In March 2021, we launched our new virtual server platform GandiCloud VPS! What’s happened since then? What new features will be implemented in the coming weeks and months?

GandiCloud VPS, Gandi’s new virtal private server (VPS) platform

For this new hosting solution, Gandi revamped our entire platform, from the ground up, in order to use the open source ecosystem Openstack. This gives us the ability to participate in the development of these tools, and to beneift from a solution that’s been proven over the course of the past 10 years to build our public and private Cloud infrastructure.

The GandiCloud VPS solution is meant to be both affordable and open. It’s meant to be affordable in terms of cost and the ease of implementation. And it’s meant to be open in the way you can use these servers, which you can manage from a graphic interface in your Gandi account, and also a public API (Openstack’s) that’s compatible with standard tools available on the market (like Terraform) for deploying servers and applications.

New features implemented since March 2021

SSH key management

The first round of feedback on GandiCloud VPS highlighted the difficulties that certain users had in adding an SSH key when creating a server.

➡️ We completely overhauled the UI of this component. We also took the opportunity to add a page that lists all the keys available in the keychain.

Expansion of storage server volume

Another highly anticipate feature, it’s now possible to increase the size of a volume associated with a server from the interface. It’s quick and easy.

➡️ Increasing the size of a volume takes just 1 minute in the interface. ⚠️ Warning, once increased, the size of a volume can not be reduced.

How to increase the size of a volume (our documentation)

New features coming soon

Create and add new volumes

In just a few days, the flexibility on storage space will increase even more when it becomes possible to create new volumes (up to 1 TB per volume) to attach to existing VPS servers, and to even further increase your storage possibilities. You will also be able to move a volume from one server to another if needed.

RAM/CPU configuration change

It will be soon possible, from the GandiCloud VPS interface, to change the RAM/CPU configuration of your server to adjust to the processing needs of your application or site.

➡️ You can now choose from four different available configurations.

Managing reverse DNS from the interface

Many of you requested the ability to manage reverse DNS from the network interface of your VPS server, we’re currently working to make this easier to do from the server management interface. This feature is coming very soon!

New OS images and custom images

Currently, there are only two images available: Debian 10 and Ubuntu 20.04. Would you like to deploy other OS images?

Tell us which images you want to see on GandiCloud VPS: https://help.gandi.net/en/contact/vps/vps-feedback#contact-support-form

We’re also planning to be able to let you use your own custom image.

Post-payment

This summer, we’re planning to move the entire GandiCloud VPS service to a post-payment system, the model used by the majority of businesses currently using Cloud services. This change to post-payment will allow for greater flexibility in using the service, with a view towards maintaining price transparency and predictability of costs. All this while allowing you to estimate and control your VPS server costs.

The future of GandiCloud VPS

The story doesn’t end here, and Gandi has many other plans to update and improve this new platform. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of features on our roadmap:

  • More processing power options: instances with more CPU/RAM will allow you to host more resource-intensive applications
  • Snapshots: You’ll be able to make snapshots of your volumes manually and automatically
  • More regional options: the platfom is intended to be replicated on one or more of our other datacenters
  • On-demand containers: for several years, needs have been evolving, and containerization is now everywhere. We’re already working on this, and we’ll be determining which type of service can best meet your needs in this area.

Please feel free to share your feedback and your specific needs regarding the continued evolution of GandiCloud VPS.