Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Networking
    • Virtualization

    Sun Microsystems’ Open Cloud Platform Is a Challenge to Microsoft, Google

    By
    Nicholas Kolakowski
    -
    March 18, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      NEW YORK-Sun Microsystems used the March 18 opening of the CommunityOne open developer conference to announce its upcoming Sun Open Cloud Platform, a set of core technologies, APIs and protocols that the company intends to proliferate throughout private and public clouds in the coming years.

      In addition, Sun also announced the Sun Cloud, its first public cloud, intended for use by the enterprise, students, developers and others. It is already being used by Sun internally.

      While Sun planned to make some noise this week with its cloud computing offering, the announcement has been overwhelmed by reports that IBM has begun negotiating to buy Sun for nearly $7 billion. What impact that will have on Sun’s future cloud strategy is hard to tell at this point.
      eWEEK previewed the Sun cloud strategy back in December. Click here to read that story.
      The move will position Sun in a competitive environment with Microsoft, Google, Amazon and other companies that have been busily moving into the cloud-computing space. Microsoft Windows Azure, an enterprise-capable cloud platform that experienced a 22-hour outage over the weekend, will be generally available by November.

      Sun executives see an extremely cloud-filled future.

      “In Sun’s view, we think there’s going to be many clouds: There’s going to be public and private clouds, clouds set up for different applications, clouds behind firewalls, and clouds done geographically for political and legal reasons,” David Douglas, senior vice president of cloud computing and developer platforms for Sun, said during the opening keynote address.

      Sun, he added, was positioned to potentially play a substantial role in this future.

      “We have a lot of pieces that allow this to happen: products and technologies such as VirtualBox and Sun xVM,” Douglas added.

      Virtual Data Center in the Cloud

      In Sun’s vision, the cloud platform rests on a few major pillars: Compute Service (which includes virtual machines, networking and storage), the Virtual Data Center, Open API, and Storage Service (including volumes, objects, protocols, and the like).

      With these tools in place, developers can create a virtual data center in the cloud, and then place their own virtual machines within it.

      “We think everyone on the planet deserves to have their own virtual data center in the cloud,” Lew Tucker, CTO of the Sun Cloud Group, said during the keynote.

      Tucker then demonstrated the functionality of the Sun Cloud, running live from a data center in Las Vegas. Taking the role of a developer, Tucker opened a dashboard-style screen on his laptop.

      “What a developer gets when they have an account with the Sun Cloud is their own virtual data center,” said Tucker. “It starts with a connection to public Internet and a switch.”

      A tool bar on the left side of the screen held a number of components, represented by icons, which Tucker then dragged onto his “palette.”

      Tucker then connected a server (one of those dragged components) to the public Internet, picked up an IP address, and then connected server to switch, all by drawing lines between the icons.

      He then went on to load other servers into his new data center.

      “One thing that’s important is scalability,” Tucker added. “Conceptually, how I can bring components in, and manage them holistically, and then replicate the distributed architecture.”

      The Sun Cloud displayed other functionality, much of it now integrated with existing Sun applications. For example, Sun OpenOffice will offer the ability, via the “File” menu, to “Save To Cloud” and “Open From Cloud.”

      Sun CTO Greg Papadopoulos previously voiced the opinion that the global recession will drive enterprises to give a more thorough look at cloud computing and virtualization as a solution to their efficiency needs. The economic doldrums, he suggested, would speed cloud computing’s rate of adoption within the enterprise.

      Economic driver or no, cloud computing itself is positioned to become a major competitive arena for Sun, Microsoft, Google and other companies over the next few years.

      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×