Building a vps cloud independently can save certain costs and also allow for flexible customization of the resources and functions one needs. This approach is very useful for individual developers to test, build private cloud disks, and construct enterprise-level application clusters. Self-construction involves the process from hardware preparation, virtualization technology selection to security configuration. This includes the selection of open-source solutions and the resolution of common network optimization issues, helping everyone build a secure and stable private cloud environment.

I. Infrastructure Planning and Hardware Preparation

The core hardware for independently building a VPS cloud includes servers, network devices and storage systems. It is recommended to have at least one physical host (enterprise-level servers such as Dell PowerEdge and HP ProLiant are recommended). Configuration requirements:

CPU: Supports virtualization (Intel VTx/AMDV), with the number of cores ≥8 (such as Intel Xeon E5 series).

Memory: Starting from 32GB (allocated at a ratio of 1:4 based on the number of virtual machines, for example, 8GB per virtual machine is required for 4 virtual machines).

Storage: SSD RAID 10 array (read/write speed ≥500MB/s), capacity ≥1TB.

Network: Dual gigabit network cards (Intel i350 or Broadcom BCM57xx series are recommended).

Network devices: Switches supporting VLAN division (such as Cisco Catalyst 2960), routers (optional soft routers such as pfSense).

Backup power supply: UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) ensures safe shutdown in case of power failure.

Select the appropriate virtualization solution according to the requirements. KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is natively supported by the Linux kernel. Its performance is close to that of a physical machine and it is suitable for high-load scenarios. Proxmox VE is an open-source virtualization platform based on KVM and LXC, providing a Web management interface and supporting clustering and backup. VMware ESXi enterprise-level solution has high stability, but the free version has limited functions. OpenStack is suitable for large-scale cloud environments and has a relatively high complexity, requiring collaboration among multiple nodes. Individuals or small teams prefer Proxmox VE, taking into account both ease of use and functional expansion. For enterprise-level scenarios, OpenStack or VMware can be considered.

Ii. Installation and Configuration of Proxmox VE

For system installation, you need to download the Proxmox VE ISO image (from the official website or image site) first and create a bootable USB drive. Insert the server and boot from the USB drive. Follow the prompts to complete the installation (default ext4 file system is used). Configure the network: set the static IP (such as 192.168.1.100/24), gateway and DNS. To create virtual machines and templates, ISO images need to be uploaded. The operating system ISO (such as Ubuntu 22.04, CentOS Stream) should be uploaded to the repository through the Web interface.

Select the CPU type (Host mode for performance improvement), memory (dynamic allocation), and disk (qcow2 format is recommended). Select the bridge mode (vmbr0) for the network and enable the VirtIO network card driver to reduce latency. After creating a benchmark virtual machine, it is converted into a template. Subsequently, similar systems can be quickly deployed. Vlans are divided on the switch, and different VLAN ids are assigned to the virtual machine in Proxmox to achieve business isolation. Public network requests are forwarded to the internal network virtual machine through iptables or Nginx reverse proxy.

iptables t nat A PREROUTING p tcp dport 80 j DNAT to Destination 192.168.1.101:80

Iii. Storage and Backup Strategies

Build highly available storage pools using Ceph or GlusterFS. Deploy MON and OSD services on three physical nodes to ensure data redundancy. Add the Ceph storage pool in Proxmox for use by virtual machine disks and images. Simple scenarios can mount external storage via NFS, which is low-cost but less reliable. The Proxmox backup server deploys dedicated backup nodes to perform full/incremental backups of virtual machines at regular intervals. Write a Shell script to invoke the vzdump command, encrypt it and upload it to remote storage (such as AWS S3) :

vzdump 100 compress zstd mode snapshot storage remotes3

Iv. Safety Reinforcement and Performance Optimization

Firewall and Intrusion Detection

Proxmox host protection: Enable the UFW firewall and only open necessary ports such as 8006 (Web) and 22 (SSH).

Virtual machine Security Group: Use firewalld or iptables to restrict communication between virtual machines and prohibit non-essential protocols such as ICMP.

Fail2Ban deployment: Monitor SSH login attempts and automatically block malicious ips

apt install fail2ban

cp /etc/fail2ban/jail.conf /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

systemctl enable fail2ban

2. Performance optimization

CPU binding: Bind key virtual machines to independent physical cores to reduce resource contention.

Memory balloon driver: Install the virtioballoon driver to dynamically adjust memory and improve utilization.

Disk caching strategy: Use the Writeback mode for IO-intensive applications such as databases:

qm set 101 scsihw virtioscsipci cache writeback

3. Monitoring and Alarm

Prometheus+Grafana: Deploy Node Exporter to collect host metrics and visually monitor CPU, memory, and disk I/O.

Zabbix: Enterprise-level monitoring solution, supporting custom triggers and email/SMS alerts.

V. Cost Control and Alternative Solutions

Hardware cost optimization can consider second-hand servers and purchase retired enterprise-level servers (such as Dell R730), with the price being approximately one fifth of that of new machines. If the self-construction cost is too high (such as electricity charges and maintenance time), you can evaluate mainstream cloud service providers.

Vi. Common Problems and Solutions

The virtual machine fails to start. Check whether the virtualization function in the BIOS is enabled or change the CPU compatibility mode (such as from Host to qemu64).

KVM: entry failed, hardware error 0x8000

If the network latency is high, you can enable SRIOV to pass directly to the network card or upgrade to a 25G/40G network device to optimize it. Storage performance bottleneck: Configure NVMe SSD for Ceph OSD nodes or use LVM cache tiering technology.

Building a vps cloud independently is not only a technical adjustment but also a test of resource planning and operation and maintenance capabilities. The entire process mainly involves hardware selection, security optimization of Proxmox VE deployment steps, etc. In terms of long-term operation, it is necessary to constantly pay attention to virtualization and technical glasses, establish a complete monitoring and disaster recovery system, and for individual developers or small and medium-sized enterprises to master the skills of building their own vps cloud is the technical basis in current cloud computing applications.