Rackspace has released an OpenSource project that has far reaching implications and will highly accelerate the progress of Cloud Computing. Microsoft....I'm sorry honey bunch, but you better ride the Linux wave or become the next Atari. Yes, like Atari. They are still around, but at one time...they RULED gaming!!!! Now...I mean...seriously. You act like it can't happen, but anyway....time will tell you Romans of the Desktop.
Option A. is how Cloud Computing looks today with the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, GoGrid, Terremark, etc. It is essentially a bunch of tools smashed together to solve an internal or external problem. They are usually complex and their is no single API or code to base changes off of and their is nothing but vendor lock-in.
Option B. Their is a single solution API and a single place for all vendors, manufacturers, or company's to grab, download, modify and support or sell Cloud Computing Software. This initiative has had the alarm sounded through the RackSpaceCloud. OpenStack is a community of developers that seek to move away from the vendor lock-in that is harming genuine innovation.
Amazon EC2 is horrid to use until you get used to the interface. Then Amazon EC2 becomes easier. Terremark has a great UI, but an abusive amount of time to build an Cloud Server, etc...etc. Everyone is trying to build things on their own. Their is a solution.
Imagine this. NASA, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Rackspace, Amazon (Yes, they are not stupid. They WILL use OpenStack if they are smart), Terremark (them also), Google (Doesn't seem to fit their objectives, but Google Apps does need some kind of storage ability above 25GB!), Canonical (Ubuntu, Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud, and Landscape), Eucalyptus (Currently, it is just a private Cloud suite), US Government, UK Government, African Governments, Brazil, Germany, China, Russia, all using OpenStack to build their clouds. Talk about a revolution...whew! Innovation will go through the roof.
2011 is shaping up to be a VERY interesting year for IT, Healthcare IT, and Cloud Computing.
~MK






