation, modelling and simulation.

While Discovery instances have a 99.95% SLA, other instance types offer a monthly availability of 99.999%. For further information, please refer to the General Terms and Conditions of Service.

1. Log in to your OVHcloud Control Panel
2. Go to the Instance Management section.
3. Click “Create” or “Launch an instance”.
4. Configure your instance by selecting its type, operating system, size (CPU/RAM) and network settings.
5. Review this information, check your configurations, then launch the instance.
6. Once the instance is up and running, log in using either SSH or RDP, depending on the OS.

For 3^rd-generation instances that are compatible with Windows Server (B3,C3,R3), Windows Server licences are billed separately from the instance.

This means that you'll see two separate lines on your invoice:

1. One line for your instance usage or Savings Plans;
2. Then, there's a line for Windows licence usage.

This way, you can choose to use your instances on demand, or you can opt for reduced prices with the Savings Plans. You'll also get hourly billing for the Windows licence, calculated by vCPU.

For example: For a B3-16 instance with Windows Server (4 vCore and 16 GB RAM):

• You will be billed for the instance depending on how it is used: by the hour or via a Savings Plan.
• The Windows licence will be billed per hour for 4 vCore.

For enhanced readability, the total hourly price, including the instance and licence, can be found directly on our Pricing page.

GPU instances are virtualised by the KVM hypervisor in the Linux kernel. KVM is an open-source solution that has proven its reliability for many years. VMs are fully virtualised, and do not require any guest system changes. KVM also offers advanced features such as live migration for virtual machines.

Yes, you can increase the size of Discovery instances. However, the size cannot be reduced.

No, Discovery instances are used the same way as other instances, and offer the same features.

Our Public Cloud solution is available in Europe (Gravelines, Strasbourg, London, Frankfurt, Warsaw), North America (Beauharnois, Vint Hill, Hillsboro) and the Asia-Pacific region (Sydney, Singapore).

Yes. You can use the OpenStack API “shelve” function to automatically back up your instance, save the configuration, and free up resources. When you use the “unshelve” function, the same process will be carried out in reverse to restore the instance to its original state.

Choosing the right cloud instance depends on the balance required for your application needs, budget, and performance requirements. We often recommend starting with an iterative approach, monitoring application performance and tuning instances as requirements change. Want to try our instances? Create your first free Public Cloud project! Try out Public Cloud.

A server instance is a virtual server unit allocated within in a cloud computing environment. In other words, it is a virtual server that functions as if it were a physical server, but is actually hosted on a shared physical server infrastructure. Server instances are created using virtualisation, which allows multiple instances to coexist on a single physical server without interference.

A virtual machine (VM) is a computing resource that mimics a physical system, and runs on a software called a hypervisor. Hypervisors are used to run several VMs on a single physical server. Each VM has its own operating system, applications, and isolated resources (CPU, memory and storage). In addition to offering flexibility, isolation and efficiency, VMs make it easy to deploy applications, test and manage IT environments.