Xen.org Unveils Ultimate Cloud Development Environment with First Xen Cloud Platform Release

Xen.org, the home of the open source Xen hypervisor, today announced the availability of Xen® Cloud Platform (XCP) 1.0. Developed as part of the Xen Cloud Project introduced in 2009, XCP 1.0 provides a full-featured solution for small and medium size enterprises wanting to build private clouds, as well as open source enthusiasts, universities and researchers wanting to experiment with cloud computing. It represents a shift in enterprise usability for Xen.org, which has traditionally released software as source code only. XCP enables developers to create and “play” with new and innovative technologies and techniques against a mature, stable and scalable virtualization stack.

Facts and Highlights:

XCP is an open source server virtualization platform in a single, tested installable image that features the Xen hypervisor, network and storage support, a management stack and tools, as well as support for a range of guest operating systems including Windows® and Linux®.
As a result of the close alignment between the Xen.org and OpenStack communities, XCP 1.0 integrates seamlessly with the OpenStack Bexar release, providing an end-to-end open source software stack covering everything from the bare metal to cloud orchestration software. This integration will significantly help progress the vision of Xen.org and OpenStack to enable widespread ubiquity of virtual and cloud computing.
XCP 1.0 includes a fully featured, enterprise-class Xen API Management tool stack with features such as disaster recovery support, security, real-time performance monitoring, support for multi-host resource pools, and upgrade and patching capabilities.
XCP 1.0 provides support for virtual networking capabilities via Open vSwitch and a range of open source GUI management tools.
The Xen community will also be enabled to test features with XCP 1.0 that could offer future value to enterprise products such as Citrix XenServer® and Citrix OpenCloud.

Quotes:

Margaret Lewis, Director of Commercial Software Solutions, AMD: “2011 is set to be the year when cloud deployments become even more widespread, and tools like XCP 1.0 will prove critical in developing the mature and secure cloud services of tomorrow. AMD is committed to supporting the open-source Xen Community. The powerful combination of AMD Opteron™ processors, with high core counts and outstanding power efficiency, and the Xen Cloud Platform can enable innovative, end-to-end solutions that deliver the features, scalability and performance that cloud providers require.”
Andrew Warfield, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia: “XCP gives my students the opportunity to explore interesting new applications of virtualization – things like high-availability, next generation storage, and enhanced software development tools – all against a mature, stable, and scalable virtualization stack. It’s a fantastic resource!”
Stephen Spector, Community Manager, OpenStack “We are pleased the Xen.org and OpenStack communities are working together to advance open source cloud standards. The OpenStack mission is to build the open standard cloud operating system with broad technology contributions and industry support, and support from the Xen.org community progresses that mission.”
Dan Kakinoki, President and CEO, VA Linux Japan: “As a Xen.org advisory board member, VA Linux is excited to see XCP 1.0 and the new functionalities it offers. It provides our clients an excellent opportunity and we expect it will continue to be the largest cloud platform. VA Linux continues to deliver high-quality consulting services for the Xen-based cloud technology in Japan.”