As new forms of virtualization, including Docker containers, gain in popularity, there is a reoccurring discussion in technology circles about the continued relevance of the private cloud. There are multiple tools and techniques to manage virtualization, including both hypervisors and containers, yet there is still a place and a need for the private cloud, and in particular OpenStack, according to Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the lead commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux.
In a video interview with eWEEK, Shuttleworth explains why the private cloud makes sense from a management perspective and still is a meaningful technology. “Virtualization on its own is not enough because it still requires you to make lots of non-essential decisions, like where should you put a virtual guest,” he said.
Ubuntu is one of the leading platforms for OpenStack deployment, which is used for both public and private clouds. Shuttleworth explained that what OpenStack provides is a pool of resources that can easily be expanded and will define where virtual guests can run. With OpenStack as cloud infrastructure technology, Shuttleworth said that virtualization technologies don’t need to worry about what’s running where in the pool, as that’s all automated.
From a workload orchestration perspective, there are other tools including Kubernetes for containers as well as Ubuntu’s own Juju orchestration technology that can be used to manage virtual guests. Shuttleworth commented that, from a very simplistic viewpoint, OpenStack is a really great way to keep track of a bunch of virtual machines.
“At the end of the day, if you have 50 machines, to take the next step with those machines, it all needs to be getting more efficient and that means it needs to be getting cheaper,” Shuttleworth said.
Cost can come in the form of administrative and organizational efficiency, which is an area where OpenStack can help play a role, Shuttleworth said.
Watch the full video interview with Mark Shuttleworth below:
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.