Red Hat launched an enterprise Linux-based OpenStack platform today that provides a way to build out cloud services from either inside the data center or from a services provider.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux will integrate a vanilla version of OpenStack to create the new Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform. It will mean that Red Hat applications can run in an IaaS platform and provide support for web and mobile oriented applications that are more cloud aware. It will serve as the main platform for Red Hat’s cloud strategy.
The news is significant as it positions Red Hat as a clear leader for building out OpenStack clouds. The company is also using OpenStack to offer an alternative to the virtualized environments long dominated by VMware.
Red Hat has made a significant push in OpenStack over the last year. It is now the number one contributor to the open cloud effort. It will buttress its OpenStack cloud with a network of certified partners. It has also made investments in Mirantis, which will provide a services component to Red Hat OpenStack build outs.
The combination of Red Hat’s servers with OpenStack is intended to give developers more ability to differentiate the services they run while leaving Red Hat with the responsibility of maintaining Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server and the OpenStack code.
With the news, Red Hat is also making a big push into the data center, VMware’s place of power in the enterprise. The new offering integrates the open-source KVM virtualization platform with Red Hat Linux. It will also include Red Hat CloudForms, a hybrid platform that will give customers a way to gain visibility and control over their virtual infrastructures. According to the company, it will let users deploy, monitor, and manage cloud services across Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, VMware vSphere, and other virtualization solutions, hypervisors, and platforms.
The enterprise has that sucking sound about it. You can almost hear the enterprise moving to the cloud. With that shift means a different power structure. Red Hat’s news today shows it has the technology and is positioned to be one of the winners in the battles ahead.