MarketplaceCommunityDEENDEENProductsCore ServicesRoadmapRelease NotesService descriptionCertifications and attestationsPrivate CloudManaged ServicesBenefitsSecurity/DSGVOSustainabilityOpenStackMarket leaderPricesPricing modelsComputing & ContainersStorageNetworkDatabase & AnalysisSecurityManagement & ApplicationsPrice calculatorSolutionsIndustriesHealthcarePublic SectorScience and researchAutomotiveMedia and broadcastingRetailUse CasesArtificial intelligenceHigh Performance ComputingBig data and analyticsInternet of ThingsDisaster RecoveryData StorageTurnkey solutionsTelekom cloud solutionsPartner cloud solutionsSwiss Open Telekom CloudReferencesPartnerCIRCLE PartnerTECH PartnerBecome a partnerAcademyTraining & certificationsEssentials trainingFundamentals training coursePractitioner online self-trainingArchitect training courseCertificationsCommunityCommunity blogsCommunity eventsLibraryStudies and whitepaperWebinarsBusiness NavigatorMarketplaceSupportSupport from expertsAI chatbotShared ResponsibilityGuidelines for Security Testing (Penetration Tests)Mobile AppHelp toolsFirst stepsTutorialStatus DashboardFAQTechnical documentationNewsBlogFairs & eventsTrade pressPress inquiriesMarketplaceCommunity

0800 3304477 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Write an E-mail 

Book now and claim starting credit of EUR 250
ProductsCore ServicesPrivate CloudManaged ServicesBenefitsPricesPricing modelsPrice calculatorSolutionsIndustriesUse CasesTurnkey solutionsSwiss Open Telekom CloudReferencesPartnerCIRCLE PartnerTECH PartnerBecome a partnerAcademyTraining & certificationsCommunityLibraryBusiness NavigatorMarketplaceSupportSupport from expertsHelp toolsTechnical documentationNewsBlogFairs & eventsTrade pressPress inquiries
  • 0800 330447724 hours a day, seven days a week
  • Write an E-mail 
Book now and claim starting credit of EUR 250

Open Telekom Cloud switches completely from Xen to KVM

by Editorial team
A town exit sign with a crossed-out "XEN" and above it a "KVM" with an arrow pointing up to the right.
It’s all over by the end of August: After 08.31.2020, high-performance and disk-intensive flavors based on Xen will be switched off in the Open Telekom Cloud and replaced by KVM equivalents

In this article you will read about 

  • why the Open Telekom Cloud will rely on KVM instead of Xen in the future,
  • the benefits of the KVM hypervisor, and
  • why companies should now switch from Xen-based flavors to KVM flavors.

The Open Telekom Cloud will in future rely exclusively on the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) hypervisor. Previously, a number of flavors and services based on the previous virtualization technology, Xen, were still available. Now all flavors of the Elastic Cloud Server offering and dedicated hosts based on Xen will be switched off by August 31, 2020 and replaced by KVM-based alternatives. Companies currently using flavors such as Disk Intensive I or High Performance I based on the previous Xen hypervisor should therefore migrate to an equivalent KVM flavor now. SAP Netweaver flavors are an exception to this rule.  

The following table shows the affected Xen flavors together with their KVM equivalent:

Xen-Flavor

KVM-Äquivalent

d1.xlarge

d2.xlarge.8

d1.2xlarge

d2.2xlarge.8

d1.4xlarge

d2.4xlarge.8

d1.8xlarge

d2.8xlarge

h1.large

c3.large.2

h1.xlarge

c3.xlarge.2

h1.2xlarge

c3.2xlarge.2

h1.4xlarge

c3.4xlarge.2

h1.8xlarge

c3.8xlarge.2

h1.large.8

m3.large.8

h1.xlarge.8

m3.xlarge.8

h1.2xlarge.8

m3.2xlarge.8

h1.4xlarge.8

m3.4xlarge.8

h1.8xlarge.8

m3.8xlarge.8

Other Open Telekom Cloud services also affected by the changeover are the Elastic Load Balancer, Relational Database Service and Cloud Container Engine. Users of these services will be contacted separately by Telekom.

The changeover is easy

Telekom has compiled a migration guide with detailed information on the hypervisor changeover. The guide explains step by step what users need to consider when migrating Linux systems and Windows machines. In addition, the guide offers suggestions for solving potential problems and explains how users can retain IP addresses and resources if necessary.

Companies will be provided with support

Deutsche Telekom will support companies in their switchover where required. If they have any questions, they can contact Telekom experts at any time on 0800 – 33 04477 for callers from Germany, on 00800 – 33 044770 for callers from other countries or by e-mail: service@open-telekom-cloud.com.

KVM: Flexible, fast and secure

"With the KVM hypervisor, we are now fully committed to the more up-to-date virtualization solution," said Andreas Falkner, Vice President Open Telekom Cloud, "because KVM offers companies a high degree of flexibility, scalability and performance."   

By switching to KVM, Telekom will use a uniform hypervisor in the future and will rely on a mature and established system. Since 2007, the KVM hypervisor has been continuously enhanced and now supports various processors (CPUs) and operating systems (OS) – including Windows as a guest system. Because KVM is based on open source software, source codes can be adapted and performance and functionality specifications changed.

While the Linux kernel manages the file system, block storage and drivers, KVM provides administrators with an interface to set up KVM guests, i.e. KVM-based virtual machines. Once set up, these virtual machines are assigned virtual CPUs and I/O resources to allow file system and guest system interaction. In this way, each virtual machine becomes a Linux process and operates at near bare metal speed. 

KVM also stands out due to its high security standards. This is shown, among other things, by a security study by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which classifies KVM as the most relevant virtualization solution in the open source sector.

KVM prevails against Xen

While a few years ago there was a discussion in the user community about whether Xen or KVM should be used, today the tide has turned. KVM has established itself as the standard on a broad basis, and countless providers and users are already using the hypervisor integrated in Linux.

"KVM is quick and easy to install, and switching from Xen to KVM is usually also straightforward. All companies need to do is shut down systems running on Xen-based flavors and restart them on the KVM flavor," says Clemens Hardewig, Vice President Open Telekom Cloud Delivery. "They then benefit from all the modern hypervisor’s advantages."


Book now and claim starting credit of EUR 250

Book now
 

Do you have questions?

We answer your questions about testing, booking and use – free of charge and individually. Try it! 
Hotline: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
0800 3304477 from Germany / 00800 33044770 from abroad

Write an E-mail

The Open Telekom Cloud Community

This is where users, developers and product owners meet to help each other, share knowledge and discuss.

Discover now

Free expert hotline

Our certified cloud experts provide you with personal service free of charge.

 0800 3304477 (from Germany)

 +800 33044770 (from abroad)

 24 hours a day, seven days a week

Write an E-Mail

Our customer service is available free of charge via E-Mail

Write an E-Mail

AIssistant Cloudia

Our AI-powered search helps with your cloud needs.