Cloud Computing arrives in Ubuntu 9.10
Cloud computing is a methodology of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet or a private network. Users do not have to possess knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the infrastructure of the “cloud” and it’s technology.
The concept of cloud computing generally encompasses a combination of the following:
- IaaS (infrastructure as a service)
- SaaS (software as a service)
- Paas (platform as a service)
- Other recent technologies that provide common business applications online which are accessed via web browser (eg. Google Apps), while the software and data reside and execute on the servers.
The term cloud is used as a metaphor for the transparency of the Internet and is an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it encapsulates.
Arriving with Ubuntu 9.10, cloud computing is available out of the box. Mark Shuttleworth says this about the upcoming release:
Ubuntu aims to keep free software at the forefront of cloud computing by embracing the API’s of Amazon EC2, and making it easy for anybody to setup their own cloud using entirely open tools. We’re currently in beta with official Ubuntu base AMI’s for use on Amazon EC2. During the Karmic cycle we want to make it easy to deploy applications into the cloud, with ready-to-run appliances or by quickly assembling a custom image. Ubuntu-vmbuilder makes it easy to create a custom AMI today, but a portfolio of standard image profiles will allow easier collaboration between people doing similar things on EC2. Wouldn’t it be apt for Ubuntu to make the Amazon jungle as easy to navigate as, say, APT?
