Transient virtual servers
The IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers transient offering is a good option if you have flexible workloads and want cost savings. You save money by running your workload on a transient virtual server. Transient instances are provisioned when unused capacity is available. Therefore, when data center resources are needed for full, on-demand accounts, you can also lose those resources. Transient instances are de-provisioned on a first-on, first-off basis when those resources need to be reclaimed.
Transient virtual servers offer the following flexibility:
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Global availability
The transient virtual server offering is available in data centers across the globe.
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Cost savings
Transient virtual servers are ideal for nonproduction workloads. For example, you might use a transient instance to test and develop applications, or test scalability in environments that don't require constant uptime.
Transient instances are public instances that use SAN-backed storage. The following families of public instances are available for this offering.
| Families | Description |
|---|---|
| Balanced | Best for common cloud workloads that require a balance of performance and scalability. Uses network-attached storage. |
| Compute | Best for moderate to high web traffic workloads. |
| Memory | Best for memory caching and real-time analytics workloads. |
Notifications
When configured, you can receive automated reclaim notifications that help you prepare and reduce lost data. For more information, see Configuring automated reclaim notifications.
Limitations
Consider the following limitations before you provision a transient virtual server.
- The number of supported, concurrent instances are part of your account-wide device quota. For more information about concurrent instance limits, see FAQ: Virtual servers.
- Transient instances cannot be upgraded or downgraded.
- Resources can be reclaimed at any time, without notification.
- Transient instances cannot use local storage.
- Transient instances cannot use GPU-based or variable compute profiles.
Next steps
After you review and select your virtual server profile, it's time to provision your transient virtual server. To get started, see Provisioning transient instances.