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Realms

What are Realms?​

Realms are hypervisors that create and run virtual machines.
Each realm is linked to a drive, facilitating backend communication with the infrastructure.

  • Realms can only be configured and managed through configuration files.
  • Realms do not interact or connect with other realms.
  • Only users with Super-Admin roles can view the backend configuration of a realm.

The backend system automatically syncs with the Libvirt database every hour.

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Use Fix VMs to sync all current VMs, or Fix Drives to sync all current drives immediately, bypassing the hourly update.

What is the Difference Between Libvirt and Nutanix in Realms Drivers?​

The difference lies in the technology that runs the virtual machines. Different platforms can be used to run VMs:

  • Libvirt is an open-source private cloud infrastructure.
  • Nutanix is a commercial private cloud infrastructure solution (Nutanix users must pay for Nutanix).

In principle, tiCrypt also supports VMware and other realms such as AWS and Azure.

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We do not recommend using AWS or Azure due to institutional compliance challenges.

Why are Libvirt Realms Widely Used?​

Libvirt is open-source, so institutions can run it without incurring any costs.

Nutanix, however, can be very costly and may result in unnecessary institutional expenses.

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The tiCrypt development team collaborates one-on-one with system admins to determine when to use Libvirt over Nutanix and vice versa.