In the world of Public Cloud, selecting the right flavor for your Virtual Machines (VM) is fundamental to optimizing the performance of your infrastructure. As we have already discussed, the role of Cloud Computing in IaaS can support business growth in a flexible and competitive manner, while choosing specific resources makes the entire process more tangible.
In this article, we will explore what flavors are in the context of Public Cloud, how to select the best one for your infrastructure, and why solutions like OpenStack as a Service can provide the ideal setup for your project.
What is a Flavor in Public Cloud?
A "flavor" is a preconfigured model that defines the technical specifications of a Virtual Machine (VM) within a virtualization environment. In other words, the flavor determines the resources allocated to a VM, such as:
- CPU (computing power);
- RAM (volatile memory);
- Cloud storage (data space).
In the Public Cloud, providers offer various flavor configurations to meet specific needs, ranging from lightweight workloads, such as static web applications, to more intensive scenarios like processing large volumes of data or training artificial intelligence models.
How to choose the right Flavor for Your Virtual Machines (VM)?
The choice of flavor depends on how you intend to use the resources within your cloud infrastructure. Here are some practical tips:
Analyze the Workload
Carefully evaluate the characteristics of your application or service. An application can be written and optimized for either single-core or multi-core usage. Specifically:
- For single-core optimized applications, calculations are executed with a single core, making it sufficient for simple or low-demand applications that perform well with flavors offering reduced CPU and RAM.
- For applications requiring multi-core processing, such as complex databases, flavors with more RAM and cloud storage capacity are better suited to handle high data volumes.
Leveraging multiple cores in an application results in greater overall computing capacity and improved performance; however, the actual scalability depends on the type of application and the system architecture.
Available flavors in OpenStack as a Service
Currently, CloudFire’s Public Cloud powered by OpenStack as a Service offers the following flavors:
- General Purpose v2: Powered by Intel Xeon Gold Scalable architecture on Dell PowerEdge hardware. Ideal for enterprise applications like business applications, web services, VoIP phone systems, Kubernetes container clusters, and a wide range of cloud-native services. This flavor strikes a solid balance between cost and performance for various cloud applications.
- CPU-Optimized v2: Powered by Intel Xeon Gold Scalable architecture on Dell PowerEdge hardware. Designed to maximize computational performance for specific applications such as database servers, HPC, machine learning, and data analytics. This flavor is perfect for running latency-sensitive, mission-critical applications that demand optimal performance with the latest CPUs.
View the full list of availbale flavors in CloudFire's Public Cloud.
Optimize for storage
If you need to handle large amounts of data, consider a flavor that includes sufficient cloud storage or integrate external cloud storage options as needed.
With OpenStack as a Service, you can choose from the following storage options:
- Direct Attached Storage: High-performance storage directly connected to compute resources with local redundancy;
- Block Storage: Various types not directly integrated into the flavor, including Standard and LTS SSD;
- Scalable Storage: External storage compatible with the S3 protocol, with triple redundancy. We'll dive deeper into this later!
Monitor Your Budget and Balance Costs with Performance
Each flavor has an associated cost, so we recommend analyzing only what your project truly needs. It’s often better to start with a medium flavor and later resize based on insights gathered from actual workloads.
An important consideration is finding a balance between costs and performance, ensuring that application demands are met without resource waste.
CloudFire offers a consumption-based pricing model, providing a fully transparent and clear view of potential investment, helping you make informed decisions.
Using Benchmarks to Compare Performance
Regarding performance, benchmarking is essential for evaluating and comparing resources’ performance. Generally, benchmarking CPU and RAM performance offers critical insights for:
- Sizing;
- Comparison;
- Optimization;
- Resolving performance issues within a Public Cloud.
This ensures that resources are properly allocated, and instances run as efficiently as possible to support the hosted applications.
Here is a summary table of flavor benchmarks available in OpenStack as a Service by CloudFire, tested using Geekbench, which measures single-core and multi-core performance.
➡ The table clearly shows that CPU-optimized flavors offer superior performance compared to general-purpose flavors with an equal number of cores, making them ideal for demanding applications like big data analytics or scientific calculations.
The importance of cloud storage in flavor selection
Cloud storage is a critical component of any modern Public Cloud infrastructure. Not all flavors include large-scale storage resources; in some cases, additional storage space may need to be added separately.
Choosing the right combination of flavor and cloud storage allows you to:
- Safeguard sensitive data securely;
- Create crash-proof backups;
- Reduce downtime by rapidly reallocating resources.
Why Choose OpenStack as a Service for Virtualization?
OpenStack as a Service virtualization solutions offer significant advantages over traditional physical infrastructures, including:
- Operational efficiency: Dynamically allocating cloud resources optimizes application performance without over-provisioning systems;
- Flexibility: You can create, destroy, or modify Virtual Machines in just a few clicks, adapting your infrastructure to business changes;
- Cost reduction: Avoid the costs of physical hardware, energy, and maintenance. You only pay for the resources you actually use.
Final Thoughts
In OpenStack as a Service, choosing the right flavor is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make. Variables like workload, required resources (CPU, RAM, and cloud storage), and scalability determine your project’s success.
Remember, the flexibility of solutions like OpenStack as a Service enables you to start with a simple configuration and resize as your business evolves.
If you need personalized consultation or want to learn how to make your cloud-based infrastructure more efficient, reach out to our team of experts!
