FAQ

When logging in to the Open Telekom Cloud for the first time, a tenant is assigned to the login email address. This tenant comes in the form of a long string of characters, e.g. OTC-EU-DE-xxxxx, and forms the basis of the business relationship between the user and Deutsche Telekom. In addition, it is required for invoicing processes.

The Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is a basic functionality of the Open Telekom Cloud. In order to work in the cloud environment, users are assigned a dedicated work area within a unique internal IP range. This serves to isolate the individual user networks from one another. The VPC is a basic security function within the public cloud.

When setting up a tenant, a basic limit or maximum value for using Open Telekom Cloud resources is defined in the system. These limits or maximum values are also referred to as quotas. Quotas are a simple and basic tool for limiting the costs incurred when using the Open Telekom Cloud. The quotas can be adjusted at any time by contacting our Service Desk by phone or email.

Roles regulate the rights on the Open Telekom Cloud. The commercial and technical administrators have the most extensive rights. These roles are mandatory.

Commercial administrator
The commercial administrator is the contract holder and can initiate contractual changes in his role. Furthermore, the commercial administrator has access to the financial dashboard or, in the case of booking, to the enterprise dashboard. This role does not have access to the Open Telekom Cloud Console as standard.

Technical Administrator
The technical administrator is the enterprise administrator and has the right to authorise further users to a tenant via Identity and Access Management (IAM) and to define granular rights management. The technical administrator does not have access to financial data, such as the financial dashboard or the billing history.

Projects enable users to “share” a tenant, making it possible to clearly distinguish between the resources of various teams working on different projects within a company. Up to 50 projects can be created within each tenant.

Our services need to be distributed across several Availability Zones (AZs) in order to ensure maximum reliability. The Open Telekom Cloud currently offers two regions with a total of six AZs (as of July 2021): three AZs in Magdeburg and Biere in Germany, and three AZs in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This allows us to meet the geo-redundancy requirements of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).

MyWorkplace is a higher-level user portal for managing all cloud services offered by Deutsche Telekom. The Open Telekom Cloud is one of these services. Among other things, you can use MyWorkplace to view your invoices and your Enterprise Dashboard (ED), or to create support tickets.

If you wish to make a service publicly available on the internet, you need to release your resources within the Open Telekom Cloud. To do this, use the Elastic IP (EIP) service to assign a public IP address. This EIP is used to forward users to various resources, e.g. to an Elastic Cloud Server (ECS) in the simplest case, but also to an Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) or a NAT Gateway for accessing several resources at the same time.

The public cloud version of the Open Telekom Cloud can be accessed via the internet. To this end, you can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to establish an encrypted connection between your own data center and a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in the Open Telekom Cloud. For professional use, the Open Telekom Cloud also allows users to establish dedicated network connections. For internal connections to the Open Telekom Cloud, you need to the use the Direct Connect (DC) service, while the Private Link Access Service (PLAS) is required for connecting external networks. PLAS enables your company to use Open Telekom Cloud resources via IntraSelect (MPLS VPN), Ethernet Connect, Secure Cloud Connect, and Equinix Cloud Exchange.

As a general rule, there are three options for logging in to the Open Telekom Cloud.

1. For logging in manually, click “Open Telekom Cloud Console“ in the footer of the Open Telekom Cloud website. You are directed to a page where you need to enter your user name and password. The login can also be configured to use two-factor authentication.
2. Also in the footer of the website there is a link to MyWorkplace: This is the recommended method for the initial login of the tenant admin. However, it is only available to a limited number of users.
3. You can also set up automated access options via API.

A broad range of services offer encryption capabilities, e.g. Object Storage Service (OBS), Elastic Volume Service (EVS), Image Management Service (IMS), Scalable File Service (SFS) and Relational Database Service (RDS).. Encrypted Elastic Cloud Server (ECS) can only be created by choosing a private image previously created/shared/migrated by customer. The customer master keys are stored in the Key Management Service (KMS)  of the Open Telekom Cloud.  The KMS also includes the option of configuring your own key (bring your own key). The Open Telekom Cloud uses a hardware security module that creates high-entropy keys. Using third-party tools, keys can also be stored on local hard drives.

The Open Telekom Cloud is operated in certified high-security data centers located in Germany. Basic security measures include setting up a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for different users, establishing Security Groups, ensuring the availability of Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and providing Anti-DDoS in the cloud. In addition, the data in the various storage services can be encrypted. Deutsche Telekom has also implemented comprehensive technical and organizational measures to protect the Open Telekom Cloud. These measures are described in detail in “Ergänzende Bedingungen Auftragsverarbeitung (ErgB-AV) für Open Telekom Cloud” (only available in German).

The Open Telekom Cloud offers various certifications  that cover IT operations in general and cloud environments. Here you will find an overview of all recent certifications.

As a general rule, all applications can be used in the Open Telekom Cloud. The ideal option would be to use cloud-native applications. Such applications are capable of unlocking the full potential of cloud environments, such as automatic scaling. But conventional applications can also be operated on cloud servers. This works in a similar manner as with physical servers: Select a flavor with the appropriate size and install an image of your application on the server. The running application can then be stored as a private image in your Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Please observe any licensing issues. Open Telekom Cloud also offers dedicated hardware solutions such as Bare Metal Server (BMS), which can be used for high-performance computing and other scenarios.

Contact the software (or database) provider to clarify the rights of use you have acquired. Many providers allow the software to be used in various infrastructures. However, licensing fees may change, for example when using the software on several virtual servers. The type of server on which the software runs can also influence licensing fees. Dedicated Hosts (DeH), Bare Metal Server (BMS) and other solutions can help to resolve some licensing issues. Make sure that your licensing model covers the intended scope of the application (including any potential scaling). Open-source software can generally be used without any problems.

The Open Telekom Cloud includes various disaster recovery and backup functions. The Volume Backup Service (VBS) allows you to create manual or automatic backups of individual Elastic Volume Services (EVS) – complete backups or snapshots – in intervals of up to one hour. The Cloud Server Backup Service (CSBS) enables you to create full backups of several EVS used by one server. Backup software from third parties can also be used with the Open Telekom Cloud.

All backup software solutions that allow the use of cloud storage can also be run on the Open Telekom Cloud. In most cases, software providers certify or approve their use in cloud environments. We specifically recommend the offers by Commvault, IBM, Rubrik and Veeam, which have already been tested with the Open Telekom Cloud. If you wish to use a different software solution, please contact the corresponding provider in case you have any doubts. 

The OBS Browser is a convenient solution for copying even larger quantities of data into the Object Storage Service (OBS) of the Open Telekom Cloud. 

Yes. The Cloud Container Engine (CCE) in the Open Telekom Cloud is a state-of-the-art Kubernetes variant with a GUI that enables the use of containers. Terraform has also been verified for the use with the Open Telekom Cloud.

Yes. If you want to run your own mail server in the Open Telekom Cloud, you need certain open ports to send through the firewall. Mail BGP makes these available to you. In addition, you can protect yourself from blacklisting with the Secure Mail Gateway.

Furthermore, there is the E-Mail Protect Pro mailing service from T-Systems, which can also be used as part of the Open Telekom Cloud.
The Open Telekom Cloud service Simple Message Notification (SMN) also allows you to send mails.

The NAT Gateway with its source/destination NAT (SNAT/DNAT) allows you to map multiple virtual servers to a single IP address.

The best way to order services is via the eShop. Please bear in mind that the Open Telekom Cloud is only offered to business users in Europe. If you have a personal sales contact, you can also order services through them.

You can change your contract data in the eShop. This includes all invoicing arrangements such as method of payment, invoice address and sending of invoices. You can also subsequently change the modalities of your tenant and switch to a reserved package, for example.

Yes. Simply use the voucher code 4UOTC250 and claim a starting credit of €250, enabling you to try all functions of the Open Telekom Cloud for two months.

Public cloud resources are usually offered as part of pay-as-you-use models. The Open Telekom Cloud also offers such models, as well as “reserved” packages with considerable discounts for the continuous use of resources. An overview of these discounts can be found in the Price calculator. Reserved packages are available for 12, 24, or 36 months, and can be paid via a monthly partial fee or settled in full in advance (additional discount). The booked resources can be used for various application scenarios.

Like all Open Telekom Cloud services, reserved packages can be ordered from the eShop or via direct sales.

No. Reserved Packages are not renewed automatically. If you do not place a follow-up order and continue to use the resources after the contract term has expired, the resources are billed in accordance with the pay-as-you-use model.

The reserved packages are tied to a specific type of flavor. While you can use several different flavors at the same time, this also means that the available quota will be exhausted more quickly. You can also opt for larger flavors, but this must be coordinated with customer support.

Using the basic functions of Cloud Eye (CES) and Price Online Display (POD), financial managers can gain easily understandable insights into usage and budget consumption for cloud usage. Quotas can be used to set a cost limit. Cloud Trace (CTS) serves as a monitoring tool and provides an overview of who has accessed which resources and when. Comprehensive information on resource usage and a detailed cost overview is provided by the Financial Dashboard (FD) and the Enterprise Dashboard (ED).

Tags are used to mark and identify individual resources in the Open Telekom Cloud with the help of the Tag Management Service (TMS). Up to 10 of these tags can be assigned to nearly all services, enabling you to allocate resources internally. The tags can also be displayed in the Financial Dashboard (FD) as well as in the Enterprise Dashboard (ED), which allow you to both identify the used resources and assign them to internal cost centers, for example.

You can contact our Service Desk 24/7 at 0800 3304477 (Germany) or +800 33044770 (International). Alternatively, you can contact us via the contact sheet or ask your question directly in the Open Telekom Cloud Community.

Visit our support page to find videos, screencasts and tutorials with detailed and informative descriptions of the functions of the Open Telekom Cloud. Helpful user guides and technical specifications for all services can be found in the Help Center. Another great source of information is our content in the Open Telekom Cloud Community like the blog.

We are happy to support you and respond to your specific requirements and questions. Cloud architects, IT specialists and service delivery managers are available for this purpose. You can find out more about our expert support and Enterprise Agreements here.

We offer training courses for individual users and teams. Split into four modules, the course can be held online or directly on site and offers practical insights into the Open Telekom Cloud. Participants can be certified after completing the training course.