SUSE Linux Lands on VMware Hybrid Cloud

VMware and Linux vendor SUSE Linux have extended their partnership to the hybrid cloud. SUSE Linux announced Aug. 27 that its Linux distribution is available on the newly launched VMware vCloud Hybrid Service that just became generally available Aug. 26.

“SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will be available in the VMware vCloud Hybrid Service catalog and sold as monthly instances initially, metered by VMware,” Frank Rego, business development manager for SUSE, told eWEEK. “Availability is Q4 of this year.”

The VMware vCloud Hybrid Service, which was first announced by VMware back in May, provides two key solutions: the vCloud Hybrid Service Dedicated Cloud, which is physically isolated, and the Virtual Cloud, which is logically isolated.

VMware and SUSE Linux are not strangers and have had varying degrees of partnership for years. In 2010, Novell and VMware partnered around the deployment of SUSE Linux as the default Linux offered on VMware vSphere appliances. SUSE Linux was spun out of Novell as a separate business unit after Novell was acquired by Attachmate for $2.2 billion in 2011.

VMware Deployment

Rego explained that from a SUSE Linux perspective, the company did not have to do anything new or different in order to enable SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on the VMware Hybrid Cloud. From a customer deployment perspective, enterprises purchase a new SUSE Linux Enterprise Server instance in the vCloud Hybrid Service and then use VMware tools to manage in their data center and cloud.

For customers that already have a running SUSE Linux software subscription, initially at least they can’t move that same subscription to the cloud.

“SUSE and VMware are discussing subscription mobility options, so stay tuned,” Rego said. “To run on-premises and in cloud at the same time requires two subscriptions.”

SUSE also has a technology known as SUSE Studio that enables users to easily create their own Linux-powered software appliances. While SUSE Studio can be used to build a VMware virtual machine instance, the service does not currently enable direct deployment to the vCloud Hybrid service. Rego noted, however, that VMware and SUSE are currently discussing such an option as a future possibility.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.