You heard it on The VAR Guy first – OpenStack, the open source cloud computing platform initially pushed by RackSpace and NASA, is getting support for Microsoft Hyper-V thanks to integration efforts by Cloud.com. I had the chance to talk to Cloud.com CMO Peder Ulander about the integration. Here’s the scoop.
OpenStack itself is a platform designed to use open source software on standard hardware, turning any server or modular datacenter into a cloud platform, using virtualization to create and manage swarms of virtual machines.
Ulander says that the major value of adding Microsoft Hyper-V is to make it easier and more attractive for Microsoft customers and partners who are already familiar with Microsoft Server 2008 R2 to move to the open platform. OpenStack already supported Linux environments with the KVM, Xen, and VMware hypervisors, but adding Windows to the mix is an undeniable value-add.
So how did Cloud.com end up handling integration and support for Microsoft’s Hyper-V? Ulander says a potential Cloud.com customer actually facilitated that conversation by coming to the company looking for Hyper-V support in their CloudStack platform.
And now Cloud.com and OpenStack are both in a better place to serve customers burned out on closed, proprietary clouds – and Microsoft makes a rare contribution to the open source world, which is notable in itself.
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Great news. Finally.
Well, this is sort of interesting news. Microsoft typically has to be “dragged” into these situations where they might actually contribute something to the open source movement. This is not too dissimilar to their contribution of Linux driver support for Hyper-V. Of course, Microsoft had to be put on notice that unless they maintained their 20K lines of contributed code it would be removed.
When it comes to cloud computing Microsoft is going to have to play along to get along. The company is not going to be able to intimidate competitors by threatening to ‘cut-off their air supply” like they did in the good old days.
This notion of layering some “cloud management” software on top of a “swarm” of virtualized servers in the enterprise data center that magically turns them into a cloud bothers my sensibilities about the nature of cloud computing. Novell is promoting the same “cloud-like” capability with the release of Novell Cloud Manager, which is targeted at the “swarm” of said virtualized servers in the enterprise data center.
Personally, I think this approach is stretching the definition of cloud computing but it will undoubtedly help to bring some measure of life-cycle manageability and user self-service to virtualized data centers. Over time though I think the virtualized enterprise data center is an endangered species because they will become economically unsustainable in a declining economy. The “opex” vs. “capex” argument will win out in favor of large cloud data centers operated by the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, Microsoft, Google, HP, IBM and others.
So, wow, a new open source platform that supports Windows Server 2008 R2. I guess these two companies are not just developers of cloud and VMs but of platforms integration as well.
I see this as a great window of opportunity for both the linux world and the cloud world and the racks server services world. Redhat and API of course, too. Mabye NASA will start to create software for the new ae64-btype computers and they can use the open source platforms for the OS and the cloud and the VMs online.
This could mean `not just opportunity , but a new frontier in computerized space exploration as we know it’– Rackspace is known for their long-term stability of both online and offline large storage and RAM solutions for hosting all sorts of basic-integrated services such as: Application Hosting, Saas, Private Clouds, vpn, RAC/RAS (ipsec), and Canonical Hosting Services. These service say one thing to me, when it comes to the National Aeronautics and Space Assoc. ” Enterprise, Elite, and Public Level forms of interactivity… For people of all age groups… Plus, more serious research programs for those who qualify for the more under-wraps types of research projects.
Then there’s the open cloud project, which is truly pure and essentially vital for online virtual and open source management. This just screams ` Insider research studies, surveyors and followers and contributors of the current topics. Plus, a public realm that conveys all of the accomplishments of each member and their overall status in the Ladder of NASA Open Portal Success.
These ideas could take off sooner then you may think. In fact, I am going to test this program to see how it interacts with my VMs at home. This is just the beginning of providing the open realms of NASA with more of a network and moer connectivity.
Tim@1: The VAR Guy appreciates your deeper insights on Linux driver support history, etc.
chrisRobert@2: Thanks for reading. Please let The VAR Guy know how your testing goes.
-TVG