OpenStack has been making inroads around the world, with interest ramping up in emerging markets such as India and China. On a technical level, new features in the recent Havana release have given developers a wider range of options for creating high-performing cloud storage solutions that meet custom requirements.
Reporting for CRN, Sonal Desai explained that OpenStack is working with its partners to educate enterprises in India about the primary benefits of open source cloud software. More specifically, it has been emphasizing the fast response times and flexibility that OpenStack facilitates.
OpenStack COO Mark Collier has pointed to the platform's usefulness for a variety of cloud-related projects. For example, enterprises can use OpenStack tools to port software-as-a-service applications or work with big data business analytics data via Hadoop. Other OpenStack-based solutions make it easier to manage databases and virtual desktop infrastructure projects, creating technical and financial value for companies.
Businesses and developers already have many options to choose from, and the new Havana release brings some key new functionalities to the table.
"We have introduced 400 features on OpenStack and recently added the orchestration and metering features – the two most important aspects for resource allocation and to use data points to drive orchestration and automation," stated Collier.
Havana contains the Ceilometer metering system and the Heat orchestration capability. According to ServerWatch's Sean Michael Kerner, a host of new features is already in the pipeline for the next release, codenamed Icehouse.
Upcoming features could include the database-as-a-service project Trove and the Marconi messaging system, which is designed to support web-scale queuing services. Other possibilities include Hadoop-as-a-service implementations.
Further down the road, OpenStack may come to encompass platform-as-a-service via Project Solem. The high level of activity in the OpenStack community points to ongoing innovation that will give enterprises many new options for building cloud infrastructure.
