With Its Big Backers, OpenStack May Have Won the Open Source Cloud Crown

Back in April, when Citrix made its decision to cut its support for the open source OpenStack cloud computing platform and move full steam ahead with the next phase of its CloudStack strategy, stories appeared everywhere about how close the open source cloud computing race is. OpenStack, CloudStack and Eucalyptus Systems were described as being in a very tight three-horse race.

Since then, though, the might of OpenStack's very big backers has become more and more apparent. Announcements from Red Hat, Rackspace and Canonical in just the past few days show OpenStack to be emerging as the clear leader in open cloud platforms.

OpenStack, of course, has numerous powerful companies backing it, many of which are part of the OpenStack Foundation. Just last week, Rackspace, which has begun calling itself "the open cloud company," announced the release of Rackspace Private Cloud software, built on OpenStack and designed for companies that want to install, test and run a multi-node OpenStack-based private cloud environment. 

That news, of course, immediately followed Red Hat's announcement of its upcoming OpenStack-based cloud platform, already available in a preview edition. And now, as it releases a significant update to Ubuntu 12.04, Canonical is also doubling down on its OpenStack focus. 

As it releases Ubuntu 12.04.1, Canonical is launching Ubuntu Cloud Archive, an OpenStack software archive. At the site, you can download the newest versions of OpenStack for use with your version of Ubuntu. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols notes:

"As part of this, Ubuntu users will be able to download Folsom, the forthcoming release of OpenStack, and run it within their existing installation of Ubuntu. Folsom is currently set to be released on September 27th."

As we consider what all of this means for OpenStack, let's not forget that HP is placing a big bet on it as well. Companies that already have well established platforms in businesses and organizations of all sizes are betting on OpenStack, and it is creating serious momentum. Canonical's moves with Ubuntu cap a notable single week in which OpenStack gained even more credibility.