Equinix Metal, formerly known as Packet.net, is discontinuing its bare-metal hosting services. This decision has created significant challenges for the Alpine Linux project, which has relied on Equinix Metal's support for the reliable and efficient operation of its infrastructure for many years.
Equinix Metal provided three data storage servers that supported the T1 mirroring infrastructure, ensuring fast and reliable downloads for Alpine Linux users worldwide. These servers utilized about 800 TB of traffic per month. Additionally, Equinix Metal supplied two servers for CI runners supporting x86_64 and x86 architectures, and one development server used by participants supporting the project.
In light of Equinix Metal's shutdown, the Alpine Linux team is seeking alternative solutions for hosting its infrastructure. Primarily, the project needs colocation space near the Netherlands to facilitate the setup and maintenance of servers. Furthermore, high-performance bare-metal servers are required to replace the current mirroring infrastructure and support CI operations.
If bare-metal servers are unavailable, virtual machines with sufficient storage, compute power, and networking capabilities could be an alternative for development and CI tasks.
In addition to hosting, the Alpine Linux project requires financial resources to sustain its operations. Users and organizations can now make financial contributions through the Open Collective platform, allowing for direct support of the infrastructure and development of the project.
If you or your organization can help with hosting resources or financial contributions, you can contact the Alpine Linux team via email infra@alpinelinux.org. Your support will help ensure the stable operation and further development of Alpine Linux, an important component of the Open Source ecosystem.
The planned shutdown date for Equinix Metal is June 2026.
Source: linux.org.ru
