Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage

Compare Aruba Cloud and Contabo Object Storage on capabilities, jurisdiction, assurance, and fit for European buyers.

Both listed as alternatives to: DigitalOcean

Aruba Cloud

Italy· Cloud Computing

Needs review

Shortlist Aruba Cloud when you need Italian-entity IaaS with OpenStack public cloud, VMware private cloud (Pinnacle Partner), bare metal/GPU, and ACN-oriented PA packaging on proprietary EU campuses. Skip when you need hyperscaler global breadth or a fully public subprocessor directory—consider OVHcloud or Scaleway instead for multi-country European IaaS with different tradeoffs.

EU-operated (IT)OpenStack public cloudVMware Pinnacle PartnerISO 27001 (claimed)ACN-qualified (claimed)Proprietary EU data centers

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Contabo Object Storage

Germany· Cloud Computing

Needs review

Shortlist when you want a Ceph S3 bucket next to Contabo VPS or VDS, can use path-style endpoints, and can live without S3 logging. Skip when you need Amazon-complete S3, a first-party custom TLS hostname, company-wide ISO 27001 or SOC 2, or a store with no US parent and no US region. Consider Hetzner Object Storage or OVHcloud Object Storage instead.

S3-compatible (partial)Ceph backendEU region availableGerman GmbHIn-panel DPA

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Highlighted rows differ between the two products.

Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage: Snapshot
Feature	Aruba Cloud	Contabo Object Storage
Country of origin	Italy	Germany
Category	Cloud Computing	Cloud Computing
Open source	No	No
Self-hosted	No	No
Headquarters	Italy	Germany
Legal entity	Aruba S.p.A., Via San Clemente 53, 24036 Ponte San Pietro (BG), Italy; VAT IT01573850516	Contabo GmbH (Welfenstrasse 22, 81541 Munich; AG Munich HRB 180722; VAT DE267602842)
Governing law	Italian law (Bergamo courts for non-consumers per T&Cs)	Not listed
US parent / control	No known US parent	US parent or control
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Low	High
Hosting / residency	Primary compute on Aruba-owned data centers in Italy (Arezzo IT1/IT2, Bergamo IT3, Rome IT4) and Czech Republic (Prague CZ1, Ktiš CZ2). Partner availability zones: Paris FR1, Frankfurt DE1, London UK1, Warsaw PL1. Customer chooses region. Full subprocessor list not public—available on request under processor terms. Optional multi-cloud interconnection to other public clouds for hybrid designs.	Object storage sold in the EU (eu2.contabostorage.com), United States (usc1.contabostorage.com), and Singapore (sin1.contabostorage.com). Contabo operates its own data centers. No public object-storage subprocessor list. Management API auth is at auth.contabo.com. Official custom-domain docs use Cloudflare as an optional customer-side proxy, not as the S3 data plane.
Summary	Italian sovereign cloud from Aruba S.p.A.: OpenStack public cloud, VMware private cloud, bare metal/GPU, Kubernetes, and storage on proprietary European data centers—strong fit for Italian PA and EU residency-minded IT.	S3-compatible object storage from Munich-based Contabo GmbH, running on Ceph with EU, US, and Singapore endpoints.
Tags	gdpr cloud infrastructure sovereign-cloud openstack vmware bare-metal kubernetes enterprise	gdpr object-storage s3-compatible ceph germany iaas backups

At a glance: Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage
At a glance	Aruba Cloud	Contabo Object Storage
HQ	Ponte San Pietro (BG), Italy	Munich, Germany (Contabo GmbH, HRB 180722)
Legal entity	Aruba S.p.A.	Not listed
Founded	1994 (group)	Not listed
Hosting	Proprietary IT + CZ DCs; partner FR/DE/UK/PL	Not listed
Core stack	OpenStack, VMware, bare metal, K8s	Not listed
Commercial model	Prepaid credit / pay-as-you-go; no free tier	Purchased capacity with optional auto-scale; no per-GB egress on Contabo's stated model
Open source product?	No (uses OSS components e.g. OpenStack)	Not listed
Self-hosted?	No (provider-managed cloud/DC)	Not listed
Product	Not listed	Hosted Ceph S3 object storage
S3 regions	Not listed	EU (eu2), United States (usc1), Singapore (sin1)
Addressing	Not listed	Path-style; HTTPS only
Ownership	Not listed	KKR majority (2022), Oakley Capital Fund V minority

Key capabilities: Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage
Key capabilities	Aruba Cloud	Contabo Object Storage
EU-operated (IT)	Yes	Not listed
OpenStack public cloud	Yes	Not listed
VMware Pinnacle Partner	Yes	Not listed
ISO 27001 (claimed)	Yes	Not listed
ACN-qualified (claimed)	Yes	Not listed
Proprietary EU data centers	Yes	Not listed
S3-compatible (partial)	Not listed	Yes
Ceph backend	Not listed	Yes
EU region available	Not listed	Yes
German GmbH	Not listed	Yes
In-panel DPA	Not listed	Yes

Aruba Cloud

OpenStack public cloud + CMP
Self-service Cloud Servers and Virtual Data Centers on OpenStack with AMD/NVMe-oriented SKUs, unlimited traffic on documented cloud-server lines, and management via the Aruba Cloud Management Platform, APIs, and prepaid credit wallet. Suits test/prod VMs and progressive scale-out inside Aruba's ecosystem—not a hyperscaler global catalog.
VMware private cloud (Pinnacle Partner)
Hosted Private Cloud, Virtual Private Cloud via VMware Cloud Director, unified storage, and DRaaS-style options using enterprise stacks (vendor materials cite Zerto, Veeam, vSphere tooling). Built for teams standardizing on VMware who want European hosting without running their own gear.
Bare metal and GPU for private AI
Dedicated servers in Italian Rating 4 data centers (Arezzo/Bergamo and others) with configurable networking (firewall/switch add-ons) and GPU SKUs aimed at private AI/ML. Full root control and isolation; buyer owns OS security and backups unless add-on protection is purchased.
Managed Kubernetes and cloud-native stack
Managed Kubernetes, Application Platform (container/PaaS), container registry, agentless backup for K8s/VDC, plus ArubaKube R&D around open-source multi-cluster projects such as Liqo. Good for EU teams wanting managed containers without leaving Aruba's network.
Object/block storage and enterprise backup
S3-compatible object storage, block volumes, smart storage, and backup packages (vendor stacks include Veeam and Commvault). Use for data protection and hybrid DR—not automatic full-workload backup unless you buy and configure those services.
European region choice with Italian ACN path
Place workloads across proprietary Italian and Czech sites plus partner zones in France, Germany, the UK, and Poland. Italian ACN-qualified IaaS/PaaS/SaaS positioning targets public administration and regulated suppliers; confirm exact qualified SKUs and region pins in procurement.

Contabo Object Storage

Ceph S3 API with path-style buckets
Contabo states the store is Ceph-based and largely S3 compatible, not fully equivalent to Amazon S3. Logging is not supported. Official tool notes require Contabo S3 URLs, path-style buckets, and access_key/secret_key mapped to aws_access_key_id/aws_secret_access_key.
EU, US, and Singapore S3 endpoints
Documented base URLs are eu2.contabostorage.com (European Union), usc1.contabostorage.com (United States), and sin1.contabostorage.com (Singapore). The management API allows one object-storage purchase per location. All locations on an account share the same S3 credentials.
Bucket versioning and Object Lock
Versioning is enabled per bucket via s3api put-bucket-versioning on the regional endpoint. Suspending versioning stops new versions but does not delete old ones. Object Lock can be turned on at bucket creation (example uses GOVERNANCE mode) so objects cannot be overwritten or deleted for a retention period.
Capacity auto-scale via management API
The Contabo API (not the S3 API) orders, upgrades, cancels, and auto-scales purchased space up to a monthly size limit. Usage statistics are exposed there. The open-source cntb CLI (GPL-3.0) wraps the same management API. S3 keys come from the User Management API or the Object Storage panel.
Published client list and hard limits
Documented working tools include cntb, aws cli, rclone, Cyberduck, goofys, s3fs-fuse, s3cmd, WinSCP, Cloudberry Explorer, BucketAnywhere, Virtualmin, Velero, and Plesk. FileZilla Pro is listed as incompatible. Defaults include 5 TB max object size, 100 buckets, 3 million objects (increasable on request), 250 requests per second, and 10 MByte/s default bandwidth.

Assurance & compliance: Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage
Assurance & compliance	Aruba Cloud	Contabo Object Storage
Independent security / no-logs audit	Not applicable IaaS/PaaS provider—not a no-logs consumer VPN. Request customer audit rights / SOC reports under NDA if needed.	Not found Searched About, help, and product docs. No public independent audit PDF for Object Storage.
ISO 27001	Vendor claimed Vendor publishes ISO 27001 certificate PDF and states ISO 27001 family as a security pillar; also claims 27017/27018/27035. Re-verify cert scope and validity dates in procurement.	Partial Some Contabo location marketing pages list colocation-facility ISO 27001 (for example Singapore). No company-wide Contabo ISO 27001 certificate found.
SOC 2 / SOC 3	Not found Public SOC 2/3 report not found on product pages. Vendor publishes ISAE 3402 report PDF instead—request current assurance package.	Not found No Contabo-issued SOC 2 or SOC 3 report found. Facility-level SOC marks on some non-EU location pages are not treated as a Contabo attestation.
ISAE 3402	Vendor claimed Certificate/report PDF linked from data-protection resources page.	Not listed
GDPR / EU data protection	Vendor claimed EU/Italian entity; services designed under GDPR; CISPE Code of Conduct claimed; processor terms in cloud T&Cs.	Vendor claimed EU legal entity; DPA available in the Customer Control Panel and listed as covering Object Storage. EU region is optional, not exclusive.
US CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)	Partial Italian entity, no known US parent, primary hosting on Aruba-owned EU DCs—not on AWS/GCP/Azure by default. Residual uncertainty: subprocessor list only on request; partner DCs include UK; optional multi-cloud/hybrid to hyperscalers. Indicative only—not legal advice.	Partial Contabo GmbH is German, but KKR (US) has been the majority investor since June 2022 and Contabo sells a US object-storage region. Not legal advice.
Data processing agreement (B2B)	Vendor claimed Cloud/data-centre T&Cs Art. 21 appoint Aruba as processor/sub-processor for applicable services; subprocessors available on request with change notice. Confirm signed pack for your SKUs.	Vendor claimed Customer Control Panel wizard. Object Storage is an explicit covered service. Review the generated PDF.
CISPE Code of Conduct	Vendor claimed Vendor states CISPE Code of Conduct compliance on product and sovereignty pages.	Not listed
ACN qualification (Italian PA)	Vendor claimed Vendor claims infrastructure up to ACN AI3 and services up to QC3 for public administration. Confirm which products are in scope for your project.	Not listed
EU AI Act	Not applicable Infrastructure provider; Framework AI tool exists as optional capability with customer-responsibility language—not an AI product evaluation.	Not applicable Object storage IaaS, not an AI system.

Considerations & known limitations: Aruba Cloud vs Contabo Object Storage
Considerations & known limitations	Aruba Cloud	Contabo Object Storage
Subprocessor list not fully public	Medium T&Cs say the updated subprocessor list is available on request, not as a public transparency page. Procurement should obtain the current list, countries, and change process before go-live.	Not listed
Partner zones and multi-region choice	Low European network includes partner sites and a UK zone. Residency and latency goals require explicit region selection—not assumptions from marketing 'sovereign cloud' language alone.	Not listed
Customer-owned backups and OS security	Medium Default terms state Aruba does not back up customer data unless a backup service is purchased; customers administer OS, apps, and credentials under shared responsibility.	Not listed
Narrower managed PaaS than hyperscalers	Low OpenStack + VMware + bare metal + K8s cover classic IaaS/private cloud well, but teams expecting AWS/Azure-class managed service density will hit catalog limits.	Not listed
Certificate scope must be verified	Low ISO/ISAE/ACN claims are vendor-published; map each cert to exact products, locations, and expiry before relying on them in a risk register.	Not listed
US private-equity majority owner	Not listed	High Oakley Capital announced in June 2022 that KKR would be majority investor, with Oakley Fund V retaining a minority stake. Treat CLOUD Act exposure as high at the ownership layer even when objects sit on eu2.contabostorage.com.
Optional United States object region	Not listed	Medium usc1.contabostorage.com is a first-party SKU. Shared credentials across locations make it easy to point a client at the US endpoint by mistake. Pin the EU URL if residency is a hard requirement.
Partial S3 compatibility	Not listed	Medium Contabo states the Ceph API is not fully compatible with AWS S3. Logging is unsupported. Path-style addressing is required. FileZilla Pro does not work. Test SDK features before migrating production.
Default request and bandwidth caps	Not listed	Medium Published defaults include 250 API requests per second, 10 MByte/s bandwidth, 100 buckets, and 3 million objects. Auto-scale increases purchased terabytes, not those caps.
No public company-wide audit	Not listed	Medium No independent Object Storage audit, Contabo-issued ISO 27001, or SOC 2 report was found. Facility ISO/SOC marks on some location pages are not a substitute.
No first-party custom TLS hostname	Not listed	Low HTTPS-only S3 endpoints reject a simple CNAME. Public websites need a customer-operated reverse proxy. Public-to-private ACL changes may remain cached for up to one hour.

Fit

Aruba Cloud

Best fit when

Italian or EU orgs that want compute under Aruba S.p.A. with primary hosting on Aruba-owned Italian/Czech data centers
Public administration and regulated suppliers needing ACN-qualified cloud SKUs (confirm product scope)
VMware shops seeking Hosted Private Cloud / VPC / DRaaS without US hyperscaler tenancy
Teams mixing OpenStack VMs, Managed Kubernetes, object storage, and bare metal/GPU for private AI
Buyers who value Italian-language 24/7 support, CMP self-service, and prepaid credit cost control

Poor fit when

Workloads that need a hyperscaler-wide global region map and deep managed PaaS catalogs (AWS/Azure-class)
Teams that require a fully public, always-updated subprocessor page without a customer request
Buyers who only want lowest-cost bare metal/VPS and do not need VMware, ACN, or enterprise packaging (Hetzner-class shortlists)
Strict Italy-only residency without validating region selection (partner zones include FR/DE/UK/PL)

Consider instead when

When: You need larger multi-country European scale or a broader global PoP footprint than Aruba's network
Consider: OVHcloud
French-scale European IaaS; different PA quals and product tree.
When: You prioritize developer-centric instance catalogs and simpler Paris/Amsterdam-style public cloud
Consider: Scaleway
Stronger developer UX; less Italian ACN/VMware private-cloud depth.
When: You need US hyperscaler ecosystem density, global managed services, and marketplace breadth
Consider: Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure
US-parent platforms with different jurisdictional posture.
When: You mainly want cost-oriented German bare metal/VPS with less enterprise packaging
Consider: Hetzner
Different country anchor and compliance story; compare catalogs carefully.

Contabo Object Storage

Best fit when

Teams already on Contabo Cloud VPS or VDS that need a same-account backup or media bucket
Workloads that speak standard S3 via rclone, aws cli, Velero, Plesk, or s3cmd and can use path-style URLs
Buyers who want capacity-tier billing without per-gigabyte egress modelling
Operators who can pin eu2.contabostorage.com and sign the in-panel DPA
Buckets that need versioning or Object Lock but not S3 server access logging

Poor fit when

Applications that require full Amazon S3 feature parity, especially server access logging or virtual-hosted bucket names
Public websites that need a first-party custom hostname and TLS without a reverse proxy
Procurement that requires company-wide ISO 27001 or SOC 2, or a vendor with no US private-equity majority owner
Strict EU-only policies if anyone on the account might create a US or Singapore store
High-QPS or multi-gigabit pipelines that will hit the documented 250 rps or 10 MByte/s defaults

Consider instead when

When: You want a German hoster's object store with an EU-concentrated footprint and no US majority PE owner
Consider: Hetzner Object Storage
Contabo's own comparison places Hetzner object storage in European data centers and notes a thinner APAC story.
When: You need a broader EU compliance portfolio (ISO 27001, SecNumCloud) more than a simple capacity bill
Consider: OVHcloud Object Storage
Billing and product surface are more complex than Contabo's single-account IaaS stack.
When: You need managed Kubernetes or managed Postgres next to S3, not just raw buckets
Consider: Scaleway Object Storage
France-first footprint. Contabo does not sell first-party managed databases or Kubernetes.
When: You need Amazon-complete S3 (logging, IAM, global regions) and will accept a US cloud
Consider: Amazon S3
Use Contabo only after you have tested the Ceph compatibility gaps against your SDK.

Open questions for due diligence

Aruba Cloud

What is the current named subprocessor list (group companies and third parties) for the exact SKUs we will buy?
Which products and sites are in scope for the latest ISO 27001 / 27017 / 27018 certificates and ACN AI3/QC3 qualifications?
Can we pin workloads exclusively to Italian proprietary DCs (IT1–IT4) with contractual residency language?
What customer audit rights, ISAE/SOC report access, and DPA signature process apply to our legal entity?
For hybrid designs, which interconnect options touch US-group clouds, and can those be excluded?

Contabo Object Storage

Is there a current company-wide ISO 27001 or SOC 2 for Contabo GmbH (not a colocation-facility mark)?
Where is the public subprocessor list for Object Storage, backups, support tooling, and the Customer Control Panel?
Does Contabo offer server-side encryption at rest and customer-managed keys for objects? Not documented on the pages reviewed.
What is the Ceph replication factor / durability target for each object-storage region?
The marketing URL https://contabo.com/en/object-storage/ returned Storage VPS content when fetched during research. Confirm the SKU is still sold and the product page has not been retired.