23M Overhauls Compute Platform with KVM and API-First Architecture

IT services provider 23M has announced a substantial redevelopment of its cloud compute platform, shifting to a KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) virtualization foundation and an API-first design philosophy. This strategic move aims to deliver enhanced predictability in performance, seamless automation capabilities, and transparent cost structures for its clients.

The company's initiative addresses user demands for infrastructure that offers reliable performance without the "noisy neighbor" effect, robust automation through "infrastructure as code" principles, and clear, granular resource allocation. Previously, 23M's older platform had become too complex, prompting the decision to rebuild from the ground up, moving away from rigid monthly packages towards precise billing based on consumed resources like vCPU, RAM, and storage.

At the core of the new architecture is KVM, an industry-standard virtualization technology native to the Linux kernel. 23M chose KVM for its minimal virtualization overhead, proven stability, and its nature as an open standard, preventing vendor lock-in. The entire platform is orchestrated by Apache CloudStack, which has been customized to meet 23M's specific requirements. The goal is to provide foundational compute resources upon which clients can build their own sophisticated platforms, including Kubernetes clusters.

The platform supports live migration of virtual machines between physical hosts without noticeable interruption, mitigating downtime during maintenance. The network infrastructure is designed for high throughput, with each host node connected at 50 Gbit/s. Additionally, the service includes robust, network-level DDoS protection. Customers have the flexibility to operate their instances in private networks or with public IPv4 and IPv6 addressing.