Question 1

Why is IONOS particularly suitable for German medium-sized businesses?

Accepted Answer

IONOS is a German GmbH headquartered in Montabaur. Data centers are located in Frankfurt and Berlin. For contracts, data protection questions, or support, you speak with German contacts. For companies that don't want Cloud Act discussions with their data protection officer, this is a clear advantage over US hyperscalers. ISO 27001 and BSI C5 certifications also meet strict compliance requirements.

Question 2

How do I replace VMware NSX with IONOS Private Networks?

Accepted Answer

IONOS Private Networks provide Layer-2 connectivity between your servers. You define a private network, assign servers, and they communicate via private IPs – without routing through the internet. For VLANs, use Proxmox SDN with VLAN tags. This covers most NSX use cases: VM isolation, segmentation, private communication. Cost: included in the Dedicated Server package.

Question 3

How do I use IONOS S3 Object Storage for backups?

Accepted Answer

IONOS S3 Object Storage is S3-API compatible and ideal for backup offloading. Proxmox Backup Server (PBS) backs up your VMs locally to NVMe, then you sync backups via S3-Sync to IONOS Object Storage. This gives you: fast local restores + geo-redundant off-site backup. Cost: from ~€0.02/GB/month. No egress fees on restore – a major advantage over AWS S3.

Question 4

What hardware does IONOS offer – Dell, HPE, or own brand?

Accepted Answer

IONOS uses certified enterprise hardware from Dell and HPE. You get servers with Intel Xeon Scalable or AMD EPYC processors, ECC RAM, redundant power supplies, and enterprise SSDs. This is an important difference from consumer hardware: ECC RAM detects and corrects memory errors, redundant power supplies increase availability. For VMware migrations, we recommend Dedicated Servers with at least 128GB RAM.

Question 5

Can I bring my Windows licenses to IONOS?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is easier with Dedicated Servers than cloud instances. Your existing Windows Server licenses with Software Assurance can be transferred via License Mobility. Alternatively, IONOS offers SPLA licenses billed monthly. For most customers, BYOL (Bring Your Own License) is the cheaper option, especially if you already have Volume Licensing.

Question 6

What's the firewall situation at IONOS?

Accepted Answer

IONOS offers a basic firewall for Dedicated Servers. For enterprise requirements, we additionally recommend an OPNsense cluster as a virtual firewall. OPNsense runs as an HA pair on your Proxmox cluster and offers: stateful firewall, IDS/IPS, VPN (WireGuard, OpenVPN, IPsec), traffic shaping, and detailed logging. No license costs, enterprise features.

Question 7

What's the network connectivity at IONOS – bandwidth and traffic?

Accepted Answer

IONOS Dedicated Servers come standard with 1 GBit/s connection. Traffic is generous: unlimited inbound, outbound depending on package (usually 20-40TB included). For cluster traffic between servers, use Private Networks – this traffic doesn't count toward your quota. Higher bandwidth 10 GBit/s upgrades are available. Compare this to AWS egress fees: at IONOS you don't pay for every GB leaving your data center.

Question 8

How do I build High Availability with IONOS servers?

Accepted Answer

A typical HA setup consists of 3 IONOS Dedicated Servers connected via Private Networks. Proxmox uses Corosync for cluster communication and automatic failover. Storage: either Ceph (distributed across all nodes) or ZFS with Proxmox replication. When a node fails, VMs are automatically restarted on remaining nodes. With 3 nodes, you have true high availability – without vSphere HA license costs.

Question 9

What's the difference between IONOS Dedicated and IONOS Cloud Compute?

Accepted Answer

IONOS Dedicated: Physical servers that belong only to you. Full control, no shared resources, ideal for Proxmox. IONOS Cloud Compute: Virtual machines on shared infrastructure, similar to EC2. For a VMware migration to Proxmox, we always recommend Dedicated Servers – you need full hardware control for nested virtualization, and you benefit from better performance without hypervisor overhead.

Question 10

How does the migration process from VMware to IONOS work technically?

Accepted Answer

1) Set up VPN tunnel between your VMware environment and the IONOS cluster. 2) Proxmox Import Wizard uses this tunnel to import VMs directly from vCenter. 3) For large VMs: pre-staging with initial copy, then delta-sync before cutover. 4) DNS switchover and final tests. Parallel operation allows rollback at any time. Typical cutover downtime per VM: 5-30 minutes depending on size.

Question 11

Can I connect IONOS with my on-premise infrastructure?

Accepted Answer

Yes, several options: 1) IONOS Cloud Connect for dedicated connections. 2) Site-to-Site VPN via OPNsense (IPsec or WireGuard). 3) IONOS Private Networks also allow Direct Connect connections. For hybrid scenarios, we recommend: critical workloads on IONOS, backup and DR site, while legacy systems remain on-premise. The VPN connection enables seamless communication between both worlds.

Question 12

Can you take over operations of my IONOS infrastructure?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that's our Managed Operations model. We handle: proactive monitoring with alerting, patch management for Proxmox and VMs, backup management with PBS and S3 offloading, incident response for problems. You focus on your applications, we take care of the platform. Details on our Proxmox Support page.

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Why IONOS for Your VMware Exit?

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