Platform Concepts
How MarQi Cloud uses Apache CloudStack
Short answer: MarQi Cloud runs on Apache CloudStack orchestrating KVM hypervisors, with a dedicated Ceph / PetaSAN storage cluster in each zone. This page explains the CloudStack terms you will meet (zones, networks, templates and snapshots) and how each one maps to MarQi Cloud today.
Zones, pods, clusters and hosts
CloudStack organises infrastructure in layers. In the project’s own words, “a zone is the second largest organizational unit within a CloudStack deployment”, and “a zone typically corresponds to a single datacenter”. Inside a zone, “a pod is usually a rack, or row of racks that includes a layer-2 switch and one or more clusters”, and “a cluster provides a way to group hosts” (CloudStack concepts and terminology).
On MarQi Cloud: a zone is a physical data center, not a region label. Zone1 is MarQi Cloud’s facility at 190 Bluegrass Valley Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA 30005. Zone2 has been announced and is not yet live, so today every workload runs in Zone1.
Networks and VPCs
CloudStack describes a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) as “a private, isolated part of CloudStack”: a network space with its own topology in which you place tiers of instances (CloudStack VPC documentation).
On MarQi Cloud: hybrid cloud means one VPC that spans your own hardware and MarQi Cloud KVM virtual machines, on isolated VLAN/VXLAN networks in the same zone. That is how colocated servers and virtual machines share private addressing without traffic crossing the public internet.
Templates and images
“A Template is a reusable configuration for Instances,” and each template is tied to a hypervisor type (CloudStack templates). Starting from a template instead of an installer ISO means every instance begins from the same known state.
On MarQi Cloud: templates run on KVM, use standard image formats and carry no proprietary agent. Ubuntu LTS is the default, other common Linux distributions and Windows Server versions are available, and you can bring your own image to keep golden images consistent between environments.
Snapshots: volume snapshots and instance snapshots
CloudStack has two different snapshot types, and the difference matters when you plan recovery.
| Volume snapshot | Instance snapshot | |
|---|---|---|
| What it captures | One disk volume: “Snapshots may be taken for volumes, including both root and data disks” | “All the Instance’s data volumes as well as (optionally) its CPU/memory state” |
| Storage requirement on KVM | Supported | “KVM supports Instance Snapshots when using NFS shared storage. If raw block storage is used (i.e. Ceph), then Instance Snapshots are not possible” |
| Typical use | Rollback point before a risky change; source for backups | Returning a running instance to an exact earlier state, memory included |
Quotations from the CloudStack storage and instance documentation (version 4.23, checked September 2026).
A volume snapshot records what was on disk, not what was in memory. For databases, flush or quiesce the application before you take one so the snapshot is consistent. For the general concept of point-in-time copies, see how cloud storage snapshots work.
On MarQi Cloud: volume snapshots are included with every plan and can be taken on demand without stopping the workload; scheduled backups are included as well. The storage cluster already keeps three copies of your data, and snapshots and backups add the point-in-time copies that replication alone does not give you. Whether instance snapshots with memory state are available depends on the storage configuration behind your volumes; ask our team before you plan around them.
Windows guests: UEFI and TPM
Recent Windows releases need a TPM (“TPM is required by recent Windows releases,” in the CloudStack documentation), and CloudStack “supports vTPM for instances running on KVM and VMware since 4.20.1.0”.
On MarQi Cloud: compute hosts run Ubuntu LTS with UEFI and TPM support, so modern Windows Server guests install and run natively.
Storage underneath
On MarQi Cloud: each zone has a dedicated Ceph / PetaSAN storage cluster providing block and object storage with triple replication. See storage architecture for how volumes are replicated and where snapshots live.
Frequently asked questions
Is a CloudStack zone the same as a cloud region?
Not quite. In CloudStack a region is the larger unit and a zone usually maps to a single data center. On MarQi Cloud a zone is a physical facility; Zone1 is in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Does a volume snapshot include the memory of a running VM?
No. A volume snapshot captures a disk. CloudStack’s instance snapshots can include memory state, but on KVM they need NFS shared storage and are not possible on raw Ceph block storage.
Can I run Windows Server with UEFI and TPM?
Yes. MarQi Cloud’s compute hosts provide UEFI and TPM support for modern Windows Server guests.