Dell, Equinix, Rackspace develop OpenStack cloud demo

Dell, data centre operator Equinix and cloud computing specialist Rackspace Hosting have collaborated to develop an OpenStack cloud demonstration and test environment. The demo environment will be available in three data centres: the Equinix International Business Exchanges in Silicon Valley in California and Ashburn in Virginia, and the Rackspace data centre in Chicago. The companies also plan to collaborate on additional demo environments in Equinix data centres in Europe and Asia in the second quarter. The demonstration environment allows organisations to assess applications on the open-source cloud platform, enhancing the evaluation process and the deployment of OpenStack proof of concepts (POCs). OpenStack is a collection of open-source technologies delivering cloud platforms for public and private clouds. The OpenStack demo environment integrates the OpenStack cloud operating system software, services and support from Rackspace Cloud Builders, cloud optimised Dell PowerEdge C Intel-based server technology, and Platform Equinix. Enterprises, SaaS providers and network operators looking to deploy cloud systems can demo OpenStack in the Equinix test environment as a precursor to an OpenStack POC. They can take part in demonstrations of common use-cases and pre-installed applications or run their own applications to see how they perform on the platform. If the participants choose to evaluate the OpenStack system further, they can engage Dell, Equinix and Rackspace for dedicated POC environments hosted at Equinix. Existing Equinix customers can cross-connect to the OpenStack demo environment via a range of interconnection services available within Equinix IBX data centres.