Cloud (IaaS)
Virtual servers where 1 vCPU is a whole physical core.
Virtual machines on 5th-generation AMD EPYC processors, with dedicated cores and no overcommitment. Our own infrastructure in Portugal, with support in English.
- Dedicated cores, never shared
- 2 threads per vCPU
- Data in Europe
An honest vCPU
4 vCPU are 4 physical cores. You can check.
On AWS and Azure, what a vCPU is worth depends on the machine family. We compared against what each provider publishes.
| Sooma | AWS and Azure, general purpose | AWS m5 | AWS M8a, Azure Fasv7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | AMD EPYC 9655 (Zen 5) | Intel Xeon or AMD EPYC, various generations | Intel Xeon Platinum 8000 (2017 to 2019) | AMD EPYC 9005 (Zen 5) |
| 1 vCPU equals | 1 physical core, with 2 threads | 1 thread (half a core) | 1 thread (half a core) | 1 physical core, with 1 thread |
| Physical cores in 4 vCPU | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Hardware threads in 4 vCPU | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Compared with general-purpose machines
In most general-purpose families (for example AWS m5, m6i and m7i; Azure Dv5), each vCPU is one thread, that is, half a physical core. One Sooma core equals 2 vCPU on these machines: 4 Sooma vCPU have the same physical cores as 8 vCPU on them.
Compared with older generations
AWS m5 instances, still on sale, use Intel Xeon Platinum processors from 2017 to 2019. On PassMark, one Xeon Platinum 8175M thread scores 1,546 and one AMD EPYC 9655 thread scores 3,847: about 2.5 times more per thread. And each m5 vCPU is one thread, while each Sooma vCPU has two.
Compared with machines without SMT
In the newest AMD families (AWS M7a, C7a, M8a and C8a; Azure Fasv7), 1 vCPU is already a physical core, but with the second thread switched off. M8a and Fasv7 use the same processor generation as Sooma. The difference is the second thread, which Sooma keeps active: according to AMD, it often delivers 30 to 50% more on workloads that use it, such as web servers and databases.
Sources (September 2026): AWS, CPU options, AWS M5, AWS M8a, Azure Dv5, Azure Fasv7 and PassMark CPU Benchmarks (Xeon Platinum 8175M, AMD EPYC 9655). Benchmark figures are for reference: real performance depends on the workload.
Why it matters
Performance that doesn't depend on your neighbours.
No noisy neighbours
Each vCPU is pinned to a physical core that serves no other customer. Performance doesn't fluctuate with what others are doing.
Always-warm cache
With fixed affinity, the core keeps its cache, with no migration between cores. It makes a difference for workloads with many short requests, such as PHP-FPM and MySQL.
Two threads per core
Both threads of each core are available to your machine. Web servers, databases and PHP pools use both.
No credits, no throttling
There is no credit model and no throttling after a usage peak. What you pay for is always available.
Specifications
The same processor generation as the largest cloud providers.
Each server has two AMD EPYC 9655 processors (Zen 5, "Turin"), with the exact model disclosed.
| Specification | Sooma platform |
|---|---|
| Processor | AMD EPYC 9655, 5th generation (Zen 5) |
| Frequency | Up to 4.5 GHz (2.6 GHz base) |
| 1 vCPU | 1 dedicated physical core, with 2 threads |
| Cache L3 | 4 MB per vCPU |
| Memory | DDR5-6400, 6.4 GB/s per vCPU (theoretical peak) |
| Vector instructions | AVX-512 with a full 512-bit data path |
| CPU overcommitment | None (1:1) |
| Credits or burst | Not applicable |
Plans
Start with 1, 2 or 4 vCPU.
Memory, storage and larger configurations are set in the quote, tailored to what you need to run.
1 vCPU
1 physical core, 2 threads and 4 MB of L3 cache.
2 vCPU
2 physical cores, 4 threads and 8 MB of L3 cache.
4 vCPU
4 physical cores, 8 threads and 16 MB of L3 cache.
Our own infrastructure, in Portugal
The servers belong to Sooma and are located in Portugal. The operations and support teams are in Europe and the chain of responsibility is short, which matters for anyone subject to the GDPR and the NIS 2 Directive.
Digital sovereigntyFor operators and partners
The platform can be resold under your own brand (white-label), co-branded, as straight resale or by referral.
Becoming a Sooma partnerFrequently asked questions
Virtual servers
The most common questions before requesting a quote.
What is 1 vCPU at Sooma?
A whole physical core of an AMD EPYC 9655, pinned to your virtual machine, with both threads available. It is not shared with any other customer.
How can I check that the cores are dedicated?
The topology is visible inside the virtual machine: tools such as lscpu show the number of cores and threads per core.
Are there CPU credit limits?
No. There is no credit model and no throttling after a period of heavy use.
Where are the servers?
In Portugal, on Sooma's own infrastructure, subject to the GDPR and European law.
How much memory and storage does each plan have?
They are set in the quote, according to what you need to run. Talk to us.
Can I resell the platform?
Yes. We work with operators and partners on resale, white-label, co-branding or referral. See the partners page.
Tell us what you need to run.
We reply within 1 business day with a tailored quote.