ID Interactive

Key Takeaways:

• 300 websites migrated with zero service disruption
• 27% reduction in hosting costs
• 72-hour technical switchover across 50+ virtual machines

Client:

Founded in 2006, ID Interactive is an independent digital agency based in France that designs, develops, and hosts websites and web applications for clients ranging from local SMEs to large national companies. Today, the agency manages 300 websites across approximately 50 virtual machines, offering customized hosting packages and deep technical support.

ID Interactive's service model covers the full digital lifecycle: strategy, UX/UI design, development, SEO, digital marketing, and hosting. A key differentiator is its ability to offer clients both shared and dedicated hosting environments, with a strong emphasis on sovereignty, high availability, and hands-on technical expertise. All infrastructure is managed directly by the agency's internal teams, hosted in France and across Europe.  

Challenges:

By 2024, the agency's Hosted Private Cloud infrastructure, deployed in 2018, was showing its age. As the number of virtual machines grew, the platform's performance declined noticeably, creating service quality issues for ID Interactive's clients.

"We saw a decrease in performance as the number of virtual machines increased. This meant we needed an infrastructure that could support the load over time. To optimize costs, we picked a shared solution, but with a guarantee of complete client isolation."

- Dylan Lemonnier, System Administrator, ID Interactive

The performance issues were compounded by a sharp cost increase. Following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware and the resulting licensing changes, ID Interactive's hosting costs surged by 45%. The agency needed to modernize quickly without passing disruption on to its clients.

Management set two clear, non-negotiable objectives:

• Migrate all workloads live, with no changes to existing environments (VM, network, storage) and no service interruption
• Shift from a dedicated to a cost-effective shared platform, while maintaining full isolation between every client environment

Solution:

ID Interactive chose to migrate to OVHcloud's Public VCF as-a-Service, a fully managed VMware Cloud Foundation platform hosted in France and compliant with European data regulations.

The solution met the agency's requirements across performance, security, compliance, and cost control.

"Our team used a proven, automated methodology, as with other clients affected by VMware licensing changes after Broadcom's acquisition. The new licensing plan calculates costs based on the number of cores rather than RAM capacity."

- Franck Costa, VMware Product Manager, OVHcloud

The migration was orchestrated using an in-house Golang stack integrated with Zpod, an open-source toolchain. It was executed in four structured phases:

1. Connectivity and pre-checks: A secure link was established between the legacy Hosted Private Cloud and the new Public VCF as-a-Service environment to extend the network and confirm availability. Preliminary tests identified potential issues and flagged any environments that needed temporary freezing before cutover.
2. Client context creation and data preparation: Network configuration (VXLAN/VLAN) was set up, NFS storage provisioned, and user access configured. Critical data volumes, totaling several petabytes, were prepared for transfer to the shared platform while preserving integrity and availability.
3. Automated live migration: Workloads were migrated using vMotion with no downtime. Network configurations, virtual machines, and running services transferred to the new environment without modification, supporting two distinct solutions, two server generations, and multiple software versions simultaneously.
4. Final validation and operational continuity: Public IP addresses, affinity rules, and network segment profiles were verified. Services resumed immediately in their original state, without reboots, now running on a modern shared infrastructure.

The migration preserved the full network and software topology of each client environment. Advanced Layer 2 connection management, VXLAN bridging, and multi-tenancy via LACP kept the process entirely stable. ID Interactive's internal teams required no retraining and no workflow changes.

The new infrastructure runs on more powerful hosts with automated resilience built in. Client data is protected by a two-layer security system: daily backups via Veeam Backup, and an additional vApp layer for rapid VM recovery.

“For our clients, the migration to Public VCF as-a-Service was seamless—with no disruption— as everything remained online and operational. We received exceptional support from the OVHcloud team, from preparation to follow-up after the migration.”

- Dylan Lemonnier, System Administrator, ID Interactive

Results:

The migration delivered against both of ID Interactive's core objectives, while exceeding expectations on timeline.

Hosting costs dropped 27% compared to the previous Hosted Private Cloud solution, and clients benefited from the new pricing even before the technical migration was complete. Zero service outages were reported across all 300 websites, including the most sensitive workloads, throughout the entire process.

The full project spanned approximately three months of planning and preparation, but the technical switchover itself was completed in under 72 hours. All 50+ virtual machines were moved without modification to their configurations, networks, or software environments.

The new infrastructure is built for growth. Scalable resources and improved monitoring give ID Interactive the agility to expand its client base comfortably, with data security and rapid recovery handled by Veeam Backup and vApp.

"Migrating to Public VCF as-a-Service has enabled us to meet all of our objectives. We can now confidently move forward and deliver the best possible experience for both current and future clients."

- Dylan Lemonnier, System Administrator, ID Interactive

Looking ahead, ID Interactive plans to expand its infrastructure steadily as its client base grows, with additional virtual machines added on demand through OVHcloud's scalable platform. The agency also plans to deepen its use of advanced monitoring tools and evaluate high-performance storage options to stay ahead of client needs.