AMD teams with Canonical for easier Openstack deployment

Includes a set of tools to build more flexible and reliable private clouds

By Lee Bell

Wed Sep 17 2014, 14:24

AMD HAS JOINED FORCES with Ubuntu Linux vendor Canonical to make it easier for users to deploy an Openstack private cloud.

The partnership comprises of the Seamicro SM15000 server, the Ubuntu LTS 14.04 Linux distribution and Openstack, which includes a set of tools to build more flexible and reliable private clouds.

"The AMD and Canonical collaboration overcomes the complexity of deploying OpenStack technology and provides an out of the box experience making it possible to deploy a private cloud in hours compared to days," AMD said.

"The joint solution automates complex configuration tasks, simplifies management, and provides a graphical user interface to dynamically deploy new services on demand."

AMD said that a large amount of engineering resources have gone into the project to provide an integrated set of products that mitigate the complexity of an Openstack technology deployment.

"The SM15000 server, Ubuntu LTS 14.04 and Openstack is an amazing solution filling a need in the industry for an Openstack solution that can be deployed easily without spending a fortune on professional services or hiring teams of people," the firm added.

The Seamicro SM15000 server, Ubuntu LTS 14.04 and Openstack combination is touted as one the most scalable configurations in the industry, due to its benchmark record for hyperscale cloud computing. The record of 168,000 virtualmachines was achieved using Metal as a Service (MAAS) and Juju, both part of Ubuntu LTS 14.04 and Openstack. MAAS was used to deliver the bare metal servers, storage and networking, and Juju was used for deployment.

The solution is available today, the firms announced jointly, boasting it is "the most scalable, automated application for deploying Ubuntu LTS 14.04 and Openstack in hyperscale environments".

Today AMD also announced another partnership, with RealVNC to bring remote access software to devices running AMD Firepro professional graphics cards.

The venture is said to "get an experience similar to using a local desktop" and will integrate the software with AMD's Firepro line of professional graphics cards so users can "work at whole new levels of detail, speed, responsiveness and creativity, wherever they are in the world, whenever they need to".

The collaboration also allows users to edit hi-resolution photos, edit and manipulate 4k videos or render large 3D and CAD files from a laptop and, eventually, even their tablets or smartphones. µ