Instances

Explanation · Updated Jun 2026

Coming from another cloud?

▸AWS·EC2 Instances

EC2 Instanceshigh

Uses EC2 RunInstances API instead of Nova servers.create.
Requires predefined instance type selection.
Supports per-second On-Demand billing and Spot/Reserved options.
Includes hibernation state not standard in OpenStack.

AWS docs ↗

▸Azure·Virtual Machines

Virtual Machineshigh

Uses Azure Resource Manager (ARM) REST API at /providers/Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines instead of OpenStack Nova API at /v2.1/servers.
Tightly integrated with Azure services like Azure Active Directory for authentication, unlike OpenStack's Keystone.
VM creation requires specifying size from predefined series with hardware-specific features (e.g., AMD/Intel/ARM), not custom flavor configs.
Billed per second with complex pricing tiers based on series/reservation options, vs OpenStack's typically hourly or usage-based.

Azure docs ↗

▸DigitalOcean·Droplets

Dropletshigh

API surface is DigitalOcean’s proprietary REST/CLI/Terraform tooling rather than OpenStack Nova/Neutron/Glance APIs (Droplets are managed via DigitalOcean UI/CLI/API/Terraform).
Billing is usage-based with per-second billing (60-second minimum and monthly cap) rather than the typical per-hour, quota-based charge model users often see in OpenStack-based clouds.
Droplets include a bundled outbound transfer allowance with each plan (starting at 500 GiB/month) rather than a separate bandwidth quota/metering model users often encounter in OpenStack deployments.
Droplets are described as Linux-based VMs on virtualized hardware with local SSD storage, whereas OpenStack deployments commonly expose distinct block storage (Cinder) and image services (Glance) and may not bundle bandwidth/monitoring/firewalls into the instance offering.

DigitalOcean docs ↗

▸Google Cloud·VM instances

VM instanceshigh

Uses REST API 'instances.insert' instead of Nova 'servers.create' with different auth via service accounts vs Keystone.
Supports bare metal instances (no hypervisor), not in standard OpenStack Nova.
Network interfaces tied to VPC subnets; differs from Neutron ports/floating IPs.

Google Cloud docs ↗

▸Hetzner·Cloud Servers

Cloud Servershigh

Servers provisioned individually via Hetzner API (hcloud), not OpenStack Nova flavors; fixed instance types like CX11 (1 vCPU, 2GB RAM, 20GB NVMe).
No flavor customization; choose from predefined shared/dedicated vCPU series.
Billing hourly with monthly cap per server (e.g., €3.29/mo cap for CX11), charged even when powered off until deleted, unlike typical OpenStack stop-to-pause billing.
Custom REST API at api.hetzner.cloud/v1/servers instead of OpenStack Nova /v2.1/servers (different auth, payloads, response formats).

Hetzner docs ↗

Instances

Instances are virtual machines (VMs) that run on Quake AI. They give you isolated compute (CPU, memory, disk, and network), so you deploy applications and services inside projects without sharing an OS with other tenants. You manage them through the Console, CLI, or API.

Documentation and APIs sometimes still say servers for historical reasons; on Quake AI the service-accurate term is instances.

What an instance represents#

In the data center, a physical machine runs a hypervisor and hosts many guests. Each instance is one of those guests: it looks like a standalone computer to the operating system inside it, with virtual devices backed by real hardware somewhere in the cloud.

That abstraction is the foundation of cloud computing. Instances provide the CPU cycles, RAM, and I/O your workloads need, while the platform handles placement, migration boundaries, and integration with networking and storage.

How instance hardware maps to the cloud#

Physical servers use processors, RAM, disks, and NICs. On Quake AI you do not pick a motherboard; you choose a flavor that defines vCPU, memory, and root disk characteristics, and an image that defines the software stack. The analogy still helps: more vCPU and RAM behave like a more flexible machine; SSD-backed storage behaves like faster local disks; network attachment points connect you to project networks the same way NICs connect a machine to a LAN.

Protocols instances typically run#

Instances run the same network protocols as any machine on a TCP/IP network. Common examples include HTTP and HTTPS for web traffic, SSH (and sometimes RDP) for administration, DNS for name resolution, SMTP for mail, and FTP or object APIs for file movement. You choose which protocols matter by what you install and which ports you expose through security groups, floating IPs, reverse proxies, and external edge services.

Common roles for instances#

Instances host websites and APIs, run mail and collaboration software, hold databases and caches, provide shared file services, and underpin virtualization and container platforms. In Quake AI they also participate in the shared services model: storage volumes attach for durable data, networking connects them to routers and floating IPs, and identity-linked key pairs control administrative access.

Platform features around instances#

The Compute service (OpenStack Nova) runs guests on hypervisors such as KVM. Flavors define resource shape. Images supply the OS and initial software. Networking attaches instances to project networks. Security groups filter traffic at the port level. Key pairs enable SSH and similar access without password login. Volumes add persistent disks beyond ephemeral root storage. Projects (tenants) isolate ownership and quotas. Other services integrate so storage, identity, and network behavior stay consistent from boot to access.

Lifecycle and behavior#

Creating an instance ties together an image, a flavor, network attachments, and optional security groups, key pairs, and user data. The scheduler places the instance on a compute node with enough capacity and respecting any affinity rules you set. The hypervisor boots the guest from the image; network ports receive addresses from your subnets.

After boot you start, stop, reboot, resize, or delete instances as needed. Snapshots capture disk state into an image for backup or cloning. Volumes attach or detach for data that should survive instance deletion. Floating IPs associate when you need a stable public entry point. You typically access instances via SSH with a private key; security groups enforce which remote traffic reaches the instance.

The platform dedicates flavor-defined resources to each instance, which limits noisy-neighbor effects through scheduling and isolation.

Click to zoom

Instance lifecycle: states and transitions available through the Console, CLI, or API

How flavors, images, and networks interact#

Each instance combines several choices. The flavor sets the resource envelope (vCPU, memory, root disk size). The image (or snapshot, or bootable volume) determines what operating system and software stack boots inside that envelope. The network attachment decides which subnets the instance can reach: private networks for internal traffic, with routers and floating IPs layered on for external access when needed.

Security groups filter traffic at the port level, so the combination of network attachment and group rules defines the instance's reachable surface. User data (cloud-init scripts) automates first-boot configuration: package installs, service setup, and SSH key injection without manual steps after launch.

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Instances

Instances

What an instance represents#

How instance hardware maps to the cloud#

Protocols instances typically run#

Common roles for instances#

Platform features around instances#

Lifecycle and behavior#

How flavors, images, and networks interact#

Further reading#

Quick answers

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