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EMC Sponsors Open Source Cloud Platform OpenStack

Three months after VMware became a member of open source Cloud platform OpenStack, EMC (News - Alert) has announced support for the open source Cloud effort. Besides VMware, others sponsoring the OpenStack platform include Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, IBM (News - Alert), and Red Hat.

Reports indicate that VMware is gold level member, while EMC has joined at the corporate level. Chuck Hollis, EMC’s vice president of global marketing, shared some of EMC’s perspective and motivations in a recent blog post.  

According to Hollis, “If you're going to build a Cloud, you're going to need a Cloud stack, an integrated suite of software capabilities that perform the necessary functions like provisioning, monitoring, etc.  No Cloud stack, no Cloud.”

Though VMware has been the "first and best" Cloud stack, the market demands choices. For instance, he adds, though EMC has worked closely with Microsoft to integrate compatibility of EMC products in to Microsoft’s (News - Alert) Azure Cloud and Hyper-V hypervisor, the company wants to make sure it is also in on the open source movement started by OpenStack.

"Much like Linux has matured into a serious enterprise operating environment, OpenStack is visibly on much the same trajectory. And the OpenStack Foundation is the key industry nexus point for the evolution of a growing number of different-flavored distributions and editions," he added.

Like the evolution of Linux and EMC’s involvement in that development, Hollis is expecting a similar journey with OpenStack. Consequently, EMC will invest in interfaces that are relevant to the company’s storage business. The first feature EMC will work on is Cinder, the block storage service OpenStack announced as an early-stage project.

According to Network World (News - Alert), interest in OpenStack has picked up speed in the past six months. From a handful of small companies, the membership roster has grown to include larger enterprise IT shops and IT service providers.

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