KVM virtualisation
Full hardware virtualisation, not containers. Your cores and memory are reserved, not shared out and hoped for. Load your own kernel, run Docker, run nested virtualisation.
Powered by Rackzar · AS329206
Linux VPS hosting, hosted in South Africa
KVM virtualisation on NVMe SSD storage, with full root access and a 99.9% uptime SLA. Deployed from Tier III and Tier IV data centres in Cape Town and Johannesburg, so your users are milliseconds away instead of continents away. From R99 a month.
- ✓ Live in 2 to 5 minutes
- ✓ No setup fee
- ✓ Cancel any month
- ✓ 24/7 support
$ ssh [email protected] Welcome to Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0 x86_64) System load: 0.04 Processes: 96 Usage of /: 11.8% of 60G IPv6 address: 2c0f:... Memory usage: 14% Uptime: 184 days Swap usage: 0% Region: JHB $ ping -c1 cinx.net.za 64 bytes from 196.60.x.x: time=3.61 ms $ _
99.9%
Uptime SLA
2–5 min
Deployment time
5
SA data centres
100 Gbit
Exchange peering
The platform
What you get on every Linux VPS
The same infrastructure that runs Rackzar's private cloud, packaged for people who just want a server with root on it.
NVMe SSD storage
Enterprise NVMe on every node, with the IOPS headroom that database and I/O bound workloads actually notice. No spinning disks, no SATA tier hiding behind the word SSD.
Local latency
Cape Town and Johannesburg, peered directly into the exchanges your visitors' ISPs sit on. Sub 15 ms to most South African networks instead of 150 ms plus over subsea cable.
Protected by default
Volumetric DDoS mitigation at the edge, RPKI validated routing and strict prefix filters. Security monitoring runs 24/7 at the network layer so you can focus on the OS layer.
Instant provisioning
Pick a distribution, pay, and the server is building. Two to five minutes later the credentials are in your inbox and the console is waiting in the client zone.
Power that does not blink
N+1 and 2N power paths, UPS and generators carrying 72 to 96 hours of runtime. Load shedding is a problem for your office, not for your server.
Plans and pricing
Four VPS plans, all with root
Every plan includes KVM virtualisation, NVMe storage, a dedicated IPv4 address, native IPv6 and the 99.9% uptime SLA. Prices include VAT and there is no setup fee.
KLX1
Development boxes, staging environments and small side projects.
R99/month
VAT included
- vCPU 1 core
- Memory 2 GB
- NVMe SSD 25 GB
- Bandwidth 250 GB
Single 1129Multi 1141
- ✓ Full root access
- ✓ Dedicated IPv4 and IPv6
- ✓ DDoS protection
- ✓ Free Backup
- ✓ Priority SA Support
Best Value
KLX2
Production sites, WordPress and Laravel apps, small databases.
R199/month
VAT included
- vCPU 2 cores
- Memory 4 GB
- NVMe SSD 60 GB
- Bandwidth 500 GB
Single 1139Multi 2106
- ✓ Full root access
- ✓ Dedicated IPv4 and IPv6
- ✓ DDoS protection
- ✓ Free Backup
- ✓ Priority SA Support
KLX3
Busy applications, docker hosts and CI runners.
R399/month
VAT included
- vCPU 4 cores
- Memory 8 GB
- NVMe SSD 120 GB
- Bandwidth Unmetered
Single 1150Multi 3701
- ✓ Full root access
- ✓ Dedicated IPv4 and IPv6
- ✓ DDoS protection
- ✓ Free Backup
- ✓ Priority SA Support
KLX4
CPU heavy workloads and multi service production stacks.
R499/month
VAT included
- vCPU 6 cores
- Memory 8 GB
- NVMe SSD 200 GB
- Bandwidth Unmetered
Single 1163Multi 4994
- ✓ Full root access
- ✓ Dedicated IPv4 and IPv6
- ✓ DDoS protection
- ✓ Free Backup
- ✓ Priority SA Support
Side by side
VPS specification comparison
Not sure where the line falls between KLX1 and KLX4?
Memory is usually what runs out first, then CPU cores.
| Specification | KLX1 | KLX2 | KLX3 | KLX4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per month | R99 | R199 | R399 | R499 |
| vCPU cores | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Memory / RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| NVMe SSD storage | 25 GB | 60 GB | 120 GB | 200 GB |
| Monthly bandwidth | 250 GB | 500 GB | Unmetered | Unmetered |
| Geekbench single core | 1129 | 1139 | 1150 | 1163 |
| Geekbench multi core | 1141 | 2106 | 3701 | 4994 |
| Dedicated IPv4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Native IPv6 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Self-Managed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Uptime SLA | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% | 99.9% |
Operating systems
Pick your distribution
One click templates, kept current with upstream releases. Because the platform is KVM rather than containers, you can also mount your own ISO and install anything we do not template.
Ubuntu VPS
24.04 LTS · 22.04 LTS
Debian VPS
13 · 12
AlmaLinux VPS
10 · 9
Rocky Linux VPS
10 · 9
cPanel WHM
Latest · Version
Centos VPS
Latest release
Network
Your VPS runs on AS329206
Rackzar operates its own autonomous system with an open peering policy, rather than reselling somebody else's transit. That means we control the routing decisions that determine how fast your server feels.
Multi homed BGP
Redundant IP transit from Workonline (AS37271) and Agile (AS328748), announced over multi homed BGP. If one upstream degrades, traffic moves without you noticing.
Direct exchange peering
100 Gbit capacity into CINX, JINX, NAP-CPT and NAP-JHB. Traffic to local ISPs stays local instead of trombone routing through London or Amsterdam.
Validated routing
RPKI validation and strict prefix filtering on every session, so your prefixes are protected against route leaks and hijacks rather than trusting the default free zone.
Native dual stack
IPv4 and IPv6 on every VPS from the first boot. No tunnels, no add on fee, no waiting for an allocation request to be approved.
Internet exchange peering capacity
100G
CINX · Cape Town
100G
JINX · Johannesburg
100G
NAP-CPT
100G
NAP-JHB
IP transit · Workonline
AS37271
IP transit · Agile
AS328748
Rackzar network
AS329206
Facilities
Five South African data centres
Carrier neutral, Tier III and Tier IV rated facilities in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with full power and cooling redundancy.
Tier IV certified35 MW
Africa Data Centre JHB2
Samrand, Johannesburg
- ✓ JINX exchange access
- ✓ Banking grade security
- ✓ ISO 27001 compliant
- ✓ 2N+1 redundancy
JINX 10 Gbit
Tier III+ design80 MW
Teraco JB1 Campus
Isando, Johannesburg
- ✓ 250+ ISP peering options
- ✓ Cloud direct connect
- ✓ ISO 27001 compliant
- ✓ N+1 infrastructure
JINX 100 GbitNAP 100 Gbit
Tier III design2 MW
Xneelo JHB1
Midrand, Johannesburg
- ✓ 2N power systems
- ✓ 53 000 litre fuel reserve
- ✓ Multi homed network
- ✓ JINX connected
JINX 10 Gbit
Hyperscale25 MW
Africa Data Centre CPT1
Bredell, Cape Town
- ✓ Hyperscaler point of presence
- ✓ INX-ZA connected
- ✓ Expandable infrastructure
- ✓ 6 000+ square metres
CINX 100 GbitNAP 10 Gbit
Tier III design5 MW
Teraco CT1
Rondebosch, Cape Town
- ✓ 99.999% uptime record
- ✓ N+1 infrastructure
- ✓ 5 MVA power
- ✓ Vendor neutral
CINX 10 GbitNAP 100 Gbit
| Specification | Tier I | Tier II | Tier III | Tier IV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uptime guarantee | 99.671% | 99.741% | 99.982% | 99.995% |
| Annual downtime | <28.8 hours | <22 hours | <1.6 hours | <26.3 minutes |
| Autonomous power | None | None | 72 hours | 96 hours |
Background
Linux VPS hosting for South African workloads
A Linux VPS sits between shared hosting and a dedicated server. You get reserved CPU, memory and NVMe storage on a hypervisor, with root access to a full operating system. Nothing is shared with a neighbouring account, so a busy site on the same node cannot take your resources, and nothing is locked down by a control panel, so you can install and configure whatever the job needs.
The platform runs on KVM, which is full hardware virtualisation rather than a container. That distinction matters more than most hosts admit. On a container based VPS you share the host kernel, which rules out custom kernel modules, nested virtualisation and some Docker and WireGuard configurations. On KVM your server behaves like real hardware, because as far as the operating system is concerned, it is.
Why hosting locally changes the numbers
Round trip time from a South African connection to a European or American server typically lands between 150 and 200 ms. From our Johannesburg and Cape Town nodes it is usually under 15 ms. Every database query, API call and asset request pays that cost, so the difference compounds across a page load rather than appearing once. For anything interactive, local hosting is the single largest performance change available, and it costs less than optimising the application.
There are two other practical reasons. Keeping personal information inside South Africa simplifies your POPIA position, since cross border transfer conditions under section 72 stop being a question you need to answer. And billing in rand removes the exchange rate risk that turns an overseas invoice into a moving target.
Choosing between the plans
Memory is almost always the first thing to run out. A single WordPress or Laravel site with a local MySQL instance is comfortable on KLX2 at 4 GB. Add Redis, a queue worker and a second site and you want KLX3. Cores matter when you are compiling, transcoding, running CI, or serving enough concurrency that PHP-FPM or your application workers saturate. KLX4 exists for that case, with six cores and a multi core benchmark score more than four times KLX1.
You are not locked in either way. CPU, RAM and disk can be increased later from the client zone, applied on a short reboot, keeping the same IP address and the same data. Starting small and growing is usually cheaper than provisioning for a peak that has not arrived yet.
Unmanaged, and what that means in practice
These plans are unmanaged. You own the operating system: updates, firewall rules, application configuration and security hardening are yours. We own everything underneath it, which is the hypervisor, storage, network, power and hardware, and support covers all of that around the clock. If you would rather perfer a dedicated server, ask about bare metal hosting options or take a look at Rackzar's Dedicated Servers instead.
Questions
Linux VPS questions, answered
What is a Linux VPS?
A Linux VPS is a virtual private server running a Linux distribution on dedicated, reserved resources. You get your own CPU cores, RAM and NVMe storage, plus full root access, so you can install any software and configure the server exactly as your application needs. Unlike shared hosting, nothing you run competes with another customer for resources.
Why host a Linux VPS in South Africa rather than overseas?
Local hosting cuts round trip latency to South African visitors from roughly 150 to 200 ms on European or US servers down to under 15 ms. That shows up directly in page load times, database round trips and SSH responsiveness. It also keeps your data inside South Africa, which simplifies POPIA compliance, and you pay in rand with no exchange rate exposure.
Which Linux distributions can I run?
Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS Stream and Fedora are all available as one click templates, and you pick your distribution during deployment. Because the platform uses KVM rather than containers, you can also upload a custom ISO or run a distribution we do not template.
How quickly is my VPS deployed?
Provisioning is automated and completes in two to five minutes once payment clears. Root credentials and the server IP address are emailed to you, and the console is available in the Rackzar client zone immediately.
Is the VPS managed or unmanaged?
VPS Plans are unmanaged, which means you have full root access and control over the operating system, and you are responsible for updates, software configuration and security hardening and everything within the OS. Our support team handles the hypervisor, network, storage and hardware, and is available 24/7 for anything at the platform level.
What network does the VPS run on?
Every VPS sits behind AS329206, Rackzar's own autonomous system. We peer at 100 Gbit with CINX, JINX, NAP-CPT and NAP-JHB, and take redundant IP transit from Workonline (AS37271) and Agile (AS328748) over multi homed BGP. Routes are RPKI validated and both IPv4 and IPv6 are native.
What happens during load shedding?
Nothing. Our facilities are Tier III and Tier IV rated with N+1 or 2N power, UPS systems and on site generators carrying 72 to 96 hours of autonomous runtime, with fuel supply contracts in place. Grid interruptions do not reach your server.
Can I upgrade my VPS later?
Yes. CPU, RAM and disk can be increased from the client zone and the change applies on a short reboot, so you keep the same IP address and data. Start on the plan that fits today and scale as your workload grows.
Do you take backups?
Each plan includes a single backup (SLOT) at no cost, this can be setup for daily or weekly. We recommend keeping your own off site copy as well, since backups protect against infrastructure failure rather than accidental deletion inside your own applications.
Do the prices include VAT?
Yes. All prices shown are in South African rand and include VAT. There are no setup fees and no minimum contract term, so you can cancel at the end of any billing month.
Your server is five minutes away
Choose a plan, choose a distribution, and the credentials land in your inbox before your coffee gets cold.
Deploy a Linux VPSFrom R99/month incl. VAT · No setup fee · Cancel any month