Comments on: If AWS is the Walmart of cloud, is OpenStack the Soviet Union?

By: Eddie

Eddie — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 01:52:28 +0000

You know what’s really nuts is that hardly anyone speaks about the possibility of AWS Master Landlord Jeff Bezos waking up on the wrong side of the bed one day and deciding he’s gonna raise the rent (heck, maybe he’ll do it with virtual inflation in the spirit of what Ben Bernanke’s trying to do with the macro economy). What are all the tenants (and the subletters such as those on Heroku) going to do when Master Blaster decides to inflate the rent?

By: seanrob

seanrob — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:41:46 +0000

I would add that there is an OpenStack API. It is there as a fundamental part of OpenStack. The parts work together through the API and partners use the API to extend and integrate. That is unique and to many, better.

By: Lloyd Dewolf

Lloyd Dewolf — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:08:27 +0000

A single vendors APIs are not a standard no matter how broadly used. They reflect too much the implementation.

We can support the Amazon APIs and still work on evolving and standardizing cloud APIs.

Unfortunately, for our customers until the market compels Amazon to collaborate, the market is dependent on a single vendor’s concepts, implementation, and business model on how we interact with cloud computing. To share this burden is one of the reasons Netflix, Etsy and many others are so motivated and successful with open-source their own grafting, adding, and abstracting the Amazon cloud implementation.

Some of the concepts of the AWS APIs do not support many broad bases of customers. For example, the concepts related to some ephemeral computer and storage models. Here we provide bridges.

By: Nick Carroway

Nick Carroway — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:11:20 +0000

But Kemp, and others within OpenStack (Rackspace, HP, etc) are clearly pushing away from the AWS APIs. How can OpenStack become a standard if it cannot even agree on what the OpenStack APIs are? How can a true ecosystem develop if there is not agreement on the fundamental APIs?

By: Lloyd Dewolf

Lloyd Dewolf — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:53:24 +0000

For clarity, OpenStack has broad support of the AWS APIs championed by Canonical (Ubuntu), my employer Piston Cloud, and many other members of the community. Our OpenStack powered products meet the needs of today’s on-premise and hybrid clouds, while collaborating on tomorrow’s standards.

By: Nick Carroway

Nick Carroway — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:44:10 +0000

Having sat through the panel the most startling thing for me was the differing worldviews.

Openstack thinks that vendors should decide on a standard and then expect the world to come to it.

Eucalyptus and Citrix are both saying the world has already decided on a standard (AWS) and as vendors it’s their job to implement that standard and make it as open as possible.

By: Jeff Putz

Jeff Putz — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:27:44 +0000

The opened/closed debate is just as silly now as it has always been. Whenever you get into issues of “lock-in” or “proprietary” anything, it ignores the fact that software projects linger and have a shelf life of too long. It’s not like businesses up and move their stuff at a moment’s notice without significant cost.