OpenStack Diablo to power global clouds

OpenStack, the open source cloud operating system, released Diablo, the fourth version of its community-driven software.

OpenStack Diablo allows users to automate and control pools of compute, storage and networking resources across a global footprint and multiple datacenters with increased scale, performance and networking capabilities.

Diablo adds new features in the three key areas of computing, image service and storage. The latest OpenStack release delivered user-requested features required for enterprise private cloud implementations and global service providers, including networking features, scale and overall usability improvements, taking advantage of OpenStack’s pluggable architecture.

OpenStack Compute – New capabilities include a distributed scheduler allowing for virtual machines to be deployed globally, a high-availability networking mode to prevent downtime if a primary server fails and support for a new authentication system, OpenStack Identity Management.

OpenStack Object Storage – New multi-cluster container sync allows a user to choose on a container by container basis which data to replicate in order to a separate cluster located in multiple geographical locations.

OpenStack Image Service – Updates to the Image Service include new filtering and searching capabilities through the API, a highly requested feature by service providers who support a large number of customers globally.

Two new projects were incubated with the Diablo release, including a user interface (OpenStack Dashboard) to manage OpenStack services and a unified identity management system (OpenStack Identity) that makes the cloud work with existing authentication systems.

Both projects were introduced in Diablo and promoted to “core’ for the forthcoming Essex version, while a new networking project Quantum, led by Cisco, Citrix, Midokura, Nicira and Rackspace, is expected to be incubated during the Essex release cycle.