OpenStack Released Today

OpenStack (see previous CloudAve coverage), the open source cloud computing stack supported by Rackspace, NASA and many other companies, unwrapped their first version, codenamed Austin release, today. This marks a crucial milestone of a project that has the potential to change the cloud computing market upside down. Ever since they announced the project during OSCON few months back, there was active development with contributions from a community of enthusiastic contributors. The hard work by these contributors has resulted in the “Austin” code release of OpenStack Compute and Open Storage.

Significance of this release

The code for OpenStack Object Storage came from Rackspace’s Cloud files. The preview version of the code was made available in July and the current version has more than a dozen bug fixes and newer features like a statistics processor, enhanced access control and user defined meta data. Today’s release is a complete polished version which is much easier to install and deployed seamlessly.

This is the first ever release of code that runs under OpenStack Compute and even though it is reasonably stable, it is still not 100% ready for production level use. However, it is ready for testing and prototyping, and users are encouraged to participate in the open development process by installing the code and providing feedback. The goal with this release is to let out the code in the wild so that it can be used to create an easier adoption path for

Service providers building public cloud offerings
Enterprises and government agencies deploying private clouds
Ecosystem of cloud technology providers integrating with OpenStack including some who had already committed themselves to the project

Some of the interesting tidbits coming out of the project are

Hundreds of developers already contributing to the project
35+ companies and other organizations supporting the project
The next release is codenamed “Bexar” and currently scheduled to be released in January
Citrix will use OpenStack technology as an integral part of their Citrix OpenCloud Platform

If you are interested in involving yourself or your organization in the OpenStack project, I strongly urge you to attend the next OpenStack Design Summit to be held on 9-12 Nov., 2010 at San Antanio, TX.

Conclusion

Well, this is an exciting milestone for OpenStack. Being an unabashed supporter of OpenStack because of its open source roots, I am pretty excited as well. The code is shaping up pretty well with higher levels of participation from the community. We just have to see how well it is adopted by service providers, enterprises and government organizations. The next 1-2 years is crucial in this regard. If it does take off as I expect, we will have a future with an open federated cloud ecosystem.