451 CAOS Theory 
A blog for the enterprise open source community
2011 to be year of Linux in the clouds
Jay Lyman, January 5, 2011 @ 5:26 pm ETIt’s time for our annual outlook on Linux for the new year, and after spending the last few years highlighting non-desktop Linux in 2008, the range of Linux in 2009 and hidden Linux in 2010, they will all be coming together in 2011, which will be the year of Linux in cloud computing. This is a trend that has been building over the past few years, but I believe it will hit a tipping point in 2011.
The significance of Linux to cloud computing and vice versa has been building for some time already, with the use of unpaid, community Linux in the clouds, commercial Linux from the likes of Red Hat, Novell, Canonical and others in the clouds and a general propensity toward Linux and other open source software in cloud computing. We also covered the recent Red Hat-Eucalyptus Systems deal, which is all about Linux in cloud computing.
As we’ve covered in the past, we see Linux use driven both ways — from unpaid, community Linux to paid subscriptions and also from paid Linux to unpaid versions and self support — but regardless of whether it is Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Suse Linux Enterprise Server, Ubuntu Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, OpenSuse or other version, there is more and more Linux used for cloud computing. This includes not only public and private cloud infrastructure, but also as cloud services, with many Linux flavors available on various public clouds. We’ve also covered the advantages of open source software, and while we continue to see cost and flexibility drive use of Linux in cloud computing, we also see advantages to open source licensing in simplified, less intrusive and less frustrating license terms, management and support (meaning an open source alternative does not typically bring the dreaded audits and sales pressure of traditional, proprietary software).
There’s no question that formidable competition looms on a number of fronts, particularly from Microsoft’s Azure cloud which is winning interest and adoption from many users, but Linux is still consistently identified and used as a core building block to all types of cloud computing, and I believe we’ll see more of this than ever in 2011.
Comments (4) Categories: Software
Great observations, Jay. In my post at http://www.novell.com/prblogs/?p=3454 , I also look at some of the specific trends driving adoption of Linux in the cloud, such as high performance computing and virtual appliances. A key area I’ll be watching this year is the development of tools that help bridge the silos between physical, virtual and cloud environments — since ultimately, IT leaders want another discrete silo like they want to get hit by a bus. The enterprises I’ve spoken with want to use cloud approaches, tools and services, but need help to make it practical and manageable. I assert that siloed technologies are heading down the path to extinction. What do you think?
Thanks for posting, Michael. Agreed, siloed is slowly giving way to new and updated IT and development deployments that take advantage of the many cheaper cloud computing resources available. It will be interesting to see how much the presence of Linux in cloud computing, mobile and embedded devices, enterprise server rooms and elsewhere will or will not bridge these environments and silos, but I believe Linux will be a big factor.
JL
[...] There is no doubt that formidable competition draws on several fronts, including the Microsoft azure cloud which is earning interest and adoption of many users, but Linux is still identified and used as a building block basis to all types of cloud computing, and I think we’ll see more of what ever in 2011. refering: http://blogs.the451group.com/opensource/2011/01/05/2011-to-be-year-of-linux-in-the-clouds/. [...]
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