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Filter 41 vetted IBM Cloud Virtual Servers reviews and ratings
Reviews (1-17 of 17)
November 11, 2019
One of the few ways to get out emails in an economical way
This is our main server that our company uses to provide services to our libraries. It is being used as a website, email server, database, and mobile app server. The email serving part is unique to cloud servers. Most other major cloud providers (Google, AWS) don't allow creating email servers on their virtual servers. This is a key issue for us since we send email to library patrons to help them keep track their library circulations.
- An email server is allowed, and in particular, on port 25.
- Able to create a backup server and power it off until needed.
- Reasonably priced compared to the other major cloud services.
- Don't know if this is possible, but I'd like to make a snapshot of my current server for backup purposes. Unfortunately a snapshot takes too long (too many hours), and our server can't be off for more than a few hours at a time.
November 11, 2019
Virtual Servers Review
It is being used by the Berkeley MIDS program (Masters of Information and Data Science) as part of the deep learning on the cloud and on the edge curriculum.
- Nice offering of different compute capabilities.
- Good CLI.
- Easy to understand UI.
- Can't suspend billing when not using VMs.
- Configuration can be difficult for storage and network.
We use IBM Cloud, its virtual servers and an approximately 15 IBM services and microservices. We have used and built on Bluemix, both for testing and evaluation of code efficiency, as well as for cost evaluation and estimation of budgets.
We have also built final solutions in the IBM cloud for third parties, reducing costs (compared to similar services in AWS and Azure).
We have also built final solutions in the IBM cloud for third parties, reducing costs (compared to similar services in AWS and Azure).
- Easy customization and configuration of a virtual server.
- Easy and fast delivery of generated service
- Security, firewall and incredible capabilities to link to other IBM services and microservices
- It is necessary to verify that the DNS has been correctly generated since if there are errors.
- There is a type of deploy that does not allow to increase the details of the already generated.
IBM Cloud recently acquired SoftLayer, and so we became an IBM customer. We are using their virtual servers primarily for web servers and job queues.
- Servers are deployed quickly after ordering them
- They do a good job notifying us of pending maintenance
- Servers are fast and reliable
- The private network across their data centers is great
- They are aggressively decommissioning services and data centers and forcing us to migrate relatively new servers to other data centers
- They could respond more quickly to tickets/cases
November 13, 2019
If you have a need for high IOPS, the IBM cloud is probably your most cost-effective option
All of our servers are on the cloud, and that is IBM's cloud. As of today, we have 102 virtual servers, along with the associated required storage. In our case, storage is our largest cloud investment since our business is to host a data-crunching application to help our clients and utilities, make sense and act upon their customers' incoming smart meter data.
- Storage that provides high IOPS at a cost-effective rate. We evaluated other offerings this summer, in particular, AWS and Microsoft, and their high-IOPS disks were more expensive than IBM's.
- Automated deployment of new virtual servers and their storage is simplified by an API which we leverage using Ansible.
- In our tier, support is timely.
- Billing is complicated and unclear. It can be difficult to determine exactly how much each instance costs, and grouping them is also difficult (we need to charge different machines to different internal departments, and while we have resorted to using labels in the server names, we are not able to do that with storage).
- Their firewall options are not user-friendly nor very cost-effective. We use their Vyatta offering and, though it is an operating system rooted in free software, it is expensive. It is difficult to manage as well as its mgmt is done exclusively via a hard-to-learn text-only hierarchical configuration.
November 11, 2019
Could use a better UI and customer service
We host several services such as a development server, management
software, etc. It is basically the pool for our shared information and
software.
software, etc. It is basically the pool for our shared information and
software.
- They are always online and there is not so much trouble to connect and use.
- You can almost immediately use a new server.
- There is a lot of flexibility on the hardware one can use.
- We had trouble using the copy of the virtual server we made. So we had to reconfigure it from scratch.
- It would be good if one could dynamically change the hardware’s characteristics without having to reset the whole server.
- We have been struggling with the new UI. When it changed from Softlayer to IBM cloud. We experience difficulties getting used to the new interface, the customer service also was slower and sometimes even incorrect since they gave us a solution from the last UI which did not longer work.
- Also, the new webpage is not as responsive as it should. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to load, or one needs to reload in order to see the changes.
We manage infrastructure for several clients, and the ones that use IBM Cloud use it exclusively and across the whole organization. We use IBM Cloud services to provide service for their web/mobile application's backend. This includes APIs, internal processes, networking, continuous integration, and continuous delivery workflows, testing, and several environments; among other things. We design, implement, and use these features, providing support for the full extent of their infrastructure.
- $1000/month credit for IBM Cloud services.
- Support for modern technologies.
- Well performing hardware.
- Very limited integration for non-IBM Cloud tooling.
- Expensive price per hour.
- Server provisioning times that make CI/CD unusable.
October 17, 2019
Great Alternative for Startups
At first, we used the service for a single project which helped me decide to use it for all of our projects now. Plus, I didn't expect the better features they had which helped me to lessen our expenses. I have not had any issues so far with them.
- User-friendly
- Less Cost
- Better Options
- Customer Support Options
- Knowledge Base is Confusing Sometimes
- Email Support
November 11, 2019
Great product that could use some simpler VS setups
It is mainly being used in data science and actuarial departments for heavyweight modelling where either high memory or large CPU requirements (or both) are required.
- A broad range of setup options, so we can choose the right CPU/RAM for the run at hand, which makes things more cost-effective.
- Data security is important to us, being able to choose a server location helps with giving assurance that the data will be looked after appropriately.
- The cloud site is extremely well set out, it is very easy to quickly spec out and cost a VM.
- When launching a VSI it's not always obvious how far progressed or how long we will have to wait.
- It's also not 100% clear when billing starts and stops.
- It would be great to have a few "works out of the box" configurations, with sensible defaults so that inexperienced users can quickly launch a windows instance to run a heavy model without having to worry about getting config exactly right. "too many options".
November 08, 2019
Needs more free bandwidth for VSi
We are a managed service provider. We use IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for customer's resources as well as our own resources, such as applications, databases, media, files, etc.
- IBM Cloud Virtual Servers use the same back-end infrastructure as the IBM Cloud Bare Metal Server. This means, they basically perform better than the usual virtual servers from other vendors.
- Free 250 GB Bandwidth is very low. It should be at least 500 GB, if not 5TB/20TB like Bare Metal Server.
- Currently, it's not possible to scale the storage (boot and secondary). We manually need to add higher capacity storage, and then we need to move the data there and remove the old storage, which is really not convenient. Yes, we have the option to use NFS/Object/Block Storage, but they are expensive, and they are not supported as a boot device.
- No LVM Support when provisioning a new VSi.
September 10, 2019
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Review Based on 10 Years Experience
We use IBM Cloud Virtual Servers to host different web-based systems. It is used across the whole organization and we deploy solutions for customers/third parties on it. We mostly use virtual servers and also utilize some of the IBM Watson services.
- API for creating/managing services
- Datacenter location variety
- Risk of total virtual server loss due to failures
February 18, 2019
A startup's take on IBM Cloud Virtual Servers
The use of IBM Cloud Virtual Servers was organization-wide; for development, testing, and production. We also ran multiple types of workloads, such as website hosting, email, our internal wiki, backups, and DNS. The problem it solved was the speed at which we could deploy additional servers, compared to filing a request with an IT department.
- SSL Certificate issuance is virtually seamless.
- The 4 distributions of Linux offered were great for the individual needs of groups within our company; for example if a particular product required Red Hat, it wasn't a problem that we had everything else running on Debian.
- Fine grained controls such as the ability to select the speed of the Ethernet interface are exclusive to the IBM Cloud offering.
- Ability to quickly clone an existing VM instance.
- Many services, such as Cloud Internet Services, are marked up resold services from another provider, in this case, CloudFlare.
- The number of services available through the Catalog can become overwhelming.
We use virtual servers in the entire organization, and we use them to process vehicle tracking data and show results instantly on the customer portal. IBM servers have helped us deliver direct service to nearly 5,000 customers on a regular and consistent basis. This is in addition to accurate synchronization in operations
- Absolutely superb availability.
- Ease and efficiency of technical support.
- A set of workable and immediate alternatives.
- Integrate all server operations in one place, making it easier for the client to handle the server centrally (instead of switching between two sites).
February 14, 2019
Winning with IBM cloud!!
The IBM Cloud Virtual Servers was recommended to one of my clients and worked for them as a cheaper option in acquiring space without having to spend budgets on hardware acquisitions and maintenance. The focus was on reducing CAPEX which was achieved through the cloud offering.
- They allow for capacity on demand therefore saving the clients money.
- The flexibility of access to data that enables the client to access data anywhere anytime.
- The user does not have to worry about bandwidth for data access which is something other providers charge for
- The ease with which data is restored
February 15, 2019
Good use of VM capabilties
Extensive use for IBM Cloud deployments for CPQ and CLM enterprise capabilities
- scalability is very strong.
- monitoring is good, but could be improved with more stats.
- access groups
- resource groups
- monitoring
- Some API services are very immature
February 13, 2019
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers are the way to go!
We use IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for IT department purposes serving the whole organization. Also we use VMs to offer to the market IaaS plus managed services.
For IT, the main reason we use it is to scale out different platforms and cost control.
For IT, the main reason we use it is to scale out different platforms and cost control.
- Provisioning is fast
- Management console is practical and mostly fulfills our needs
- In general, expand system information regarding resources usage and trends
October 06, 2015
SoftLayer [now called IBM Cloud Virtual Servers]
Our organization uses SoftLayer [now called IBM Cloud Virtual Servers] for utilizing bare-metal and cloud servers. Our website, applications, and monitoring agents all run off of these servers that allow us to provide services and do business between our customers. With that, we do recommend our clients to use software to host their websites, applications, email, etc. as well for their needs.
- VPN with private network/OOB access.
- Site-to-Site IPSec VPN.
- Bare metal server setup!
- IP Subnetting on private side
- Better monitoring on connections with their load balancers.
- Slow resolution for hardware issues such as power failure, loose network connection, etc.
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Scorecard Summary
Feature Scorecard Summary
About IBM Cloud Virtual Servers
Build on a legacy of excellence.
IBM Cloud virtual server environments deliver true,
cloud-native solutions that work across public, private and hybrid
deployments. Get the cost-savings, control, and visibility that is needed with a variety of flexible provisioning and pricing options, including single and multi-tenant environments, hourly and monthly pricing, reserved capacity terms and spot billing. When you build with IBM Cloud virtual servers, you build on a legacy of excellence. Our elastic infrastructure, globally distributed data centers and premium services will bring your data to life no matter where it resides.
Smart provisioning
Customize with a variety of virtual server instances and billing options. Rapidly
scale up or down, on-demand. Stay open with no vendor lock-ins, and reply on
complete integration with new and traditional architectures.
Highly distributed
Access a globally distributed network of modern data centers with built in high-availability
and security, inbound public bandwidth and high-speed private network options, public and
private network ports, fast data ingest offerings, geographically redundant
DNS, and dual-stack IP capabilities.
Advanced essentials
Build blended hybrid environments
with predictability and confidence. Create new solutions that interact with existing infrastructure and applications. Access a variety of network choices and powerful AI solutions designed to put data to work.
Categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Video
Flexible provisioning is key with IBM Cloud virtual servers. Choose from single and multi-tenant environments with hourly and monthly billing options, transient "spot" environments for on-the-fly resources at lower costs, and reserved environments for guaranteed capacity that's all yours.
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Downloadables
- The world’s largest airline innovates customer experience and travel with IBM Cloud Virtual Servers.
- A Medical Language API designed to extract life-saving insights from unstructured data, rapidly built and launched with the power of virtual servers.
- Helping app marketers optimize ad placement with a high-performance global delivery system built on a hybrid platform.
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Integrations
VMware ESXi, VMware vSphere on IBM Cloud, McAfee Total Protection, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB, Veeam Backup & Replication, CENT OS, CloudLinux, Debian, FreeBSD, Microsoft, Red Had, Ubuntu, Vyatta Virtual Router Appliance, Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtuozzo, APF Software Firewall, Microsoft Windows Firewall, Basho Riak, IBM Cloud Analytics, My SQL, Fantastico, RVSkin, Softaculous, R1Soft Server Backup Manager Enterprise, Netapp ONTAP Select, OSNEXUS QuantaStor
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Competitors
AWS EC2 Virtual Servers, Google Compute Engine Virtual Machines, Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines
Pricing
Has featureFree Trial Available?Yes
Has featureFree or Freemium Version Available?Yes
Has featurePremium Consulting/Integration Services Available?Yes
Entry-level set up fee?Optional
| Edition | Pricing Details | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| IBM Cloud Public Virtual Servers | starting at $0.038 | per hour |
| IBM Cloud Dedicated Virtual Servers | starting at $0.22 | per hour |
| IBM Cloud Public Virtual Servers | starting at $25.21 | per month |
| IBM Cloud Dedicated Virtual Servers | starting at $149.00 | per month |
| IBM Cloud Transient Virtual Servers | starting at $0.01 | per hour |
| IBM Cloud Reserved Virtual Servers | starting at $0.02 | per hour |
| IBM Cloud Reserved Virtual Servers | starting at $13.27 | per month |
IBM Cloud virtual servers include 250 GB of outbound public bandwidth, unmetered inbound public bandwidth, and unmetered private and management network bandwidth.
For the latest information on pricing, visit https://console.bluemix.net/catalog/infrastructure/virtual-server-group
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Support Options
| Free Version | Paid Version | |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | ||
| Live Chat | ||
| Forum/Community | ||
| FAQ/Knowledgebase | ||
| Social Media | ||
| Video Tutorials / Webinar |
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers Technical Details
| Deployment Types: | On-premise, SaaS |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems: | Windows, Linux, CENTOS/Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, Red Hat/Linux, Ubuntu/Linux |
| Mobile Application: | Mobile Web |