Rackspace users can expect to pay a premium of at least 17 percent for public cloud instances in an Australian data centre compared to one in the firm's US facilities.

The company today unveiled the Australian node of its OpenStack-powered public cloud service, which runs from the Digital Realty data centre in Erskine Park in Sydney's West.
A price comparison by iTnews shows users with cloud servers in Sydney can expect to pay between 17 and 20 percent more for a Linux instance, and between 17.5 and 18.3 percent more for a Windows instance than for the same instance in the United States.
But the price premiums for US vs Australia are comparitively lower than those of rival Amazon Web Services, which charges 33 percent more for a Linux server instance in Australia and 26.3 percent more for a Windows instance (compared to the 'US East' node).
Amazon's overall pricing is lower and offers more local storage on a comparative basis.
Linux Server Configuration (RAM / Local storage) |
Rackspace AUS |
Rackspace US (p/hour) (p/month) |
AWS US East (p/hour) (p/month) |
AWS AUS (p/hour) (p/month) |
512MB /20 GB (AWS = 613 MB / EBS) |
$0.026 ($18.98) |
$0.022 ($16.06) |
$0.02 ($14.60) |
$0.02 ($14.60) |
1GB / 40 GB | $0.072 ($52.56) |
$0.06 ($43.80) |
- | - |
2GB / 80GB (AWS = 1.7GB / 160GB) |
$0.144 ($105.12) |
$0.12 ($87.60) |
$0.06 ($43.80) |
$0.08 ($58.40) |
4GB / 160GB (AWS = 3.75GB / 410GB) |
$0.288 ($210.24) |
$0.24 ($175.20) |
$0.12 ($87.60) |
$0.16 ($116.80) |
8GB / 320GB |
$0.576 ($420.48) |
$0.48 ($350.40) |
$0.24 ($175.20) |
$0.32 ($233.60) |
15GB / 620GB (AWS = 15GB / 1.69TB) |
$1.08 ($788.40) |
$0.90 ($657) |
$0.48 ($350.40) |
$0.64 ($467.20) |
30GB / 1.2TB (AWS = 34.2GB / 850GB) |
$1.44 ($1051.20) |
$1.20 ($876.60) |
$0.82 ($598.60) |
$0.990 ($722.70) |
(Linux public cloud server comparison. Monthly cost based on 730 hours. USD ex-GST. Configuration differences noted)
Windows Server Configuration (RAM / Local storage) |
Rackspace AUS |
Rackspace US (p/hour) (p/month) |
AWS US East (p/hour) (p/month) |
AWS AUS (p/hour) (p/month) |
1GB / 40 GB | $0.094 ($68.62) |
$0.08 ($58.40) |
- | - |
2GB / 80GB (AWS = 1.7GB / 160GB) |
$0.188 ($137.24) |
$0.16 ($116.80) |
$0.091 ($66.43) |
$0.115 ($83.95) |
4GB / 160GB (AWS = 3.75GB / 410GB) |
$0.376 ($274.48) |
$0.32 ($233.60) |
$0.182 ($132.86) |
$0.230 ($167.90) |
8GB / 320GB |
$0.686 ($500.78) |
$0.58 ($423.40) |
$0.364 ($265.72) |
$0.460 ($335.80) |
15GB / 620GB (AWS = 15GB / 1.69TB) |
$1.278 ($932.94) |
$1.08 ($788.40) |
$0.728 ($531.44) |
$0.920 ($671.60) |
30GB / 1.2TB (AWS = 34.2GB / 850GB) |
$1.836 ($1340.28) |
$1.56 ($1138.80) |
- | - |
(Windows public cloud server comparison. Monthly cost based on 730 hours. USD ex-GST. Configuration differences noted)
Rackspace's A/NZ managing director Angus Dorney told iTnews that the company has "quite a few thousand customers signed up who will make the transition from America to an Australian cloud".
None had migrated to the Sydney public cloud yet, but advisory and migration teams and channel partners have been enlisted to support any such moves.
"Migration will be on a case-by-case basis," Dorney said.
Dorney said the go-live of public cloud services in Australia rounded out the company's local "hybrid cloud" offering.
"What that means is we can offer our customers the ability to combine both public cloud and private virtualised solutions, or any combination of those two things together."