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AXS Pte Ltd, one of Singapore’s established digital payment service providers, has modernized its infrastructure using Proxmox Virtual Environment. This transition was designed to increase operational agility, bolster security, and establish a scalable foundation for future growth.
AXS did not modernize because of system failure; their existing systems were running reliable. Instead, rising demand, faster service delivery cycles, and long-term platform evolution required an infrastructure foundation that could grow smoothly, without adding unnecessary operational burden. In the payment industry, reliability and security are baseline requirements, not “nice to have”. Working closely with Proxmox partner ReadySpace, AXS transitioned from a traditional dedicated-server approach to a sophisticated virtualized platform. The primary goal was to shorten provisioning cycles, improve resource utilization, and add resiliency through clustering and built-in High Availability (HA).
Challenges: speed, efficiency, and security at scale
Before the modernization, AXS primarily relied on dedicated hardware. While stable, this model became increasingly restrictive as the organization needed to provision services faster and operate them more efficiently. Provisioning and maintenance were more manual, scaling services introduced additional complexity, and unused capacity on individual servers could not be easily reallocated across workloads. At the same time, AXS required enterprise-grade security and strict operational consistency to maintain its market position.
AXS selected Proxmox Virtual Environment because it combines centralized management for virtual machines and containers with proven clustering and HA capabilities suitable for production environments. The platform’s open-source foundation combined with its enterprise-ready feature set also aligned well with AXS’ long-term vision of providing a flexible base that can evolve toward a private-cloud-inspired model over time.
Engineering a hardened production cluster
Together with ReadySpace, AXS designed and implemented a hardened Proxmox VE cluster and treated security as a first-class requirement from day one. The environment was hardened according to CIS Benchmark recommendations (Levels 1 & 2), ensuring consistent configuration standards and reducing attack surface.
Resiliency was addressed through a cluster design that supports HA and enables maintenance workflows with reduced downtime risk. Networking was validated and customized to match AXS’ requirements, with a focus on redundancy and reliability. On the storage side, AXS utilizes Ceph to provide high availability. For example, without requiring dedicated switching between storage nodes, making HA architectures achievable while keeping operational complexity under control.
Results: rapid delivery and operational readiness
By implementing Proxmox VE, AXS has transformed its operational capabilities:
- Accelerated Provisioning: Deployment of new environments now takes minutes, a massive improvement over the previous hardware-bound model.
- Enhanced Utilization: Significantly higher CPU and memory density across all workloads.
- Strengthened Resiliency: Native HA and clustering have fortified production up-time.
- Superior Security Posture: CIS-aligned hardening ensures the platform meets stringent governance and compliance expectations.
“In payments, a stable and secure infrastructure is essential. With Proxmox VE, we can build and evolve our platform with greater agility, while maintaining the operational standards our environment requires,” Koh Tze Wei, Group CTO at AXS.
A private cloud foundation for future growth
AXS views Proxmox Virtual Environment as the cornerstone of its ongoing private cloud strategy. The roadmap ahead focuses on scaling capacity for new workloads, increasing automation to enhance operational efficiency, and further strengthening resilience and security. In practice, this involves expanding the cluster to support additional services, refining workflows to move toward a more self-service infrastructure model, and continuing hardening and validation as the environment evolves. This long-term approach is built on a clear conviction: infrastructure is not just a technical layer, it is a strategic business enabler.
Koh Tze Wei
Group CTO at AXS
About AXS Pte Ltd
AXS Pte Ltd is a payment solutions provider in Singapore. Founded in 2000, the company supports secure digital payments across multiple channels for consumers and businesses.
About ReadySpace
ReadySpace is a Proxmox partner supporting organizations across Asia with infrastructure modernization projects. The team works with customers on architecture design, implementation, and operational best practices to help ensure virtualization platforms are secure, resilient, and ready for production. Learn more: https://readyspace.com/