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XCLOUD – Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Cloud solution options explained: Public, Private, and Hybrid — designed and supported by XSTRA.
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Overview
XCLOUD provides Clients with infrastructure products and services to host compute workloads in secure, enterprise-grade data centres.
This is commonly referred to as Cloud Computing or IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service.
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XSTRA offers three Cloud solution types
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Choose the model that best matches your workload profile, cost expectations, and risk posture.
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Public Cloud
Best suited to highly elastic workloads requiring hyperscale capacity and premium availability targets.
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Azure (Microsoft) — Public Cloud
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- Microsoft-operated public cloud platform designed for scale and availability
- Broad IaaS and PaaS service catalogue
- Consumption-based pricing; predictable costs typically require commitments
- Web-based management and automation tooling
- Managed disk abstraction with platform-imposed size and expansion constraints
- Platform-managed storage resilience and integrity protections
- Enterprise-grade Azure Australia infrastructure (region-based)
- Diverse and redundant connectivity within Microsoft’s global cloud network
- Service Level Agreement (SLA): 99.9% (service-dependent)
Infrastructure, backup & DR considerations
Hyperscale providers refresh hardware as part of ongoing operations. Hardware refresh timing is managed internally by the provider and is not usually exposed as a contractual guarantee.
Azure does not include a complete Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) or historical point-in-time backup strategy by default.
Services such as Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery exist, but must be explicitly designed, enabled, configured, and billed separately.
XCLOUD as an independent backup & DR target
XCLOUD Private Cloud can provide a secure, cost-effective, independent destination for backing up Azure-hosted workloads and data — supporting recovery outside the Microsoft control plane.
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Private Cloud
Best suited to low-elasticity, predictable workloads where performance and cost control matter most.
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XCLOUD by XSTRA — Private Cloud
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XCLOUD is XSTRA’s managed Private Cloud platform, purpose-built for budget-friendly, low-elasticity, high-performance workloads.
Private Cloud – logical single-tenancy
XCLOUD uses logical isolation. Each Client is provided with dedicated VLANs, independent routing and firewall domains, and isolated virtual machines.
While underlying physical compute hardware may be shared, no networking, identity, or security boundaries are shared between Clients.
Built – not bought
XCLOUD is engineered and operated by XSTRA, not resold from a public hyperscaler.
- XSTRA-managed, Australian-hosted infrastructure designed for performance and direct control
- Transparent capacity increases using local object storage
- End-to-end chain of custody: you always know where your data is physically located
- Turn-key Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) options
- Hot and warm replication options
- Hosted in an Aussie Broadband Tier III facility
- Independent carrier-grade MikroTik virtual router per VLAN
- 24×7 Pro-Support included
- Best Price Guarantee: at least 25% less than Azure & AWS
- No lock-in contracts — best pricing on a month-to-month basis
- Supports dynamically expanding disks that exceed 2TB (unlike certain public cloud limits)
- Service Level Agreement (SLA): target 95% availability (historically delivering >99.9%)
Hardware lifecycle & reliability model
XCLOUD infrastructure follows a repair-and-maintain lifecycle model. Systems remain in service as long as they meet performance and monitoring standards.
Components (disks, PSUs, memory, controllers) are monitored and replaced on fault or degradation.
Data protection – built in, not optional
Protecting Client data is paramount within XCLOUD. Backup and disaster recovery are designed as a core platform capability.
XCLOUD supports recovery to multiple historical time points (including incremental restores), with retention periods of up to 13 months or more (service-dependent).
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Hybrid Cloud
Purpose-built solutions combining Azure + XCLOUD into one cohesive architecture.
Designed – not packaged
Hybrid solutions are engineered by XSTRA to balance performance, cost, availability, security, and compliance.
- Elastic or globally distributed workloads hosted in Azure
- Performance-critical or cost-sensitive workloads hosted in XCLOUD
- Secure interconnect between environments
- Unified networking, access control, and monitoring
- Data residency and compliance requirements respected
Hybrid Cloud is ideal where some workloads require hyperscale availability, while others demand predictable costs and consistent performance.
Comparison
| Comparison |
Public Cloud (Azure) |
Private Cloud (XCLOUD) |
| Best suited for |
Highly elastic, globally distributed workloads |
Predictable, performance-critical workloads |
| Elasticity |
Very high |
Low to moderate (planned growth) |
| Performance |
Shared, variable |
High, consistent, predictable |
| Backup & DR |
Optional services; separate configuration and cost |
Built-in; multi-layered restores and long retention |
| Data residency |
Region-based |
Known physical location |
| Disk formats |
Managed disk abstraction |
VHD & VHDX; supports >2TB dynamic disks |
| Hosting standard |
Tier III–equivalent design |
Tier III facility |
| SLA |
99.9% |
95% target (historically >99.9%) |
| Contract terms |
Commitment-based for best pricing |
No lock-in, month-to-month |
We are the experts
- XSTRA specialises in designing cloud solutions tailored to each Client’s unique requirements
- Clients may self-manage their infrastructure or engage XSTRA for fully managed services
Ready to discuss your cloud requirements?
Contact XSTRA to confirm which model (Public, Private, or Hybrid) best fits your workload, budget, and compliance needs.
