Open Source Offerings

Open source has become incredibly important, especially as a foundation for cloud computing. There is consistent support, for example, for Linux as the foundation for most of the cloud platforms. Therefore, open source offerings are playing an increasingly important role.

The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the nonprofit consortium dedicated to fostering the growth of Linux. Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds and is supported by leading technology companies and developers from around the world. The Linux Foundation promotes the platform and works with those vendors and customers that leverage Linux. Check out the Linux Foundation at www.linuxfoundation.org .

The Eclipse Foundation

The Eclipse Foundation is an open-source community focused on providing a vendor-neutral open development platform and application frameworks for building software. It’s a nonprofit organization and has widespread participation from developers and corporations around the globe. The Eclipse platform is written in Java and runs on most popular operating systems, including Linux, HP-UX, AIX, Solaris, QNX, Mac OS X, and Windows. Check out the Eclipse Foundation at www.eclipse.org .

Open Cloud Computing Interface

The Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI; http://occi-wg.org ) is made up of a set of open community-lead specifications delivered through the Open Grid Forum. The group is based on its development of a protocol and API for all types of management tasks.

OCCI was originally initiated to create a remote management API for IaaS-based services, allowing for the development of interoperable tools for common tasks including deployment, autonomic scaling, and monitoring. It has since evolved into a flexible API with a strong focus on integration, portability, interoperability, and innovation, while still offering a high degree of extensibility.

The current release of the Open Cloud Computing Interface is compatible with many other models in addition to IaaS, including, for example, PaaS and SaaS.

Open Cloud Manifesto

Open Cloud Manifesto is a community of more than 250 vendors intended to establish a core set of principles for cloud standards. The group has published several white papers that are worth reading. You can find them by clicking the Blogs, Wikis, and More link at www.opencloudmanifesto.org .

OpenStack

OpenStack is an open source platform originated by Rackspace and NASA for building both public and private clouds. It is supported by more than 150 companies. The organization has hundreds of different initiatives underway. Check out its website at http://openstack.org . The group also has a Wiki which can be found at http://wiki.openstack.org/.