An image from the SoftLayer website, introducing the public Flex Images beta
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Web hosting provider SoftLayer announced on Wednesday that it has made its Flex Images offering available to all its customers in a public beta, enabling them to capture, store and replicate images of cloud or dedicated servers and deploy those images in either environment.
SoftLayer says the offering extends capabilities that are typically limited to virtual infrastructure environments (namely, the ability to easily clone server environments) into the dedicated server space, adding cross-platform compatibility and a simple migration path from dedicated to virtual environments.
The company calls Flex Images a “key differentiator,” and the product of its ongoing efforts at innovation. The results blur the line between cloud and dedicated environments, and offer customers more control and scalability in their solutions.
In a video interview shot at HostingCon 2011, SoftLayer CTO Duke Skarda talked to WHIR TV about Flex Images, one of several in-development technologies the company was showcasing at the event.
“Flex Images provide our customers with unprecedented flexibility and scalability,” says Simon West, SoftLayer’s chief marketing officer, quoted in the press release. “The ability to provision and automate server images seamlessly between cloud and dedicated computing environments empowers users to easily build out their IT environments while being able to quickly meet changing requirements. Our customers can focus on the purpose of their application and then on the right technology solution—with the freedom to move between or integrate technologies as needed.”
Information about the public beta of Flex Images is available on the SoftLayer website.
The Flex Images system also includes a library, that enables users to save, use and publish images, as well as share them with, and make use of images shared by, other users.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
No related posts.
