SUSE Embraces Open Source OpenStack in Private Cloud Offering

Pete Chadwick, senior product manager for cloud at SUSE Linux, explained to InternetNews that his company’s private cloud offering is based on the recent OpenStack Essex release.

In addition to the core OpenStack components, SUSE has re-packaged the software to be easier to install as well as to better leverage SUSE’s package management and installation tools. SUSE is also utilizing technology from the Dell open source Crowbar effort, which is an OpenStack installer project. Chadwich noted that SUSE developers have been working with Dell to help automate the OpenStack installation process.

“The feedback we got is that OpenStack is hard to install and set up, so we thought that Crowbar would be a good basis to start from,” Chadwick said. “But we were able to pull in some of our other installation tools like YAST and Zipper as well.”

SUSE is also using its own tools, including the SUSE Build Service, to actually build its version of the OpenStack packages. The Build Service is a SUSE technology that literally builds Linux packages.

SUSE Studio is a tool for creating Linux virtual appliances that can be leveraged as a way to build a virtual machine image capable of running on OpenStack. Chadwick noted that further levels of integration with SUSE Studio are on the SUSE OpenStack roadmap, as is integration with the SUSE Manager management platform.

Read the full story at ServerWatch:
SUSE Linux Building Commercial Open Source OpenStack Offering

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.