Deploy flexible workloads with IBM Cloud virtualization solutions

Run virtualized workloads on IBM Cloud using Virtual Servers for Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) or Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization in a secure, scalable environment.

By abstracting physical resources into virtualized environments, organizations can optimize their infrastructure usage, reduce operational complexity, and accelerate application delivery.

IBM Cloud offers two primary virtualization services.

  • IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC – IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC offer fast-provisioning compute capacity with the highest network speeds and most secure software-defined networking resources available on IBM Cloud. Built on the IBM Cloud® Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), this developer-friendly infrastructure helps drive modern workloads with pre-set instance profiles, rapid deployment, and private network control in an agile public cloud environment. Pay-as-you-use by the hour or reserve your capacity in advance for reduced costs. For more information, see IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC.
  • Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Service on IBM Cloud – Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Service on IBM Cloud is a fully managed cloud service that is designed with built-in security to help you efficiently build, deploy, and scale critical applications. The service is highly available and integrated with IBM Cloud to bring your team the full power of the platform. For more information, see Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Service on IBM Cloud.

IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC

Virtual Servers for VPC

IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC provide compute instances within a logically isolated virtual private cloud.

See the following key features of virtual workloads:

  • Dedicated or shared virtual server instances
    • Shared tenancy through multi-tenant hosts
    • Dedicated hosts for compliance or licensing needs
  • Wide range of compute profiles (balanced, compute optimized, memory optimized)
  • Integrated with IBM Cloud Virtual Private Cloud for secure isolation.
  • Advanced networking features
    • Security groups
    • Floating IPs
    • Load balancers
  • High-speed private and public network interfaces
  • Data encryption at rest and in transit
  • Integration with IBM Cloud services such as file and block storage, object storage, and VPN.
  • IBM Cloud-provided license or bring-your-own-license (BYOL) support
  • Custom images, snapshots, and placement groups

The following table details the high-level, key responsibilities for IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC.

IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC key responsibilities
Responsibility
Application deployment and management
Guest operating system maintenance and security fixes
Security hardening and configuration
Network configuration within your VPC
Backup and disaster recovery (DR) implementation
Monitoring and logging setup
IBM Cloud Virtual Servers for VPC key responsibilities
Responsibility
Hypervisor layer
VPC network infrastructure
Hardware maintenance

For a comprehensive list of responsibilities, see Understanding your responsibilities when you use Virtual Private Cloud.

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on IBM Cloud

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Service is a new service offering that delivers a ready-to-use virtualization platform on Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud, enabling you to run virtual machines with minimal setup.

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on IBM Cloud extends Kubernetes by enabling virtual servers to run alongside containers.

See the following key features of Red Hat OpenShift.

  • Unifies infrastructure management by using a single Kubernetes-based platform that orchestrates both virtual servers and containers that eliminate the need for separate virtualization and containerization stacks.
  • Enables gradual modernization by migrating existing virtual servers to Red Hat OpenShift while you run them alongside containerized workloads, which supports incremental application refactoring without disruption.
  • Provides enterprise orchestration by using Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for multi-cluster deployments, disaster recovery, and centralized governance across hybrid environments.
  • Delivers consistent DevOps workflows by using the same continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, GitOps practices, and Kubernetes-native tools to both virtual servers and container workloads.
  • Integrates with IBM Cloud infrastructure, by natively connecting to IBM Cloud Block Storage, File Storage, Object Storage, Identity and Access Management (IAM), and virtual private network (VPN) services.
  • Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation provides persistent storage for virtual servers with features such as snapshots, cloning, and disaster recovery replication.
  • Reduces operational usage as IBM Cloud manages the Red Hat OpenShift control plane, worker node maintenance, and platform updates, so you can focus on workload management.

The following table details the high-level, key responsibilities for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on IBM Cloud.

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization key responsibilities
Responsibility
Application deployment and management
Guest operating system maintenance and security fixes
Security hardening and configuration
Virtual server networking policy (NetworkAttachmentDefinitions, Services)
Backup and disaster recovery implementation
Monitoring and logging setup
Red Hat OpenShift operators and workload configuration
Worker node scaling
Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation scaling
Network configuration within VPC
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization key responsibilities
Responsibility
Red Hat OpenShift control plane management and updates
Worker node operating system maintenance and security fixes
VPC network infrastructure
Hardware maintenance

For a comprehensive list of responsibilities, see Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on IBM Cloud.

Next steps

Now that you understand the virtualization options available on IBM Cloud, explore the following resources to get started:

For Virtual Servers for VPC

For Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization