CloudSigma is what is known as an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider. That means we provide computing resources in a flexible utility model.

We allow you to purchase and use exactly the right combination of RAM, CPU, storage and bandwidth that you need and vary that over time. You will find more information by visiting our what is cloud computing page.

Utility computing aims to turn computing into a resource that you can turn on and off and vary the usage of over time just like electricity and water. CloudSigma has designed its products to match as closely as possible a utility computing model as it benefits customers by reducing waste and lowering prices.

CloudSigma provides the platform, the environment in which you can then create all manner of servers conducting all manner of tasks. We’ve made it as flexible as possible and kept out of restricting what kind of software and operating systems our customers use. If a server will run on Intel/AMD hardware then it will most likely work without issue in our cloud whatever the operating system/kernel or software installed.

We offer all new customers a no commitment free trial period to get familiar with our product and test how they might use it. By offering a decent amount of free capacity for a reasonable time new customers are able to test and benchmark our cloud to make sure it works for them before they start paying anything. You won’t need a credit card either. You can sign up for a free trial account online.

We are proud to offer generous free trials but it does mean we have to take steps to prevent abuse by spammers and to verify that new users are genuine. Verifying a telephone number helps weed out fake users which could otherwise clog up our system and affect everyone’s experience negatively. We thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter. If you experience any problems verifying your number please email us at info@cloudsigma.com .

It takes just a couple of minutes! Please visit the sign-up page. You will need to fill in some basic account and personal information, no payment details are required. You will need to verify a valid telephone number and email address simply as an anti-spam measure. Your account will then be ready to go with a starter server set-up as standard for you. You can immediately start creating and customising new servers.

You can increase and decrease the size of any stopped server with immediate effect. If you wish to change the resources associated with a running server you will need to shut it down, change its size then turn it back on. Changing server resources is both simple and quick using the CloudSigma platform.

CloudSigma is a pure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider. Changes to our software will not directly affect your servers at all as your servers are self-contained and do not interact directly with our system. It is the responsibility of customers to update and maintain the servers they create on our system giving you full control over your resources.

We have a comprehensive cloud service level agreement (SLA) with industry leading guarantees on availability and compensation. You can read our full SLA at the CloudSigma Service Level Agreement page.

Currently we have a full featured custom API which allows our customers to take advantage of many of the unique features that our platform offers that aren’t available via other vendor APIs. These features include persistent servers, server groupings and many more. You can read the documentation on our API in full at the CloudSigma cloud hosting API page.

The CloudSigma cloud has been designed to offer the highest levels of availability and reliability. This has been achieved through the use of tried and tested hardware and software as well as high levels of redundancy at many levels of the system.

We offer support on our system and any queries you may have regarding it. You can email our dedicated support team at support@cloudsigma.com . In addition we have a vibrant user community where you will find discussions of how best to create implementations on our system as well as general discussions on cloud computing and servers setups. You can find our user forum by clicking on the forum on the desktop of the web console.

There are two main interfaces that you can use to control your servers and account. We have a very intuitive and full feature browser based web interface that you can log into at https://cs.cloudsigma.com/ . This interface will let you top up the balance on your account, see past and current usage as well as start, stop, resize, delete servers, etc.

In addition we have a full API which allows you to make all the same actions as the web interface but from the command line or in an automated way with scripting. Your API key is available from the account information page of the web interface. Full documentation on the API is available at the CloudSigma API documentation page.

No, with our service you have complete root/administrator control of your servers and dedicated resources allocated to them which is controlled by you. You can even upload your own drive image to use should you desire. Traditional VPS hostingslices up large dedicated servers to share them between customers. Typically VPS providers use a container technology to isolate multiple users on a single server from one another whilst running a single shared instance of Linux. By contrast, our Linux KVM technology enables every user to run their own isolated copy of Linux, providing a greater choice of distributions, higher performance, deeper configurability, stronger isolation and better security guarantees.

We take the integrity and security of all client data very seriously. CloudSigma is a Swiss AG company based in Zurich, Switzerland. Switzerland is a country with some of the strictest privacy laws in the world and the toughest punishments for breaking them.

All client data is kept on our servers in the Zurich cloud. We never send client data outside of our cloud for any reason. You can read about our privacy policy in full.

Yes there are no restrictions regarding this, you can install any software that you require on your servers. Please remember that it is your responsibility to comply with licensing and terms of use requirements in respect of the software you are using. We fully comply with take-down requests when pirated or infringing materials are being used within the CloudSigma cloud.

We use a distributed storage method to store client data. This removes any single point of failure and in the unlikely event of any server experiencing problems; it is unlikely to affect any one customer severely. All data is stored in RAID 6 arrays with RAM backed hardware controllers. Our RAID arrays offer both fast drive performance and redundancy being able to survive two simultaneous drive failures on the same server at the same time without loss of data.

Despite the above, we do always recommend clients keep an up to date off-cloud backup of critical data at all times as a best practice measure.

In addition we store all client virtual drive fully encrypted on our drives ensuring its privacy and security.

Switzerland has some of the most stringent data protection and privacy laws in the world. CloudSigma AG as a Swiss company storing all client data in Zurich falls under these protections.

After you have created a server and started it you will notice it is assigned an IP address. By viewing the details of any server you can also see the VNC password. Using the IP address and password shown you can login to the server via VNC. This allows you to access your server for the first time and complete its setup. We recommend the following VNC clients that are known to work successfully with the CloudSigma platform:

Windows: TightVNC - download here
Linux: Vinagre - download here
Machintosh: RealVNC - download here

After initial setup we recommend using Remote Desktop for Microsoft Windows if loging into a Microsoft Windows Server.

VLAN stands for Virtual Local Area Network. VLANs on the CloudSigma platform behave in much the same way as VLANs on a traditional dedicated hosting platform. The main difference and advantage to using a VLAN on the CloudSigma platform is that all traffic between servers in a VLAN in unmetered and therefore free to the user.

Yes, all CloudSigma cloud servers have open networking so it is possible to set up a VPN between servers in our cloud or between servers in our cloud and external resources. There is no charge or special actions needed in order to set up a VPN. You simply install the VPN software on the relevant cloud servers, configure the VPN as you desire and you are ready to go. The only restriction is that the VPN must be achieved using software at the cloud end, you are free to use a software or hardware VPN solution for any servers outside of the cloud that form part of your VPN.

CloudSigma offers four basic products, CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth. We charge for these products in the following units:
CPU: Core-Gigahertz (GHz)/ hour
RAM: Gigabyte (GB)/ hour
Storage: Gigabyte (GB)/ month
Bandwidth: Gigabyte (GB) transferred (outgoing only as all incoming bandwidth is free)

In addition a number of other products are available such as commercial software and VLANs. All these other products are rented on a time basis. Fixed IP addresses are available but attract a small administration fee.

Resources can be purchased on a subscription or burst basis. In simple terms, subscribed capacity is paid for in advance and reserved for you for the period you purchase. We offer subscription periods of one month, three months, 6 months and one year. Burst capacity is paid for on a pay as you go basis out of pre-pay balance in your account. You can have a combination of burst and subscription usage at any one time. We calculate usage levels regularly and charge in 5 minute billing cycles. The minimum billing period is just five minutes. Full details of our pricing and billing methodology is available at CloudSigma pricing and billing.

Some customers know in advance how much computing resources they need and like to purchase it up front, other customers prefer to pay as they go along. Many customers in fact take advantage of both. They subscribe for their base or average capacity need and then use burst pricing to purchase the rest during their peaks in demand. This is the most efficient purchasing method for customers with a constant base computing resource need with additional demand from time to time.

Some of our customers have batch computing jobs or only an intermittent need (such as for backup or disaster recover). Most customers in this category use burst pricing to purchase just the capacity they need during the periods they need it.

One of the unique features of the CloudSigma platform is its dynamic burst pricing. The industry standard is to price burst capacity at roughly two to three times the equivalent subscription price. This price doesn’t vary over time at all. Our burst pricing has a maximum price that is two and a half times the subscription price but it can be much lower. Every five minutes we calculate the utilisation rate of our cloud in relation to CPU, RAM and bandwidth. The price we charge you is discounted from the maximum x2.5 rate depending on how busy we are. That means that during quiet periods of the day or week we discount our burst prices heavily. We are happy to sell the unused capacity more cheaply during periods of low utilisation rather than see it go to waste.

If you need computing capacity 24/7 it will still be cheaper to subscribe for that capacity however if you have computing that needs to be done that isn’t time sensitive or batch computing work you can choose to do this during these quiet periods and benefit from much lower prices. The dynamic burst price is always available via our website and via a dedicated RSS feed. For full information on our pricing including how to best take advantage of burst pricing please visit the CloudSigma subscription and burst pricing page.

Our service allows you to maintain persistent servers. The platform remembers your server details whether it is running or not. You won’t however be charged for CPU, RAM or bandwidth for a server that is not running. You will be charged for the storage of any drives that might be associated with the server however.

All data transfer between servers in the cloud is charged for whether it is between your servers or yours and someone else’s (be they in our cloud or elsewhere). To avoid being charged for data transfer between your servers you will need to set up a VLAN with these servers inside. Doing this is in any case more convenient and secure for you. You can buy as many VLANs as you need, they are purchased on a subscription basis.

These are the processes that check what capacity a customer is using on our cloud and bills them for the appropriate amount. CloudSigma works on 5 minute billing cycles. If you are using any burst capacity you will see deductions for the capacity you are using every five minutes from your account balance.

Unlike some other providers, we only charge a minimum of 5 minutes unlike the 1 hour minimum billing period that many other providers work on. This means if you turn a server on and then off again even for just a couple of minutes, you will be charged for just 5 minutes; on other platforms you would be charged for a full hour of usage.

We have a comprehensive billing and account management section available via the web interface. You will be able to view all your current and future subscriptions as well as a transaction history. All this information is also available via our API.

You can top up your account via the web interface at any time and clicking on the Top-Up link on the main interface.

5 minutes! We charge for a minimum usage for any running server of just 5 minutes, that’s all your committed to pay.

CloudSigma is a pure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider and unlike many other IaaS providers you have complete freedom to install and run whatever operating systems and software that you wish on your servers. The only requirement is that the operating system can run on standard Intel/AMD hardware.

Our hardware is built on Intel/AMD architecture. We use wherever possible standardised hardware and open source solutions which offer a robust and widely supported platform. This translates to reliability and availability for our customers. We are very open about our hardware infrastructure and proud of the redundant systems we have built at many levels. You can read in-depth information regarding our hardware at CloudSigma infrastructure and hardware.

Yes you have full root/administrative access to all your servers in just the same way as you would if you had dedicated hardware.

Included free in the CloudSigma platform is the concept of ‘Server Groups’. These allow users to group different servers together for convenience. Both the API and web interface allow group level actions such as starting and stopping all servers in a group.

Groups in CloudSigma platform are one-to-many; this means a server can be part of one or more groups without problem. Users can therefore create different grouping methodologies. For example you may want to group your servers by project; you can also however create server groups for different server types as well. In this way you can easily view all database servers for example or all servers for a specific project you are working on with just one mouse click or API call.

Drives mounted or associated with a server in a server group will also be associated with that server group.

Group level actions allow you to start or stop whole groups with just one click of the mouse or one API call. Server groupings are also a great way to keep track of resources being used by projects or server type. We’ve deliberately left groupings very open so you can use them in the way that works best for you!

Yes of course! CloudSigma’s platform is a pure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) which means our users totally control the software they use. Just click the link on the web browser console for drive image upload. You can then upload your drive image directly into your private drive bay in your account. Upload is also available via FTP or the API.

Alternatively, there is a growing library of ready drive images in our community drive image library also accessible via the link on the web console desktop. You also have the opportunity to share drive images with the community.

Yes absolutely, the operating system and software on your servers is entirely controlled by the user. CloudSigma does not place any restrictions on operating systems or software used on the CloudSigma platform.

No, servers are persistent and will continue to appear in your account but show a status of stopped. Likewise drives mounted to that server will continue to be associated with it. If you have associated a static IP address or VLAN in relation to the server, these associations will also continue.

Stopped servers do not take up CPU, RAM or bandwidth and you will therefore incur no charges in relation to this. You will however have to continue to pay for storage associated with any drives for this server.

No, unlike other services, your data is persistent; your drives remain in your drive bay until you expressly delete it. You will be charged for the storage of all drives however whether they are in active use by a server or not. When you no longer require a drive you can simply delete it from your account.

Yes, all paid accounts are able to send email. Unfortunately, to prevent abuse we are unable to offer the ability to send email during the trial account period. If you have a specific need to test email sending during your trial period please email us at info@cloudsigma.com.

Uniquely, all virtual drives can be stored in our cloud fully encrypted with a 256bit AES cascade. Files and other data are only unencrypted when accessed. We believe the measures we have taken make our cloud more secure than most of our customers’ previous arrangements before using CloudSigma. You can read about our comprehensive security framework.

We support all operating systems that are able to run on standard Intel/AMD hardware be they standard or customised. We make no restrictions other than this on the operating systems or software that clients can run on the CloudSigma platform.

We do not force customers to choose from a limited number of server size options. You are able to specify exactly the CPU, RAM and storage you need as well as purchasing the bandwidth you require. In terms of range, our computing resources are available in the following ranges:

CPU: Min- 0.5 core-GHz Max- 20 core-GHz
RAM: Min- 0.5GB Max- 32GB
Storage: Min- 1GB Max- 1TB

For customers wishing to create server instances using the larger end of the above size range, availability cannot be guaranteed, please email us on support@cloudsigma.com to ensure availability in advance or if you experience difficulty creating a very large virtual server instance.

We have designed our physical hardware to offer redundancy at many different levels with respect to data storage, network availability and power supply at both a server and rack level. For more detailed information on our cloud infrastructure please visit the CloudSigma infrastructure overview page.

As a company we are proud of the community aspects of our cloud and how they empower our users in collaborating. We do however appreciate and respect the privacy of all users. No information is available to other users other than the information you fill in on your public profile.

The only public profile item that is compulsory at registration is your nickname, this is used instead of your email on the forum and other community aspects in order to ensure your privacy.

The CloudSigma platform includes a library of drive images which any user can deploy to their account. The purpose of the library is to allow users to share ready drive images that can be used by others to meet similar needs, for example a PBX drive image to be used for running a PBX server or a database drive image that is ready for running a specified database.

Any user can choose to share a drive image with the community at any time. In addition, CloudSigma regularly adds new images to the library in response to user requests. You can browse the drive image library by clicking the ‘Drives Library’ link on the web console.

You can share a drive image by going into the drive summary modal window and clicking ‘Publish’. You will be prompted to fill in some extra fields which will make it easier for other users to find and understand what the drive image your sharing will do.

When you click ‘Publish’, a copy of your drive image will be taken at that point. Any data on that drive will then be copied to a new public drive image that all other users can deploy to their account. Once you have shared the image, you can then continue to use the original private copy in your account and add personal data etc. The public copy exists completely separately in the library and will not reflect any changes you make to the original template after the initial sharing.