FAQ
Business
Is this migration mandatory?
Yes, migration is required, as SWITCHengines will be decommissioned by December 31st, 2026.
How do costs compare to the current solution?
The new platform runs on a completely modernized infrastructure. Costs must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis; please contact our Product Management for pricing inquiries. For beneficiaries the pricing is available in the Community Portal
How can I create projects on the Switch Cloud?
The Portal documentation outlines how to create and manage projects in Switch Cloud.
Technical
What certifications does the new platform have?
- Data centers and physical infrastructure: Certified under ISO 27001
- Software stack certification: Planned for early 2026
What is the architecture of the new cloud platform?
- Highly available setup across two geographic regions: Lupfig (zhw) and Dielsdorf (zhc – ready by 2026)
- Hosted in energy-efficient data centers (Green Datacenter AG)
- Connected via the Switch network
What performance can we expect?
The new infrastructure is faster, more secure, and future-ready. Other important benchmark measurements, like storage performance, network bandwith, can be found in the service documentation sections of the Switch Cloud Documentation.
Where can I find more technical details about the Switch Cloud offering?
Please refer to the other sections of the Switch Cloud Documentation.
Can we reuse customer IPs via a proxy setup?
Possibly. If the proxy remains stable and the rebuild doesn't change the IP mapping, reuse might be feasible. Our team needs detailed proxy configuration information to assess and confirm this.
Should I still use Ephemeral boot volumes?
No. Ephemeral volumes will only be available in very specific circumstances. They should be avoided and "persistent volumes" used instead, especially for boot volumes. It is much safer and it's easier to recover the instance in case of an incident.
Does Switch Cloud support bulk project creation and deletion, similar to CSV-based workflows on SWITCHengines?
Switch Cloud does not provide a CSV-based bulk project creation feature comparable to SWITCHengines. Instead, Switch Cloud provides an API to programmatically create, manage, and delete projects, services, and users.
This API-based approach enables scalable automation and integration and is documented in the official Switch Cloud documentation:
Customers who require bulk creation operations are therefore encouraged to use the Switch Cloud API for automation purposes. Please be aware that you need to be owner of your organisation in the Portal to have sufficient permission to create projects. As this API-based approach is available, alternative mechanisms such as CSV uploads are currently not planned.
Is it possible to delete or archive projects via the Portal API?
No, this feature is not implemented yet. Projects can currently only be archived via the Portal GUI. For tracability and auditability reasons, projects are archived, but never deleted.
Does Switch Cloud support hierarchical project structures, sub-projects, or delegated billing and ownership?
Due to learnings from SWITCHengines, Switch Cloud intentionally simplified the structure within tenants. The goal is to ensure a simple, and transparent management of cloud resources and to avoid unnecessary complexity.
Currently, Switch Cloud follows a two-level hierarchy: - Organisation (tenant) - Project
Billing is handled at the organisation level, with a single invoice per tenant. Permissions can be assigned at the project level, and project-level references are supported. Concepts to group projects with labels, logical groups, cost centres are under evaluation, but have no definitive roadmap for delivery.
Is automatic VM suspension or scheduled shutdown supported on Switch Cloud?
No. In Switch Cloud, virtual machines are always charged in non-transitive or error states, except when shelved. Automatic shelving has been discussed and remains on the roadmap.
Which OpenStack (incl. Nova) versions run on Switch Cloud, and what is the upgrade roadmap?
At present, there is no dedicated public documentation page listing all OpenStack component versions. Customers are informed about upgrades, maintenance activities, and platform changes via the Switch Cloud status page: Switch Cloud Status
Last Updated: February 2026: Switch Cloud is running OpenStack Caracal (2024.1). The next planned upgrade is to OpenStack Epoxy (2025.1).
What user roles and access levels can be assigned in the Portal?
At the moment, the Portal provides the same role concept as the SWITCHengines AdminUI. Users can be added as members at:
- the organisation level, or
- at project level.
There are currently no additional role types (such as read-only or limited roles) available in the Portal. Requests for extended role concepts must be submitted via the official product and stakeholder channels.
How are customers informed about outages, maintenance, and service status?
Switch Cloud communicates outages, planned maintenance, and service status updates via the official status page: Switch Cloud Status
If customers have questions or require clarification, they can also contact the support team at: cloud-support@switch.ch
How can customers submit feature requests to ensure review and prioritisation?
Feature requests are reviewed and prioritised only if they are submitted through one of the official channels:
- Via Community Account Managers, or Product Management. Requests submitted this way are reviewed by the team and may be prioritised, accepted, or declined.
- Via the Portal feedback form or within agreed contexts such as Cloud Working Groups.
Does Switch Cloud offer vouchers for new users as it used to be the case for SWITCHengines?
At present, Switch Cloud does not offer a vouchers. Cost control on Switch Cloud is currently based on:
- transparent, usage-based billing
- customer-side monitoring of resource consumption and costs
Voucher-like mechanisms and cost alerting features have been discussed internally, and alerting capabilities are planned. However, notimeline can currently be communicated. Customers are advised to actively monitor usage and costs directly on Switch Cloud.
Migration
Can we transfer full VMs?
Yes. You can transfer full VMs by using Switch's Auto-Migration tool. However, our recommendation is to perform a rebuild as indicated in our Migration Guide.
Can we transfer network configuration?
Private networks created inside your OpenStack projects can be migrated without changes. The Switch Auto-Migration tool can help with performing this step.
Details depend on your current architecture – please go through the 4 steps listed on the Engine2Cloud migration documentation and consult with the Migration Team if needed.
Can Floating IPs be retained?
Floating IPs cannot be reused as Switch Cloud uses different IP ranges. Servers in Switch Cloud Compute will receive new Floating IPs
Are there limitations when reusing the current architecture?
This depends on how your current environment is structured. If you're unsure, please walk through the phases listed on the Engines2Cloud migration documentation and if needed, please share your architecture diagram and the self-assessment checklist (collect key fact) with the Migration Team. We can help determine whether a rebuild or a tool-based migration is more appropriate. Our recommendation is a rebuild as indicated in the migration.
How do we handle S3 storages (OSv1 and OSv2) during the migration?
In the Portal you have the option to create and manage the S3 service within your Projects. Migration or synchronisation of source and target data pools is in your responsibility. All S3 buckets in OSv1 and OSv2 should be decommissioned once all data has been transferred and all tests and validations have been successfully completed.
- OSv1: Ceph Object Storage on SWITCHengines ZH and LS. EOL on SWITCHengines by the end of 2026
- OSv2: Cloudian HyperStore Object Storage in ZH only. EOL on SWITCHengines by the end of 2026
What happens with the flavors we used on SWITCHengines? Can we keep the same ones on Switch Cloud Compute?
The flavors available in Switch Cloud Compute come with different names and need to be reviewed carefully.
- If you choose to rebuild, you can select and combine the new flavors as you need for your workloads.
- If you choose the Auto-Migration option, the old SWITCHengines flavors will be mapped automatically to the corresponding new flavors on Switch Cloud Compute, providing the same resource offerings under new naming conventions.
The following table shows a mapping of similar flavors between SWITCHengines and Switch Cloud Compute:
| SWITCHengines | Switch Cloud Compute |
|---|---|
| c1.c4r16.d20 | c004r016 |
| c1.large | c004r004 |
| c1.medium | c002r002 |
| c1.small | c001r001 |
| c1.xlarge | c008r008 |
| c1.xxlarge | c016r016 |
| c1.xxxlarge | c032r032 |
| i1.04.16.100 | c004r016 |
| m1.large | c004r008 |
| m1.medium | c002r004 |
| m1.small | c001r002 |
| m1.xlarge | c008r016 |
| m1.xxlarge | c016r032 |
| m1.xxxlarge | c032r064 |
| n1.large | c004r016 |
| n1.medium | c002r008 |
| n1.small | c001r004 |
| n1.xlarge | c008r032 |
| n1.xxlarge | c016r064 |
| n1.xxxlarge | c032r128 |
| windows.c1r4d50 | c001r004 |
| windows.c2r4d50 | c002r004 |
| windows.c4r16d50 | c004r016 |
| windows.c4r8d50 | c004r008 |
| windows.c8r32d50 | c008r032 |
| windows.large | c004r004 |
| windows.medium | c002r002 |
| windows.micro | c001r002 |
| windows.small | c001r001 |
| windows.xlarge | c008r008 |
| x1.xxlarge | c008r032 |
Are there two locations on Switch cloud?
At the current time (September 2025), there is only one location called zhw (Lupfig).
Switch plans to roll out a second location in Dielsdorf zhc by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
What backup solutions are available on Switch Cloud?
SWITCHengines does not provide a backup solution for customers. On Switch Cloud we are currently building and evaluating a backup service, which will become available to customers during 2026. Until then, customers remain responsible for managing their own backup solutions.
Is there anything that needs to be considered for migrating Windows instances?
As the official Switch Windows images are available only in Q1 2026, you can upload your own Windows images into your own project instead and use them for the rebuild.
Customers are responsible for licensing on private images.
Will it be possible to request publicly reachable subnets, similar to SWITCHengines?
On SWITCHengines, customers could request externally reachable public subnets. On the Switch Cloud, this feature is currently under review. Further information will be provided once the decision is finalized.
Is it possible to establish a VPN tunnel between SWITCHengines and Switch Cloud, provided by Switch?
At present, Switch Cloud does not provide a managed VPN tunnel between SWITCHengines and the Cloud. Customers who require such connectivity may need to implement their own VPN solution. We are evaluating whether a Switch-provided option will become available in the future.
For Switch internal customers only: What are the limitations of instances outside the Switch VPC?
- You won't get a IP address of the Switch IP range.
- Your instances will not be able to communicate to other Switch networks like SITA, SWITCHengines or the VPC itself.