Preface

In Openstack which the virtual machines service is built on, virtual machines are called instances. For simplicity and to simplify references to the GUI or API calls in this document, virtual machines will be called instances, interchangeably, from here on. 

What it is

Virtual Machines is a infrastructure as a service (IaaS) based on Openstack provided by the EOSC EU Node. The service makes it possible for the user to set up instances, with appropriate configurations of vCPU and memory. The user will have full root access to the instances and therefore can set up whichever applications or services on them. This gives the user full control. The user can use the service from a web based GUI but also through API which makes it possible to use orchestration tools such as Terraform or Pulumi. The user also has access to an S3 compatible storage service which works well
for offloading virtual volumes or for archiving purposes. 

What it does

Virtual machines includes the following functionalities:

• Create instances (virtual machines) with different configurations of vCPU, RAM and storage.
• Create virtual volumes
• Attach virtual volumes to instances
•  Define Security Groups (firewall rule sets) and apply them to instances
• Use API to orchestrate the service through the Openstack API. 

Technical Requirements

To use Virtual Machine effectively, ensure that your system meets the following technical requirements:

• Operating System: Windows 10 or 11, MacOS or any Linux distribution
• Web Browser: All modern web browsers supported
• Internet Connection: 1 Mb
• Software: SSH application: Putty for Windows or regular openssh for MacOS or Linux. 
• Other: Medium IT knowledge, Linux knowledge to handle virtual machines running Linux. 

More Information

For more information and resources, refer to the following:

• Video Tutorials: https://www.safespring.com/demo/compute/
• API Documentation: https://docs.openstack.org/api-quick-start/
• Case Studies: https://www.openstack.org/use-cases/