Clusterward is not a hosting provider. We own no servers and run no data centres: you bring your own Scaleway account, and every cluster, database and bucket is created there – on your Scaleway bill, under your control. Clusterward is the software that sets this infrastructure up securely, maintains it in operation and keeps it up to date.
Bring your own cloud (BYOC) means: the software comes as a service, the infrastructure stays in your own cloud account. With Clusterward that is your Scaleway project. You create it and store an IAM key with exactly the rights needed; with it, Clusterward provisions Kapsule clusters, databases, buckets and DNS records and takes over day-to-day operations on top. The resources are yours from the start – after a cancellation too.
Three parties, clear boundaries. Scaleway provides the data centres, the hardware and the Kubernetes control plane. Clusterward turns that into a platform that is set up, maintained and up to date. Your team decides and builds – and keeps full access at any time.
| Task | Scaleway | Clusterward | Your team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data centres and hardware | Runs them | – | – |
| Kubernetes control plane | Runs it (Kapsule) | Uses it | – |
| Setting up clusters | Provides the services | Network, gateway, nodes without public IP, API access | Picks size and region |
| Maintenance | – | Certificates, add-ons, backups, monitoring | Gets the alerts |
| Kubernetes upgrades | Ships new versions | Patches in the maintenance window, minor upgrade at a click | Confirms the minor upgrade |
| Applications and data | – | Builds, deploys, backs up | Writes the code, decides about data |
| Bill for resources | Bills you directly | Adds no mark-up | Pays Scaleway |
A project of its own in your Scaleway account, so costs and rights stay cleanly separated.
An IAM application with exactly the rights from the list; Clusterward checks them before it stores the key.
Pick region, node type and count. Clusterward creates network, gateway, cluster and node pool – nodes without a public IP.
Roll out applications and onboard customers; maintenance and upgrades run in the cockpit.
Kapsule applies patch versions automatically in a maintenance window you choose. Clusterward offers the next minor upgrade and carries it out once you confirm – the nodes included.
Clusterward installs ingress controllers, cert-manager and other components in tested versions and tells you when an update is ready.
cert-manager renews Let’s Encrypt and wildcard certificates. A certificate that expires soon or is not ready shows up on the dashboard under “Needs you”.
Nightly bucket backups with Object Lock, database backups and volume snapshots. Bucket backups are tested with a sample every month.
Clusterward reports failing pods, sites that are down and failed deploys by e-mail or webhook, Slack and Teams included.
Create, scale and remove pools. Clusterward shows which nodes still run an older version.
Your applications, databases, buckets and volumes live in your Scaleway account. The Clusterward platform holds your workspace: configuration, encrypted credentials and the audit log, in a database of its own with a key of its own. The platform runs on Scaleway in the EU too; BitKollegen owns no hardware.
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Clusters, nodes, load balancers | Your Scaleway account |
| Databases, buckets, volumes | Your Scaleway account |
| Bucket backups | Your Scaleway account, a project and region you choose |
| Container images | Registry in your Scaleway project |
| Secrets | Scaleway Secret Manager in your project or encrypted in the workspace |
| Workspace: configuration, credentials, audit log | Clusterward platform on Scaleway in Amsterdam |
| Backups before an offboarding | Your workspace’s storage on the platform |
Clusterward works with the IAM key you create, and only for what your users trigger in the cockpit and for scheduled tasks such as backups and monitoring. From Kubernetes 1.30 it runs in the cluster as an identity of its own that reads without secrets and writes only in the namespaces it created for your environments. It fetches admin access only when needed, for add-ons for example, and only for one hour.
Which rights the IAM key needs and how the first cluster is created is shown in Getting started and Cluster provisioning.
How Kubernetes upgrades, node pools and add-ons work is covered in Cluster updates. What Clusterward costs and what Scaleway bills is listed under Pricing.
Kapsule clusters in your project, secure by default.
Go to provisioningKubernetes upgrades, node pools and add-ons in one place.
Go to cluster updatesWhere your data lives and how you switch providers.
Go to sovereigntyYour question isn’t here? Write to us – we usually reply the same working day.
Ask a questionUsing a Scaleway project, we show what gets created and how maintenance and upgrades work – and estimate the Scaleway costs of your setup with you.
