CloudSigma places no restrictions on the operating systems that run on the virtual server instances. Users can run Windows, Linux and other operating systems of whatever version without issue with full administrator/root access. Any operating system will run on the CloudSigma platform as long as it is compatible with standard Intel/AMD architecture.

CloudSigma aims to make its IaaS offering as close to true utility computing as possible. Unlike most other IaaS platforms, our cloud allows users to make virtual server instances with exactly the combination of CPU, RAM, storage and bandwidth that they require. We never bundle resources together allowing our users to buy only what they need and eliminate waste.

Having designed our infrastructure for IaaS from the ground up, CloudSigma is able to offer users one of the widest of resource size ranges on the market. This gives our users the ability to tailor closely the server instances they require to their specific size needs.

With CloudSigma you can manually override our system and specify the exact number of CPU cores you want any particular server instance to use. In this way each virtual server instance can be optimised for the particular task it is undertaking by the user.

All virtual server instances at CloudSigma are fully persistent. Whether a server is running or stopped, all the settings, network parameters and drive associations persist. A server is only removed from an account when the account owner deletes it.

All storage in the CloudSigma cloud is persistent. Storage is available in the form of drives which are created by the user. A drive‘s data is persistent whether associated or not with a server and whether or not a drive is mounted. Storage data is only removed from an account when the account owner deletes a drive.

Any stopped server or unmounted drive can be cloned. A server that is cloned will create an exact copy with the same settings, network parameters and a new copy of all drives associated with it. Cloning a drive will create an exact copy of the full drive contents as a new drive. This action allows easy duplication of standard server and drive setups in an account by using a ‘master’ template server or drive for cloning.

All user virtual drives are encrypted using a 256bit AES-XTS encryption cascade automatically. Encryption of drives prevents data leakage of deleted drives at a later date. This measure protects 'data at rest’ within our cloud. This protection forms a critical part of our privacy policy and comprehensive cloud security framework.

In the unlikely event that a virtual server instance suffers a software or hardware failure, upon recover all server instances will automatically start back up. In addition, CloudSigma has invested in significant hardware redundancy including storing all data using RAID6, having redundant networking and dual independent power supplies.

All users have the ability to upload drive images via our API, directly within our web console or via an FTP client. All three methods allow pausing and resuming of uploads. Every account has direct access via secure encrypted FTPS allowing users not only to upload new drive images with ease but also to download all their account data storage at any time. You won’t experience vendor lock-in with CloudSigma!

Yes many IaaS cloud providers offer API access to their accounts but they do not offer total account control via the API. With CloudSigma, all account actions are available via API allowing complete automation or console only access if desired. Due to the restrictions imposed by credit card payment handlers, the only action available via our web browser platform and not API is credit card top-up payments.

CloudSigma has invested in a feature-rich yet intuitive web browser based GUI. It has been designed to allow easy resource and project management via a web browser. With many advanced and unique features it saves users time and money.

CloudSigma is fully committed to making sure our customers only pay for what they use. We calculate resource usage using rolling 5 minute billing periods. It means we calculate your usage every five minutes and that is the amount you will be charged for five minutes only. Many other IaaS clouds charge a minimum of 1 hour based on your peak usage during that time even if that server is off for most of that period!

CloudSigma aims to make pricing and billing as transparent and easy to understand as possible. That means we bill in simple units for each resource individually. Both burst and subscription pricing is calculated by the exact amount of each resource you use/purchase; CPU is by Core-GHz/hour, RAM is by GB/hour, Bandwidth is by GB transferred (outgoing only) and storage is by GB per month. Check out our clear transparent resource pricing.

Upon registration each new user has the option to select which currency they wish to be billed in. CloudSigma products can be billed in a number of major world currencies. Full pricing by currency is available from our CloudSigma pricing page.

Many of our users have a relatively predictable computing resource need; at least in the short term. CloudSigma allows such users to save money by subscribing for the resources they need on a 24/7 guaranteed basis. Even users with wide variations in computing resource needs over the day or week will save money by subscribing for at least the base resource usage that they experience. Subscriptions are available for 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. Longer subscription periods attract price discounts up to 25%. For full details visit the CloudSigma pricing page.

Most clouds have fixed burst pricing available at a fixed premium (usually at least twice as expensive) as subscription pricing. CloudSigma has unique pricing algorithms that discount computing resources at times when our cloud is less busy. You won’t be penalised by dynamic burst pricing as we cap the highest prices to a maximum of 2.5 times subscription prices. At quiet times our dynamic burst pricing does mean that often computing resources will be available at the same rates or cheaper than subscription pricing but on a burst usage basis. Using our RSS price feed and API our users can automate their computing to happen when resources are cheapest, creating significant cost savings. Full details are available at the CloudSigma pricing page.

CloudSigma prides itself on the reliability, availability and performance of its cloud. For this reason we are proud to offer all our customers a 100% Service Level Agreement. In the unlikely event that you do suffer a qualifying outage, we will credit you with fifty times the account resource usage for that period. Please read our full cloud service level agreement.

CloudSigma’s cloud is located in Zurich, at the heart of Europe. Based at the Interxion Carrier Neutral data center in Glattbrugg, we are able to choose from 37 different IP connectivity providers. This means we are able to offer some of the most competitive bandwidth pricing of any IaaS provider as well as totally free, unlimited incoming bandwidth. In addition we have enviable (redundant) networking performance throughout Europe and beyond.

Migrating to a cloud based IaaS solution needn’t be costly. That is why CloudSigma offers free unlimited bandwidth for all accounts. All users can easily upload as much data as they require to our cloud. With web browser, API and FTP upload and download ability it couldn’t be easier. Direct access to all drive images via these three methods also means you won’t have any problems getting your data out of our cloud either.

CloudSigma’s virtualisation platform is based on the latest generation of technology employing isolation of user accounts. One of the key benefits to this is the full isolation of each account‘s network traffic from each other. This prevents malicious attempts even by fellow cloud users to gain unauthorised access to other users‘ network data traffic. This protects critical 'data in transit‘ and forms part of our comprehensive cloud security framework.

CloudSigma’s platform aims to behave in the same was as traditional servers and networks do wherever possible, this includes using standard terminology and methods. All virtual server instances within the CloudSigma cloud have IP addresses assigned to them via DHCP. Users can also choose to assign a static IP address to a server or turn off any external IP allocation altogether.

If a user already owns their own PI IP addresses, we are able to incorporate these into our BGP session with our upstream providers and make them available for allocation by that user to their virtual server instances within our cloud.

Users can create VLANs within the CloudSigma cloud. VLANs behave in a standard way and can be named by the user. Servers are easily added to them in an integrated way. An account can have an unlimited number of VLANs. All network traffic between virtual server instances in a VLAN is not billed.

Under the advanced settings for each virtual server instance the CloudSigma platform allows the user to specify both the network card and VLAN card they prefer to use from a standard list. More specialised and advanced users can optimise the hardware simulation choice to best fit their networking usage and needs.