HP CloudSystem 8 Builds On OpenStack

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HP is set to advance its private and hybrid cloud efforts with an upcoming release of CloudSystem. CloudSystem 8 was announced today and is set for customer availability in early 2014.

CloudSystem was updated earlier this year to version 7.2, which provides new bursting capabilities that enable it to scale out to the public cloud. In the upcoming 8.0 release, Bill Hilf, VP of Converged Cloud Products and Services at HP, explained that the system will now include HP’s CloudOS.

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Cloud OS is an HP enhanced version of the open source OpenStack platform, including additional tools and components that HP sees as being a necessary part of a cloud environment. As part of the CloudSystem 8 release, HP is also providing two different versions.

The CloudSystem foundation version includes all the core components, while the Enterprise release will include additional management capabilities as well as a streamlined installation experience.

HP is also making sure that its private cloud efforts are integrated with its hardware portfolio, in particular with the recently announced ConvergedSystems 700 series of integrated servers.

OpenStack

HP is a leading contributor to OpenStack, but that doesn’t mean it’s taking in all the various components of OpenStack as part of the CloudSystem solution.

A key component of the recent OpenStack Havana release is the Heat Orchestration system. HP already has its own robust orchestration system, known as CloudSystem Matrix, which has been in the market for over four years and has a large customer base.

Hilf said that HP is looking at both Matrix and Heat to see how customers want to handle orchestration. He noted that some customers will prefer to stick with Matrix while some will fully embrace Heat and some might choose a mix of the two. Overall, Hilf stressed that HP will continue to evaluate OpenStack technologies like Heat as they mature and as customer need and demand warrants.

HP Flexible Capacity (FC)

In addition to CloudSystem, HP is also ramping up its Flexible Capacity Service (FCS) offering, which expands the benefits of cloud computing beyond just software to include hardware.

“Essentially we’re providing our customers with capacity on premise in a pure OPEX model, that is pay-as-you-go,” Steve Dietch, VP Worldwide Cloud at HP Enterprise Group, told Datamation. “It’s an internal bursting capacity that is delivered via our technology services organization which actually managed the buffer on premise.”

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

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