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How can services that host virtual server's for personal use, finish the installation of the os so fast?

If I install a server version of any OS it'll take at least a couple of minutes. But if I order a virtual server online, it only takes a couple of seconds to install. And I can even choose between multiple installations like Ubuntu 20, 18, 16; Debian ... And then I could also choose the number of cores, ram and stuff...

Are the installations already finished and only the user name is changed to what I enter installation?

gxor
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1 Answers1

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They clone an existing image.

With a storage backend that uses deduplication cloning an image is practically instant. The most time is used booting the image, during this first boot a startup script is run that sets some settings (hostname, initial password, unique ID, stuff like this).

Another option that even works on physical hardware is to have some servers/VMs on standby that can be assigned to customers. Usually you know how many machines are requested in a given time, so you can keep X (+ Y for a little reserve) machines on standby. If a certain threshold is reached, you start preparing the next machines for the reserve. All this can be automated (except plugging in physical machines of course).

Gerald Schneider
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