Rackspace launches new OpenStack solution for critical workloads

Rackspace Technology has announced the launch of Rackspace OpenStack Enterprise, a new cloud solution aimed at ensuring security, efficiency, and scalability for critical workloads.

This development marks a reaffirmation of Rackspace’s commitment to OpenStack, a platform it co-developed with NASA in 2010.

The new offering aims to provide businesses with cost-effective and flexible cloud alternatives. In a statement, Josh Villarreal, General Manager of OpenStack and Kubernetes at Rackspace Technology, said, “Enterprises are seeking cost-effective, flexible cloud alternatives that provide a high degree of control, aligned with open-source principles and community-driven innovation. Our re-dedication to OpenStack tackles long-standing platform challenges by simplifying complexity and delivering a range of fully managed services that enhance accessibility."

Rackspace has enhanced its product roadmap for OpenStack over the past year, featuring frequent updates and significant contributions to the OpenStack community. These updates are part of Rackspace’s One OpenStack Strategy, which focuses on using a single technology stream to ensure seamless integration across its products.

Rackspace’s long-standing relationship with OpenStack is noteworthy. Since the platform's creation, Rackspace has contributed more than 5.6 million lines of code and is considered one of the largest OpenStack cloud providers globally. The company boasts over one billion server-hours of experience in operating production-ready OpenStack clouds and employs more than 150 OpenStack experts alongside over 50 Kubernetes administrators.

The OpenStack platform caters to a variety of customer needs, particularly in areas requiring heightened security and compliance. With data locality and sovereignty options, the platform is designed to lower the overall cost of cloud infrastructure. It also facilitates application and data centre modernisation, allowing customers to migrate applications to the cloud with minimal changes.

Kevin Carter, Product Director at Rackspace Technology, highlighted the challenges enterprises face with traditional cloud solutions. "As cloud infrastructure options have evolved, traditional solutions can tether enterprises with high costs and limited flexibility, limiting innovation. We are empowering customers with industry-leading, enterprise-grade, open-source solutions that simplify infrastructure management and enable them to own their destiny, stay in control, and modernise with the latest technological advances,” Carter explained.

Rackspace has also teamed up with the scientific division of the American Chemical Society, CAS, to modernise its OpenStack Private Cloud. This partnership aims to enhance CAS's scientific knowledge management capabilities. Luke Chandler, Senior Director of Cloud Platforms and Solutions at CAS, said, “We partnered with Rackspace as our managed service provider to raise the bar for our private cloud on OpenStack — including everything from resiliency and reliability to service robustness. Rackspace played a crucial role in enabling CAS to implement a robust private cloud infrastructure that will empower people, companies, institutions, and academics to develop innovations faster and deliver scientific discoveries that save people’s lives.”

This move by Rackspace reflects their ongoing dedication to providing open-source cloud solutions, ensuring their clients can handle critical workloads with high efficiency and security.