IIJ GIO review
A focused VMware private cloud for migration, dedicated resources, and disaster recovery.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
IIJ GIO Infrastructure P2 Gen.2 is a hosted private cloud and IaaS service from Internet Initiative Japan Inc. It is designed for organizations moving on-premises business systems to a Japanese cloud environment while retaining VMware-based architecture and operating practices. The service combines flexible virtual machines, dedicated resources, block storage, private networking, firewalls, load balancing, backups, disaster recovery replication, and operating-system libraries. It is a strong fit for infrastructure teams that need more control than a general-purpose public cloud model typically provides.
The published plans separate compute and storage. The Flexible server resource pool uses usage-based billing for VMware virtual machines, with resource units starting at 1 vCPU and 4 GB of RAM. A one-year contract option offers an approximately 15% discount. Block storage is available through Basic and Standard pools, each using a 10 GB allocation unit. The starting price is ¥5,000, and pricing is published in Japanese yen before tax. There is no free plan, so IIJ GIO is aimed at paid business deployments rather than experimentation or small, low-commitment workloads.
Its strongest case is infrastructure continuity. VMware vSphere ESXi, private networking with DNS, DHCP, and NTP, encrypted block storage, agentless incremental backups, and replication for disaster recovery support established operational patterns. Integration points include IIJ network services, Microsoft Azure, file servers, Active Directory, and databases, while a private OS library supports templates and ISO images. Optional migration support further suits teams moving existing systems. Choose IIJ GIO for VMware-centered private cloud hosting and migration; consider another option if broad regional coverage, a free tier, or a simpler entry-level cloud experience matters more.
IIJ GIO pros and cons
- Where it wins
- VMware-based private cloud with dedicated server resources
- Encrypted storage, private networking, backups, and replication
- Migration support for on-premises environments
- Where it doesn't
- Starting price is ¥5,000 before tax
- Availability is limited to two regions
- Best suited to VMware-oriented infrastructure requirements
IIJ GIO fact sheet, pricing and score →
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