What is cloud computing?

Reducing costs, accelerating processes and simplifying management are all vital to the
success of an effective IT infrastructure. Companies are increasingly turning to more
flexible IT environments to help them realise these goals. Cloud computing enables tasks
to be assigned to a combination of software and services over a network. This network of
servers is the cloud. Cloud computing can help businesses transform their existing server
infrastructures into dynamic environments, expanding and reducing server capacity
depending on their requirements.

Why cloud computing?

Adopting a cloud computing strategy can help businesses conduct their core business
activities with less hassle and greater efficiency. Companies can maximise the use of their
existing hardware to plan for and serve specific peaks in usage. Thousands of virtual
machines and applications can be managed more easily using a cloud-like environment.

Businesses can also save on power costs as they reduce the number of servers required.
And with IT staff spending less time managing and monitoring the data centre, IT teams
are well placed to further streamline their operations as staff complete more work on fewer
machines.

Canonical and cloud computing

Canonical, which provides commercial services for companies using Ubuntu, aims to
provide businesses with the tools they need to adopt a cloud computing strategy, along
with a path for migration between clouds. We are committed to helping businesses deploy,
test and experiment with cloud computing offerings both inside and outside the firewall.
That's why we are supporting a suite of cloud computing solutions to meet different
companies' requirements.

Ubuntu cloud computing solutions

Ubuntu cloud computing solutions can help businesses to experience the benefits of the
cloud in different ways. The emphasis is placed firmly on providing companies with choice
and control. Ubuntu Server Edition enables businesses to choose between Ubuntu Server
on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud
environments.

Ubuntu Server on Amazon EC2 gives businesses the power of Ubuntu combined with
the flexibility of Amazon's cloud computing service. Ubuntu's modularity, range of
applications and optimised performance make it the perfect solution for businesses
deploying applications on Amazon EC2 - a web service that provides resizable computing
in the cloud. This solution enables companies to deploy everything from web servers to
mail servers on a secure, external cloud. Furthermore, organisations can build and
manage Ubuntu Server Edition on Amazon EC2 using a wide range of popular tools such
as CohesiveFT, Landscape and RightScale.
Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud brings Amazon EC2-like infrastructure capabilities inside the
firewall. Part of the Ubuntu Server Edition product, the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud is
powered by Eucalyptus, an open source implementation for the emerging de-facto
standard of EC2. This solution is designed to simplify the process of building and
managing an internal cloud for businesses of any size, thereby enabling companies to
create their own self-service infrastructure.

Set-up
• Users can install Ubuntu Server Edition and enable partner repositories.
• Ubuntu Server Edition offers easy package deployment and configuration.
• Users can configure multiple clusters into a single cloud.

Cloud
• Interface compatibility with EC2 reduces the cost of learning a new interface when
moving from a private to a public cloud. It enables users to adopt popular
management tools for private cloud computing and to develop skills using the same
techniques that they would deploy on Amazon's popular public cloud.
• An extensive range of popular development services including an elastic block
storage (EBS)-equivalent and an S3-compatible storage manager eases integration.
• Support for elastic IP assignment enables users to assign static public IPs to any
virtual instance.
• SOAP with WS-security ensures secure internal communication.
• Support for instance control operations enables users to reboot virtual machines.
This helps users troubleshoot more effectively.
• KVM hypervisor provides users with best-of-breed virtualization technology.

Management
• Ubuntu Server Edition comes with basic 'Cloud Administrator' tools for system
management and a web-based interface for cloud configuration.
• Ubuntu Server Edition is compatible with with popular cloud management tools.
Technical Specifications
• Recommended minimum specification of a dual-core 2.2 GHz Intel processor with
VT-X, 4GB RAM and 100 GB hard drive.

Canonical makes it easy

Whether businesses choose to outsource their cloud computing activities or run them in-
house, Canonical provides a range of options to meet their needs. We also offer a full
range of professional services including assessment, consultancy, deployment and
general support.

Companies can work with Canonical's dedicated premium service managers who will
advise them on the best solutions for their specific requirements. Businesses can also
choose to receive Canonical training so that IT staff are confident and comfortable with
managing an Ubuntu-based cloud infrastructure.

Find out more

To learn more about Ubuntu Cloud Computing, please visit:
www.ubuntu.com/cloud

or contact us at http://www.canonical.com/contact/cloud

To learn more about Ubuntu, please visit:

www.ubuntu.com

To learn more about Canonical, please visit:

www.canonical.com