Rackspace Launches OpenStack Cloud Servers

Customers can choose between private, public, or hybrid offerings. Cloud apps can be deployed in a Rackspace data center or another data center of their choice, the company said.

According to Rackspace, the OpenStack environment provides improved API performance with a 25x acceleration for server create requests as well as scalability that is limited to a base level of 20x servers per day, but can be adjusted depending on the individual account. The company noted that it can launch as many as 200 cloud servers within 20 minutes. Rackspace also promises 3x faster database performance than Amazon RDS.

“Rackspace is disrupting the current model of how IT is consumed,” said Lanham Napier, CEO of Rackspace. “We have delivered on our promise to implement OpenStack in our cloud offerings, and to free customers from the vendor lock-in that they face at other major cloud providers."

Customers can sign up for a public cloud account free of charge. Managed accounts are offered for a fee of $100 per month.

Wolfgang Gruener is a contributor to Tom's IT Pro. He is currently principal analyst at Ndicio Research, a market analysis firm that focuses on cloud computing and disruptive technologies, and maintains the conceivablytech.com blog. An 18-year veteran in IT journalism and market research, he previously published TG Daily and was managing editor of Tom's Hardware news, which he grew from a link collection in the early 2000s into one of the most comprehensive and trusted technology news sources.

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