Data Sovereignty in the Cloud
US hyperscalers offer scalability and features - but not data sovereignty. For regulated industries, sensitive data, or strategic independence, European alternatives are essential.
Why Sovereign Cloud?
Legal Certainty
- GDPR Compliance - EU law, EU jurisdiction
- CLOUD Act - No access by US authorities
- NIS2/DORA - Meet compliance requirements
Strategic Independence
- No Vendor Lock-in - No dependence on US corporations
- EU-based Support - Local contacts, local law
- Political Independence - No impact from US sanctions
Cost Transparency
- Simpler Pricing Models - Often cheaper than AWS/Azure
- No Hidden Costs - Transparent billing
- Regional Data Centers - Low latency in Europe
EU/German Cloud Providers
IONOS Cloud
Who: 1&1 / United Internet DC: Frankfurt, Berlin, Logrono (Spain) Strengths:
- German provider with GDPR focus
- Complete IaaS portfolio
- Kubernetes, Object Storage, Managed Databases
- Compliance-certified (ISO 27001, C5)
Hetzner Cloud
Who: German hosting provider since 1997 DC: Falkenstein, Nuremberg, Helsinki Strengths:
- Excellent price-performance ratio
- Kubernetes, Load Balancer, Volumes
- Simple, transparent pricing
- Strong community
Open Telekom Cloud (OTC)
Who: Deutsche Telekom + Huawei DC: Magdeburg, Biere Strengths:
- Enterprise-grade cloud
- Compliance (C5, BSI, ISO)
- Extensive service portfolio
- Dedicated resources available
plusserver / STACKIT
Who: Schwarz IT (Lidl/Kaufland) DC: Germany Strengths:
- GAIA-X member
- Sovereign Cloud focus
- Enterprise support
- VMware compatibility
Migration from US Cloud to EU Cloud
Assessment
- Which workloads require data sovereignty?
- Which US cloud services are being used?
- Are there EU equivalents?
- Compliance requirements?
Provider Selection
We help with evaluation:
- Feature Matching - What does the EU provider offer?
- Cost Comparison - TCO AWS vs. IONOS/Hetzner
- Performance Testing - Benchmarks
- Compliance Check - Does the provider meet your requirements?
Migration
- Lift & Shift - Migrate VMs
- Replatform - To EU-native services (e.g., Managed Kubernetes)
- Hybrid - Gradual migration, parallel operation
Data Residency
Ensuring data stays in the EU:
- Regional Replication - Only within EU
- Backup in EU - No backups in US
- Support Access - EU personnel only
Hybrid Cloud with EU Anchoring
Not everything needs to migrate:
- Critical Data -> EU Cloud
- Non-critical Workloads -> US Cloud (cheaper/more features)
- Hybrid Connectivity - Secure tunnel between clouds
Sovereign Kubernetes
Kubernetes on EU infrastructure:
- IONOS Managed Kubernetes
- Hetzner Kubernetes
- OTC Cloud Container Engine
- Self-Managed K8s on EU VMs
Open-Source First
Combination of Sovereign Cloud + Open Source:
- Nextcloud instead of OneDrive/Google Drive
- GitLab self-hosted instead of GitHub
- Keycloak instead of Auth0
- Self-hosted LLMs (Ollama) instead of OpenAI
GAIA-X Compliance
We advise on GAIA-X-compliant solutions:
- European cloud initiative for data sovereignty
- Standardized service definitions
- Transparency and portability
Typical Use Cases
Public Administration
- GDPR + IT security standards
- NIS2 requirements
- Political independence
Healthcare
- Patient data -> stays in EU
- Strict compliance (GDPR, HIPAA-equivalent)
- Auditability
Financial Services
- DORA compliance
- Regulatory requirements
- Resilience testing
Mid-Market Companies
- Strategic independence
- Cost optimization
- GDPR compliance
Cost Example
| Resource | AWS (Frankfurt) | IONOS Cloud | Hetzner Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM | ~EUR60/month | ~EUR15/month | ~EUR7/month |
| 100 GB SSD | ~EUR10/month | ~EUR4/month | ~EUR5/month |
| 1 TB Traffic | ~EUR90/month | incl. | incl. |
Savings often 50-70% with comparable performance
Why alfatier for Sovereign Cloud?
- Real Experience - Production workloads on EU clouds
- Vendor-neutral - We recommend what fits
- Multi-Cloud - Hybrid between US + EU no problem
- Compliance Focus - GDPR, NIS2, DORA