case study
Worldstream launches new OpenStack-based public cloud
POWERED BY
Virtuozzo
Worldstream is a successful Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider based in Naaldwijk, close to The Hague in The Netherlands. Since 2006 WorldStream has provided server infrastructure, connectivity and support to SMEs, systems integrators, ISVs and MSPs in The Netherlands, Benelux and Germany.
Worldstream manages more than 15,000 servers at its data centers in Naaldwijk, and has additional points of presence in Haarlem and Frankfurt. Worldstream infrastructure is connected to a high-capacity 10Tbit network, and the company is known for performance, fair pricing and fast support, with an average 7 minute response time.
Reducing cloud costs for customers
Originally focused on bare metal infrastructure, Worldstream added block storage and VMware-based cloud services to its portfolio as the company grew. However, the need to offer more affordable cloud solutions kicked off the search for an alternative cloud platform.
“We host infrastructure for IT service providers and their customers, for companies building their own SaaS products, and for MSPs,” says Tim Vollebregt, Worldstream’s Product Development Manager. “They’re looking for a more personal approach and support, as well as the technology, and we have great satisfaction ratings. But in the current economic climate, our customers were looking for ways to reduce cost too.”
Tim Vollebregt
Network & Cloud Services
Director, Worldstream
Production-ready OpenStack
Worldstream built its new cloud – WS Cloud – with Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure, the production-ready OpenStack cloud platform for service providers. WS Cloud provides customers with a scalable cloud resource pool for a fixed monthly fee, fully ISO (9001, 27001 and 14001) and PCI-DSS certified.
“OpenStack was the obvious solution, it’s the stable and mature alternative, but we didn’t want to develop the new platform ourselves. We wanted to work with the best vendor,” Tim says. “Virtuozzo is the biggest-brand OpenStack company out there, and they’re committed to the OpenStack ecosystem.”
With Virtuozzo, Worldstream’s new cloud service gives customers easy-to-use management tools, built-in VPN, firewall, load balancing and more. Worldstream customers report high levels of satisfaction with the new WS Cloud platform, especially when it comes to storage performance.
“Virtuozzo storage is extremely efficient. We’re using 3+2 erasure coding, which is computationally intensive, but Virtuozzo still delivers excellent speed for customers, and excellent TCO for us,” Tim explains.
Reducing public cloud TCO
According to Worldstream, the demand for alternative cloud providers is often driven by the escalating costs of using hyperscale public cloud infrastructure, especially for resource-hungry workloads. Virtuozzo enables Worldstream to offer a lower-cost alternative, and customers on WS Cloud can typically save 30-50% of infrastructure spend.
“Customers want more predictable and transparent infrastructure, and with Virtuozzo, we can provide a cloud service that saves, typically, between 30 and 50% of your infrastructure cost,” Tim says. “Some customers will keep their production environments on our VMware cloud, and that’s fine – it’s all about the choice. But for their development, test and acceptance environments, they can save a lot of money using our Virtuozzo cloud instead.”
From IaaS to PaaS
Worldstream also sees growing demand for Platform as a Service to complement its Infrastructure as a Service cloud offerings. The Virtuozzo stack also simplifies PaaS , and the Worldstream team is keen to investigate this as a future service direction.
“We are very happy with our Virtuozzo partnership and the future roadmap. Bringing PaaS together with IaaS is going to be very interesting. We’re looking forward to growing together,” Tim concludes.
To learn more about Worldstream public cloud,
visit www.worldstream.nl
