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Elastx

Swedish cloud provider (Elastx AB) offering OpenStack IaaS, managed Kubernetes, DBaaS, and related services with data and operations kept in Sweden across three Stockholm availability zones.

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Elastx is a Swedish public-cloud provider (Elastx AB, Stockholm) that runs the Elastx Cloud Platform for business-critical and regulated workloads. Founded in 2012, it sells OpenStack IaaS, managed Kubernetes, managed databases, object storage, load balancing, and GPU flavors.

It exists for teams that need data and operations kept in Sweden. The primary region spans three geographically separated availability zones in the Stockholm area.

The concrete differentiator is that Sweden-only residency story plus Open Infrastructure Foundation-validated OpenStack and CNCF-certified Kubernetes. It is not a multi-continent hyperscaler catalog.

Swedish OpenStack IaaSMulti-AZ managed KubernetesManaged DBaaSISO 27001/27017/27018 (claimed)Sweden data residencyHourly, no lock-in contracts

Shortlist Elastx when you need a Sweden-only OpenStack public cloud with multi-AZ managed Kubernetes and DBaaS under a Swedish AB and self-operated Stockholm data centers. Skip when you need many global regions, hyperscaler managed-service breadth, or live migration as a platform feature—consider UpCloud, Scaleway, OVHcloud, or Azure/AWS instead depending on sovereignty vs scale tradeoffs.

Key capabilities

Full virtual data center on OpenStack (Nova/Neutron/Cinder/Swift/Octavia/Barbican and related services): KVM instances, security groups, encrypted block and object storage, load balancers, and HSM-backed secrets. Primary region se-sto uses three separate data centers up to ~20 km apart; you pick AZ per resource. Marketplace-validated OpenStack public cloud; hourly metering. No live migration—design for multi-AZ yourself.

Private Kubernetes clusters on Elastx OpenStack with at least three control-plane and three worker nodes spread across all three AZs. Fully managed option includes 24×7 cluster monitoring and planned rolling upgrades; non-managed includes office-hours upgrades/support without continuous monitoring. CNCF Certified Kubernetes Platform listing; OpenStack integration for persistent volumes and load balancers. Minimum production footprint is non-trivial—test clusters available under different terms.

Self-service datastores for MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Valkey with automated provisioning, metrics UI, IP allowlisting, and MFA (TOTP/YubiKey) via Elastx Identity Provider. Single-node or primary plus one/two read replicas; multi-node layouts and backups use multiple Swedish AZs with automatic failover options. Backups land in triple-replicated Swift object storage. Customer owns query design, extra users/DBs, and restore decisions.

Included L3/L4 DDoS protection, threat intelligence blocking, encryption at rest for ephemeral/volume/object storage, encrypted inter-AZ links, and HSM-backed secret management. Data centers described as Tier 3 with 24×7 staffing; staff described as Swedish citizens with annual background checks. Suits regulated buyers who want baseline controls without buying each security add-on separately—still shared responsibility for OS and app hardening on IaaS.

NVIDIA Ampere-class and related GPU flavors on OpenStack and Kubernetes for AI, analytics, and HPC-style jobs, plus an AI services offering framed around Swedish digital sovereignty and regulatory control. Useful when models or training data must stay in Sweden; not a substitute for evaluating the separate AI product scope, model licenses, or EU AI Act classification for your use case.

At a glance

HQ
Stockholm, Sweden (Elastx AB)
Founded
2012
Primary region
se-sto — 3 AZs in Stockholm area
Core stack
OpenStack IaaS, Kubernetes CaaS, DBaaS
Commercial model
Hourly usage; no long-term lock-in contracts (vendor)
Ownership
Swedish PE Sobro majority (~53%); no known US parent

Best fit when

  • Organizations that must keep infrastructure and personal data processing in Sweden under a Swedish legal entity
  • Platform teams that want OpenStack APIs, Terraform-friendly IaaS, and open standards without commercial lock-in contracts
  • Teams needing CNCF-aligned private Kubernetes with control planes and workers across three Swedish AZs
  • Product teams wanting managed MariaDB/MySQL/PostgreSQL/MSSQL/Valkey with multi-AZ options and object-storage backups
  • Buyers who value included baseline security (DDoS, threat intel, encryption at rest, HSM secrets) and 24×7 Swedish support

Poor fit when

  • Workloads that require many regions outside Sweden or a hyperscaler-scale SaaS/marketplace ecosystem
  • Architectures that depend on live migration or transparent cross-AZ volume moves (not supported)
  • Teams that only need a few simple VMs and prefer a minimal global UI over OpenStack operational depth
  • Buyers who require published independent pen-test/no-logs audit packs before shortlisting (not found publicly)

Consider instead when

  • When: You need high-performance IaaS across multiple European countries with a simpler product surface

    Consider: UpCloud

    Less Sweden-only OpenStack/K8s packaging; stronger multi-country footprint.

  • When: You want broad EU/FR developer cloud (bare metal, serverless, many regions) rather than Sweden-only OpenStack

    Consider: Scaleway or OVHcloud

    Different sovereignty and product mixes; not a drop-in OpenStack twin.

  • When: You need global regions and the deepest managed-service catalogs despite US CLOUD Act exposure

    Consider: Microsoft Azure or AWS

    Opposite sovereignty tradeoff.

  • When: Your RFP is pure Swedish public-sector OpenStack peers

    Consider: Cleura or Safespring (evaluate off-catalog if not listed)

    Closest Nordic sovereignty competitors.

Jurisdiction & ownership

Legal entity
Elastx AB
US parent / control
No known US parent
CLOUD Act exposure (indicative)
Low
Hosting / residency
Self-operated Swedish Tier 3 data centers; primary region se-sto with three Stockholm-area AZs (~20 km apart). Customer platform data documented as staying in Sweden; Swift object storage triple-replicated across AZs. Not sold as AWS/Azure/GCP regions. Website analytics: Piwik PRO. Optional products (Varnish CDN beta, Virtuozzo PaaS software, hybrid Cloud Connect/Exchange to other clouds) may add separate paths—confirm in DPA. No public full subprocessor inventory found.

Vendor About page claims services are Cloud Act–free; EuropeanStack treats CLOUD Act as indicative only. Majority owner Sobro is a Swedish investment firm. No known US corporate parent. Exposure kept low because primary customer IaaS/CaaS/DBaaS path is self-hosted in Sweden without named US-group cloud subprocessors; still partial diligence until full subprocessor list is obtained. Not legal advice.

  • Independent security / pen-test audit (public)Not found
  • ISO 27001 / 27017 / 27018Vendor claimed
  • ISO 14001 (environmental)Vendor claimed
  • SOC 2 / SOC 3Not found
  • +4

Considerations & known limitations

  • MediumNo public subprocessor inventory

    Marketing/docs emphasize Swedish operations and ISO, but a complete public subprocessor list was not found. Request it with the DPA before treating residual transfer risk as zero.

  • MediumOpenStack operational constraints

    No live migration; no cross-AZ volume migration while attached; one router per project; floating-IP hairpin limits. Multi-AZ designs must be intentional—not automatic failover of every pattern.

  • LowSweden-centric footprint

    Primary strength is Swedish residency; teams needing many non-Swedish regions will outgrow the geography and should evaluate multi-country EU clouds or hyperscalers.

  • LowISO claims need certificate pack

    ISO 27001/27017/27018/14001 are vendor-claimed publicly; independent public audit PDFs for no-logs/pen-test not found. Procurement should verify current certificates.

Open questions for due diligence

  • Will Elastx provide a current ISO certificate package and statement of applicability under NDA?
  • What is the full subprocessor list for support, ticketing, email, monitoring, CDN, and any AI services?
  • Which optional services (Varnish CDN, Virtuozzo PaaS, hybrid Cloud Exchange links) process customer data outside Elastx-operated Swedish DCs?
  • What RTO/RPO and availability SLA apply to the specific SKUs under evaluation (IaaS vs managed K8s vs DBaaS)?
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Frequently Asked Questions

Elastx documents that the Elastx Cloud Platform keeps customer data in Sweden. The primary region se-sto spans three Availability Zones—separate Stockholm-area data centers up to about 20 km apart. OpenStack resources are placed in a chosen AZ; Kubernetes production clusters span all three AZs by design; DBaaS multi-node and backup layouts use multiple AZs. Object storage (Swift) keeps three copies, one per data center. Confirm exact service scope and any optional products (for example CDN or hybrid links) in your contract and DPA.

Both options give you a private CNCF-aligned Kubernetes cluster on Elastx OpenStack with multi-AZ control plane and workers for production-sized clusters. Managed adds 24×7 monitoring of cluster components and operational response for critical control-plane issues, with upgrades planned with you (rolling, node by node when possible). Non-managed still includes upgrades and support during office hours but without continuous monitoring. You remain responsible for workloads, over-provisioning, and anything outside kube-system / elx- prefixed platform namespaces. Smaller test clusters may not carry the full production service description.

Elastx states it can enter into data processing agreements for GDPR personal data and that it is certified to ISO 27001 (since 2015), ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and ISO 14001. Treat certification status as vendor-claimed until you review current certificates and statements of applicability. Request the DPA, subprocessor list, and certificate package during procurement; a public enumerated subprocessor inventory was not found on the marketing site at research time.

Official docs note among other constraints: no live migration; volumes and instances cannot be migrated across Availability Zones while attached; maximum one Neutron router per project; instances cannot reach their own floating IP (use internal IPs for clustering); encrypted volumes have ownership/delete quirks; large Swift objects need DLO/SLO segmentation above 5 GiB. Design multi-AZ applications and backups explicitly rather than assuming automatic host evacuation.

Resources are metered hourly for compute, storage, network, and many add-ons. Elastx markets no long-term lock-in contracts and open-source/open-standards based services so you can migrate workloads. Core platform protections (24×7 support, threat intelligence, DDoS protection, storage and inter-AZ encryption) are described as included in standard pricing. Exact tariffs live on the vendor pricing pages and Excel calculators—use those for quotes, not this directory.