Across the globe, cloud computing is completely changing the face of IT deployment within organizations. Apache CloudStack™ is one of the leading open-source cloud computing platforms in the world that helps you deploy a cloud service in your enterprise. Not just that, it is a highly flexible cloud orchestration platform and a turnkey cloud management platform to deploy scalable public and private cloud business (IaaS).
Apache CloudStack™ was primarily designed with an aim to deploy and manage numerous VMs (virtual machines) and the required software infrastructure for its support. Today, Apache CloudStack™ has become a top-notch suite which offers a robust management server and agents for multiple hypervisors to help you run a successful IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) cloud by pooling computing resources. It will manage computing, storage as well as networking resources.
In this post, we are going to see how you can start a public cloud business like Digital Ocean or AWS with CloudStack and Stack Console:
What is Apache CloudStack?
Apache CloudStack is an industry-leading, open-source cloud management platform that enterprises can leverage to deploy large public and private clouds (IaaS).
It offers a highly flexible, scalable and open cloud orchestration platform to deliver reliable public and private clouds.
What does Apache CloudStack Offer?
CloudStack™ is a Java-based project that hands you a ‘management server’ and agents for hypervisor hosts, which you can use to run a public cloud business.
It is a turnkey solution with an impressive stack of features enterprises can leverage to build their own IaaS cloud. It comprises compute orchestration, a fully open native API, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS), user and account management, top-class User Interface (UI) and resource accounting.
Compete with hyper-scalar like AWS, DO, Google Cloud using Apache CloudStack and Stack Console. Features and Functionalities of Apache CloudStack include:
- Offers a highly intuitive web-based UI for managing the cloud
- Works closely with hosts running Hyper-V, KVM, XenServer, VMware ESXi with vSphere
- Manages storage for instances that run on the hypervisors as well as snapshots, templates and ISO images (primary and secondary storage)
- Offers native API
- Accounting of storage, compute and network resources
- User management
- Supports multi-tenancy/ account separation
- Orchestrates network services from the L2 to application layer (L7) services like firewall, VPN, NAT, DHCP, etc.
- Focuses on solving core business issues
- Automates the delivery of services faster and helps to reduce IT operational costs
- Helps IT to standardize workloads, which in turn ensures consistency and better efficiency
- Provides deeper visibility into resource allocation
- Boosts the server/admin ratio to offer various scalable benefits
Stack Console together with Apache CloudStack will assist you in deploying a fully-featured public IaaS cloud, while it manages and orchestrates pools of compute, network and storage resources for you.
Apache CloudStack supports top-class hypervisors such as OracleVM, XenServer, KVM, LXC, BareMetal, VMware and vSphere. It supports multi-node installation, scalable architecture and load balancing which makes it highly available. Furthermore, MySQL replication and virtual networking abilities help it maintain high availability.
Apache CloudStack works with hypervisors and other hypervisor-like technologies. Single cloud may comprise multiple hypervisor implementations.
How to Sell Public Cloud like AWS or Digital Ocean?
Stack Console is a specialist in Apache CloudStack™ which is leading open-source cloud management software. Stack Console acts as a versatile platform where you can sell public cloud in various ways. It combines the power of CloudStack with the simplicity of the hypervisor hosts like KVM, Hyper-V, XenServer, etc. This turnkey combination is what guarantees reliability, constant product evolution and streamlined workflows. Stack Console is a powerful Cloud Management Portal with an extensive portfolio of cloud solutions.
The cloud and hosting have now become highly competitive in the technical industry. Enterprises are striving to gain a competitive edge by constantly innovating and offering exceptional services with solid support to customers.
Stack Console is a 100% white label solution that eliminates all vendor lock-ins and ensures you have full control over your public cloud infrastructure by closely working with open-source CloudStack. It easily manages your large public cloud infrastructure with seamless scalability and reliability. Biggest advantage of CloudStack is its active and large community support with constantly evolving products.
Apache CloudStack Installation:
Apache CloudStack installation comprises two components:
- The Management Server (CloudStack software itself to management cloud resources)
- The cloud infrastructure
Setting up and managing Apache CloudStack cloud requires you to provision resources into the Management Server such as IP addresses, hosts and storage.
In a basic deployment scenario, a single machine within a small deployment can take the role of a Management Server as well as the hypervisor host when using the KVM hypervisor. The Management Server will control cloud resources, whereas the admin will manage and interact with this server via UI or APIs.
CloudStack supports multi-tenancy and scalability which allows us to easily manage thousands of VMs and hundreds of hosts. You can make live upgrades and updates of the system without causing service interruptions for the customers. The platform offers following features:
• Highly Scalable Infrastructure Management
Stack Console with CloudStack can manage thousands of physical servers cited in geographically distributed data centers. The robust management server is able to scale near-linearly, thereby not requiring additional cluster-level management servers. Management servers can also execute upgrades or other outages without affecting the VMs in the cloud.
• Automatic Cloud Configuration Management
It will automatically configure the storage and network settings for each VM deployment. Pool of virtual instances supports internal configuration of the cloud. These instances help you with routing, firewalling, console proxy, storage replication, storage access, DHCP and VPN. Comprehensive use of horizontally scalable VMs further makes it easy to install and operate a cloud.
• Graphical UI
The platform offers an immersive admin web interface for better provisioning and managing of the public cloud. The UI can be customized to suit the branding of the service provider.
• API
It offers a REST-like API for seamless management, running and use of the cloud.
Sell Public Cloud with Stack Console
Stack Console is a well-integrated CMP (Cloud Management Portal) which closely works with Apache CloudStack to help CSPs, data center and web hosting providers, telco operators, etc. offer their very own public cloud business, speedy delivery of service and immersive CX (customer experience).
The main objective of the Stack Console CMP is to make any newly launched cloud service available to customers via a fully-featured self-service portal. On the other hand, it aims to automate back-end workflows to reduce human interventions. Clients can access all new features of Apache CloudStack, easily customize and get solid support from the strong CloudStack community.