Category Archives: Open Source

Open Source, OpenStack, Rackspace, Rackspace Private Cloud, Standards

Rackspace Launches OpenStack-based Private Cloud Software

Today, Rackspace Hosting announced the release of Rackspace Private Cloud Software, powered by OpenStack – making it simple and easy for companies to install, test and run a multi-node OpenStack based private cloud environment. The software, code named “Alamo,” uses the same OpenStack compute platform, Nova, used to run Rackspace clouds and is available as a free download from the Rackspace website. This software is based upon Rackspace’s experience in deploying and operating OpenStack-based public and private clouds in a variety of environments including in Rackspace’s own datacenters as well as in external datacenters. The Rackspace Private Cloud is backed by an optional support offering.

The Rackspace Private Cloud Software combines the capabilities of public cloud with the customization, reliability and control advantages of a dedicated environment. Customers now have a simple way to install an OpenStack-based private cloud in their own datacenter, at Rackspace, or in a colocation facility.

“We believe that the majority of our customers and cloud users will be running hybrid cloud environments for a long time,” said Jim Curry, general manager of Private Cloud business at Rackspace. “Today’s announcement allows businesses to utilize their existing investment in their own datacenter resources to run an open cloud solution for additional control and customization and also take advantage of Rackspace’s datacenter options.”

Key Benefits of Rackspace Private Cloud, Powered by OpenStack include:

  • Deploy in minutes – To download, customers can go to www.rackspace.com/cloud/private
    and run a simple installer to deploy OpenStack components and
    configuration for private clouds.
  • Integrated and tested configuration – Based on customer
    feedback, Rackspace selected a proven configuration, which initially
    includes Ubuntu 12.04 LTS host operating system and KVM hypervisor. It
    is 100% open source OpenStack Essex with Compute, Image Service,
    Identity Service and Dashboard. Rackspace is working with partners
    like Red Hat and others to offer its customers choice of host
    operating systems and OpenStack distributions in the future.
  • Backed by Rackspace Fanatical Support® – Organizations running
    the software can utilize free support forums or can purchase
    Escalation Support services from Rackspace. Escalation Support
    includes 24x7x365 ticket and phone support for Rackspace Private Cloud
    powered by OpenStack from the experts at Rackspace.

“Since the founding of OpenStack, we have had requests from the marketplace and our customers for a private cloud software offering based on OpenStack that makes it easy to get up and running. We are making that solution available through Rackspace’s Private Cloud Software allowing organizations of any size to take advantage of open cloud technology that conforms 100% to the open source code base. Rackspace is making it easy for every IT decision maker, IT pro, and system administrator to install, test and run OpenStack clouds anywhere within minutes – you don’t need to be an OpenStack expert,” said Lew Moorman, president at Rackspace. “This is built, packaged and tested by the OpenStack experts at Rackspace, providing customers access to a proven configuration and to Rackspace’s expert Fanatical Support team.”

This software is the newest addition to the Rackspace Private Cloud suite along with OpenStack Training and Support services. For more information go to: www.rackspace.com/cloud/private


Amazon AWS, Amazon Web Services, Chaos Monkey, Free, Netflix, Open Source, Tools

Netflix Chaos Monkeys: “If You Love Something Set It Free”

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Netflix has released its Chaos Monkey AWS “test-by-failure” tool as open source for all to use. The tool seeks to improve the resilience if the Netflix AWS cloud by forcing failure.

“We have found that the best defense against major unexpected failures is to fail often. By frequently causing failures, we force our services to be built in a way that is more resilient. We are excited to make a long-awaited announcement today that will help others who embrace this approach.

We have written about our Simian Army in the past and we are now proud to announce that the source code for the founding member of the Simian Army, Chaos Monkey, is available to the community. Do you think your applications can handle a troop of mischievous monkeys loose in your infrastructure? Now you can find out.”


Linux, Open Source, Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Red Hat Delivers Advanced Tooling, Community Resources to Software Developers

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Red Hat, Inc. today announced it has expanded its Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Program with enhancements to its Developer Suite, including a new toolset for software developers worldwide. Through the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite, Red Hat delivers the latest, stable open source developer tool versions at an accelerated cadence than that of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Developers now have access to a robust suite of tools with synchronized availability on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShiftTM, allowing developers to deploy applications freely to either environment.

“For Linux programmers, having ready access to the latest, stable development tools is key to taking advantage of new Linux advancements,” said Jim Totton, vice president and general manager, Platform Business Unit, Red Hat, Inc. “The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Program makes it easy for developers to access industry-leading developer tools, instructional resources and an ecosystem of experts to help Linux programmers maximize productivity in building great Red Hat Enterprise Linux applications.”

Designed for many types of Linux developers, including Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), software solution providers, Systems Integrators (SIs), enterprise, and government software developers, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite enhances developer productivity and improves time to deployment by providing affordable access and updates to essential development tools. The latest, stable tooling can be used to develop applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux whether on-premise or off-premise in physical, virtual and cloud deployments, and on OpenShift, the leading open Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS).

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite includes:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux, variants, and related Add-On software for
    development use including Red Hat Enterprise Linux, High-Availability
    Add-On, Load Balancer Add-On, Resilient Storage Add-On, Scalable File
    System Add-On, High-Performance Network Add-On, Extended Update
    Support, and MRG Real Time and Smart Management Add-on.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer toolset, a collection of
    development tools to create highly scalable applications. Delivered as
    part of the Developer Suite, Red Hat plans to accelerate the release
    cadence of these tools to deliver the latest, stable open source
    developer tool versions on a separate life cycle from Red Hat
    Enterprise Linux releases.

The first version of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite includes a toolset that makes developing Linux software applications faster and easier by allowing users to compile once and deploy to multiple versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Using the developer toolset, software developers can now develop Linux applications using the latest C and C++ upstream tools. These tools include the latest GNU Compiler Collection (GCC 4.7) with support for C and C++; the latest version of the GNU Project Debugger (GDB 7.4) with improvements to aid the debugging of applications; and the GNU binutils collection of binary developer tools, version 2.22, for the creation and management of Linux applications.

“The velocity of development is as high today as it has ever been, which means that developers are putting a premium on a toolchain that is current from libraries to compiler,” said Stephen O’Grady, Principal Analyst with RedMonk. “With its expanded Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Program and toolset, Red Hat aims to provide developers with just that.”

The self-supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Suite and the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Developer Support Subscriptions are available immediately worldwide. Red Hat customers and partners can join the developer online user group on Red Hat’s award-winning customer portal to access the extensive knowledgebase and recommended practices.


Actuate, Actuate Corporation, Apache Hadoop, Big Data, Hortonwork, Hortonworks Data Platform, MapReduce, Open Source, Partnerships

Actuate, Hortonworks Collaborate to Visualize Big Data

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Actuate Corporation, the people behind BIRT and an open source Business Intelligence (BI) vendor, today announced a collaboration between Actuate BIRT and the Hortonworks Data Platform, to enable Big Data visualization. The Hortonworks Data Platform is a completely open source, tightly integrated and tested distribution of Apache Hadoop, backed by extensive customer support and training.

The ActuateOne integrated product suite—built around BIRT—uses native access Hive query to leverage MapReduce functions to extract data from Hadoop, pulling those data sets into customizable BIRT-based dashboards and scorecards for interactive visualization and analysis.

“We have dedicated significant resources to make Apache Hadoop more robust and easier to integrate, extend, deploy and use,” said John Kreisa, VP of Marketing at Hortonworks. “Our partnership with open source BI leader Actuate enables more users to cost effectively analyze vast amounts of data stored in Hadoop using open source technologies.”

“Actuate’s collaboration with Hortonworks will ease the transition from Big Data hype to Big Data usefulness,” said Nobby Akiha, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Actuate. “We believe the key to success with Big Data lies in building the right infrastructure to manage it. Teaming with Hortonworks will further our goal of helping organizations figure out how best to leverage and integrate Big Data sources to enable better decision making.”

Large organizations are increasingly turning to Apache Hadoop for the storage and management of massive amounts of data and thus need scalable ways to explore, analyze and visualize the insights stored within it. The combination of the Hortonworks Data Platform’s distributed processing of Hadoop data sources of any size, with Actuate’s scalable infrastructure and intuitive data visualization capabilities, enables organizations to more effectively operationalize Big Data for thousands of customers, partners and employees.