OnApp Cloud v3.0 adds support for VMware clouds, offers integrated SAN and a global CDN with new support for video on-demand and live streaming
Cloud hosting software provider OnApp announced on Wednesday the general availability of OnApp Cloud v3.0, its cloud platform for service providers. The new version adds support for VMware clouds, offers integrated SAN and a global CDN with new support for video on-demand and live streaming.
OnApp Cloud v3.0 includes automated VM management, DNS, load balancing, autoscaling, failover, firewalls, billing, user management and other core functions aimed at helping service providers take on Amazon with its federated business model.
The case for federated cloud is that it can help even the smallest service provider compete and operate on a global scale. As OnApp CEO Ditlev Bredahl described in “Federation is the Future of Cloud” on Data Center Knowledge, “the federated cloud connects local infrastructure providers to a global marketplace that enables each participant to buy and sell capacity on demand.”
The general availability of OnApp Cloud v3.0 builds on this vision, which was further supported by its Series B funding round in January. OnApp said it would use its funding to roll out new products and services this year, and expand into new global markets. Currently, OnApp generates 40 percent of its revenue from the US market, and is also seeing strong growth in Asia Pacific and Latin American markets.
“OnApp Cloud v3.0 gives you much more than just a cloud – it gives you the tools you need to build a global cloud business,” OnApp CEO Ditlev Bredahl says. “With VMware support in v3.0, you can take your cloud brand into the huge VMware market. You can create new services like CDN, and use our network of 140-plus locations to accelerate apps, video and other content for your customers. You can offer utility cloud, packaged cloud, private and public cloud, load balancing, autoscaling, firewalls, DNS and more, all managed through a single control panel.”
Bredahl says that OnApp Storage, its enterprise-class SAN designed for cloud environments, removes the “last real entry barrier to the cloud – which has been finding a storage system that matches the performance and cost profile cloud providers need.”
“What we have found is the biggest obstacle to service providers deploying cloud is the storage area network. SANs today are expensive and generally speaking not particularly scalable for a cloud environment,” Metreweli said. “They’ve been designed for the enterprise rather than the service provider. What we’ve done is we’ve created a distributed SAN product that basically is a distributed block store.”
Now, with OnApp Storage, cloud providers can build a SAN in their cloud by adding disks to existing servers, according to Bredahl.
“You can use your current 1Gbit network environment, which is unique for a distributed SAN, and we’ve built some very smart technology that optimizes throughput, so you’re getting close to raw disk performance,” he said. “It’s fully integrated with our billing, VM provisioning and other cloud management functions, and it scales naturally as your cloud services grows – if you need more space, just add more disks.”
OnApp Storage provides control of striping and redundancy, supports multiple tiers of storage, over-commit and other key functionalities for service providers. It includes OnApp’s VM-aware technology, which apparently removes performance bottlenecks through the assurance that data lives on the same server as the application that needs it.
OnApp Cloud v3.0 is available as a free upgrade for customers with previous versions of OnApp Cloud. New customers can deploy OnApp Cloud v3.0 under OnApp’s standard monthly license.
Talk back: Are you a believer in the federated cloud model? What do you think of the updates to OnApp Cloud? Let us know in a comment.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
