This post is written by the SYSTAVO team.
Anyone rethinking their virtualization wants one thing above all: never to end up again in a position where a single vendor dictates price and roadmap.
SYSTAVO is an owner-managed IT and cloud service provider from Metzingen, Germany, with short decision paths and direct access to our people. Our customers come from the mid-market, industrial and public sector. For them we provide consulting, cloud and managed services from a single source.
The SYSTAVO Cloud runs on our own hardware in a large data center in Frankfurt, and we keep operations, network and IP addressing in our own hands. Those who prefer to run it in their own premises get the same solution as SYSTAVO Cloud Local. Every layer is a building block that we can swap without rebuilding everything, and we stay vendor-independent. Our guiding principle: We do not build a new platform dependency. We build the ability to switch platforms at any time.
| We call this Enterprise Open Source: open software with professional operations and support. |
This post shows why moving to the modular SYSTAVO Cloud pays off, whether from Frankfurt or on premise as SYSTAVO Cloud Local. It is written for those who decide and for those who run it.
Our Journey with CloudStack
We ourselves moved from a proprietary stack to open source. Before that, we defined what matters to us: stability, flexibility, current technology and independence from individual vendors.
We chose Apache CloudStack, KVM and LINBIT LINSTOR/DRBD. The SYSTAVO Cloud runs on this stack, operated on our own hardware.
We offer the same solution to our customers, as SYSTAVO Cloud from Frankfurt or as SYSTAVO Cloud Local at the customer’s site.
Our Solution
Anyone responsible for cost and risk needs four answers.
| Enterprise Open Source | Open software with professional operations and support. Orchestration, hypervisor, storage, network and hardware are all covered, just as in the previous environment, in the SYSTAVO Cloud as well as in SYSTAVO Cloud Local. |
| Predictable costs | The software is open source, and there is no per-core licensing model. Costs arise for operations, support and architectural work. |
| Independence | Orchestration, hypervisor, storage and hardware are separate building blocks that can be replaced individually. A switch remains possible at any time. |
| Data and control | With the SYSTAVO Cloud, the data sits on our own hardware in Frankfurt, with SYSTAVO Cloud Local in the customer’s data center. GDPR applies. Operations and support come from us. |
Technically, three open building blocks are at the center, in the SYSTAVO Cloud as in SYSTAVO Cloud Local.
| Apache CloudStack | manages VMs, networks and firewalls through an API and a web interface. Tenants and projects are separated, and everything can be automated. |
| KVM | is the hypervisor and replaces ESXi. Further hypervisors can be managed through CloudStack, including VMware, XenServer and XCP-ng, and via extensions also Hyper-V and Proxmox VE. |
| LINSTOR with DRBD | replicates block storage synchronously between the servers and serves as primary storage for the KVM VMs. |
| Storage runs hyperconverged in the same servers as the VMs, or on dedicated servers. No proprietary appliance is needed, and the network relies on current technology: VXLAN with BGP and EVPN on MikroTik hardware. |
Our Talk in Edinburgh
SYSTAVO is a Silver Sponsor of the CloudStack Collaboration Conference 2026, taking place from 18 to 20 November in Edinburgh, and will give a talk there.
| SYSTAVO’s Journey to an Enterprise-grade Cloud based on CloudStack Thursday, 19 November | 16:20 to 16:50 | Room Prestonfield Talk by Jürgen Weiss, Strategic Advisor at SYSTAVO |
Why say goodbye to a proprietary stack and build on open source? Jürgen walks through the decision criteria that led to CloudStack and the SYSTAVO Cloud. Anyone facing this decision themselves can compare it with their own criteria.
We will also talk about the stumbling blocks and the lessons learned from the migration. This post shows what is behind it, the talk tells the story.
After the talk we are happy to continue the conversation. Anyone with questions about architecture, operations or the choice between SYSTAVO Cloud and SYSTAVO Cloud Local is welcome to bring them along. We will discuss openly, including what is not running smoothly with us yet.
| Contact. Anyone who wants to talk beforehand can reach our team at sales@systavo.de or +49 7123 879 876-0. |
