Hey everyone! I'm transitioning from using Proxmox and OpenStack to developing a custom cloud control plane. I've added detailed CLI timing measurements and found that a cold VM start takes around 10 seconds in total (including about 300ms for API acceptance, 1.2-3 seconds for provisioning, and 7-8 seconds for booting Ubuntu). I'm aware that these timings depend significantly on specific workloads and use cases, and optimization needs can vary greatly. I could potentially improve these times further, but I'm wondering if it's actually beneficial or just busywork. From your experiences, how do cold start times in major public clouds stack up against mine, and at what point does additional optimization become unnecessary?
5 Answers
Just curious, when was the last time you booted a VM in a public cloud? Most people don’t do it often, and hence, may not realize how slow those cold starts can actually be.
You nailed it; it all depends on the specific context. Different applications have different demands. For example, if you’re virtualizing a regular VM, a 3-second provisioning time is hardly a dealbreaker, so further optimizations may not be worth the effort. However, if you're looking into serverless setups or something more ephemeral, that could change the game.
A tip: if you're using Docker, check the container startup times; anything over a couple hundred milliseconds for a web frontend is often considered excessive!
For comparison, my setup typically boots VMs in just under a minute, which I consider pretty decent. My main bottleneck is the process of creating new LVM volumes and copying images. While I don't often need to start new VMs frequently, speed can be crucial when testing new scripts or configurations.
Honestly, the major public clouds usually take significantly longer than 10 seconds due to several services involved—like networking and storage options. If you're aiming for a fast cold startup on your platform, you're already ahead of the pack!
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