Web Host Launches OpenStack-Based Public Cloud

Web host Internap announced that it will launch a public infrastructure as a service cloud, which will be built in part on the OpenStack cloud computing platform. The service will be a compliment to the company's existing cloud storage service which is in beta and will be available in June 2011.The IaaS service will be available in the third quarter.

This is a shift from the company's previous cloud efforts which were driven by VMware technology. However, the new service will provide the option to run applications on VM-ware based virtual instances to support enterprise customers with in-house VMware systems that are seeking hybrid cloud solutions. The fact that Interap is using the OpenStack cloud platform originally created by Rackspace, with some code from NASA, is a significant endorsement of the platform's merits in the managed hosting world.