StackOps consists of an Ubuntu Linux-based distribution, which, paired with a Web-based Smart Installer application, speeds the process of configuring and deploying OpenStack clouds.
OpenStack
is out to be the Linux of the cloud infrastructure world-the project, founded
by NASA and Rackspace, is aimed at rounding up the various compute, storage and
networking components that make up a public or private cloud into an
open-source cloud operating system.
Just
as most people who use and deploy Linux rely on distributions to take care of
the many packaging and configuration details required to get up and running,
the OpenStack world will have its own distributions.
I've
been testing one such OpenStack distribution, called StackOps, which makes it
rather easy to get up and running with a single-node OpenStack implementation,
suitable for early testing and for familiarizing oneself with this fast-moving
cloud computing project. StackOps consists of an Ubuntu Linux-based
distribution, which, paired with a Web-based Smart Installer application,
speeds the process of configuring and deploying OpenStack clouds.
For
my tests, I stuck mostly to single-node configurations, in which the
controller, network, storage and compute nodes that make up an OpenStack cloud
are piled onto a single machine. For uses beyond testing, the StackOps Smart
Installer also supports dual and multinode OpenStack configurations. With that
said, StackOps, and OpenStack in general, has yet to approach the level of
maturity of a typical Linux distribution.
The
components that underlie OpenStack are solid, but the integration and tools
situation reminds me of the early Xen hypervisor tests performed by eWEEK Labs
in 2005 and 2006. For now, putting OpenStack into production will require
in-house or outsourced expertise-StackOps, which charges nothing for its
distribution or its Smart Installer application, sells services around its
offering.
Moving
forward, I expect to see several different OpenStack distributions available
alongside StackOps. Ubuntu Linux Server, on which StackOps is based, is set to
ship OpenStack as its default private cloud option starting with version 11.10
this fall. At its recent Synergy conference in San Francisco, Citrix announced
an OpenStack distribution of its own, called Project Olympus. Where StackOps
turns to KVM or QEMU for delivering compute services, Project Olympus will
default to Citrix's own XenServer.
As Editor in Chief of eWEEK Labs, Jason Brooks manages the Labs team and is responsible for eWEEK's print edition. Brooks joined eWEEK in 1999, and has covered wireless networking, office productivity suites, mobile devices, Windows, virtualization, and desktops and notebooks. Jason's coverage is currently focused on Linux and Unix operating systems, open-source software and licensing, cloud computing and Software as a Service. Follow Jason on Twitter at jasonbrooks, or reach him by email at jbrooks@eweek.com.
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