1. EachPod

Rise of the EU Cloud and Open Source Cloud

Author
Pragmatic AI Labs
Published
Tue 25 Feb 2025
Episode Link
podcast.paiml.com

EU Cloud Sovereignty & Open Source Alternatives

Market Overview

  • Current EU Cloud Market Share
    • AWS: ~33% market share (Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris regions)
    • Microsoft Azure: ~25% market share
    • Google Cloud Platform: ~10% market share
    • OVHcloud: ~5% market share (largest EU-headquartered provider)

EU Sovereign Cloud Providers

Full-Stack European Solutions

OVHcloud (France)

  • 33 datacenters across 4 continents, 400K+ servers
  • Vertical integration: custom server manufacturing in Roubaix
  • Proprietary Linux-based virtualization layer
  • Self-built European fiber backbone
  • In-house distributed storage system (non-S3 compatible)

Scaleway (France)

  • Growing integration with French AI companies (e.g., Mistral)
  • Custom hypervisor and management plane
  • ARM-based server architectures
  • Datacenters in France, Poland, Netherlands
  • Growing rapidly in SME/startup segment

Hetzner (Germany)

  • Bare metal-focused infrastructure
  • Proprietary virtualization layer
  • 100% European datacenters (Germany, Finland)
  • Custom DDoS protection systems designed in Germany
  • Complete physical/logical isolation from US networks

Other European Providers

  • Deutsche Telekom/T-Systems (Germany)
  • Orange Business Services (France)
  • SAP (Germany)

Leading Open Source Cloud Platforms

Tier 1

OpenStack

  • Most mature, enterprise-ready open source cloud platform
  • Comprehensive IaaS functionality with modular architecture
  • Key components: Nova (compute), Swift (object storage), Neutron (networking)
  • Strong adoption in telecommunications, research, government sectors

Kubernetes

  • "Cloud in a box" container orchestration platform
  • Not a complete cloud solution but foundational component
  • Cross-cloud compatibility (GKE, EKS, AKS)
  • Key features: exceptional scalability, self-healing, declarative configuration
  • Facilitates workload portability between cloud providers

Tier 2

Apache CloudStack

  • Enterprise-grade IaaS platform
  • Single management server architecture
  • Straightforward installation, less architectural flexibility
  • Mature and stable for production

OpenNebula

  • Lightweight virtualization management
  • Lower resource requirements than OpenStack
  • Strong integration with VMware and KVM environments

Emerging Platforms

Rancher/K3s

  • Lightweight Kubernetes distribution
  • Optimized for edge computing
  • Simplified binary deployment model
  • Growing edge computing ecosystem

OKD (OpenShift Kubernetes Distribution)

  • Upstream project for Red Hat OpenShift
  • Developer-focused capabilities on Kubernetes

Geopolitical & Strategic Context

  • Growing US-EU tension creating market opportunity for European cloud sovereignty
  • European emphasis on data privacy, rights-based innovation, and technological independence
  • Potential bifurcation between US and European technology ecosystems
  • Rising concern about Big Tech's influence on governance and sovereignty
  • European cloud providers positioned as alternatives emphasizing human rights, privacy

Technical Independence Challenges

  • Processor architecture dependencies (Intel/AMD dominance)
  • European Processor Initiative and SiPearl developing EU alternatives
  • Full software stack independence remains aspirational
  • Network equipment supply chain complexities

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