The explosive growth of virtualization in the datacenter is creating new opportunities to improve IT utilization for enterprises. At the same time business users are demanding increased flexibility in provisioning, accessing, and managing IT systems.

To become more nimble, some IT departments have begun to host on-premise private computing clouds. Setting up an on-premise private computing cloud gives end-users the flexibility they demand, while at the same time offering the potential for far greater utilization within the data center.

But what is the difference between a private cloud and a traditional server virtualization? They both rely on hypervisor technology to control virtual server images, but datacenters that deploy the CloudStack gain three key benefits beyond traditional server virtualization.

End-user self-administration — With a private cloud, end-users have dedicated user controls that allow them to set-up accounts, import virtual machines, manage virtual machines, monitor utilization and costs, and define network, storage and security settings.

Service offering management — IT departments are able to define service offerings centrally, develop and monitor internal controls, and charge departments for utilization.

Virtual Datacenter Deployments — CloudStack extends traditional hypervisor technology to ensure that users can have complete control of their CPU, memory, network, and storage resources without violating the security and resource consumption policies setup by the IT departments.

Because of these advantages, private computing clouds allow enterprises not only to improve how IT resources are utilized and managed, but also to improve access to IT services for end-users. CloudStack gives organizations a simple-to-deploy and easy-to-manage solution for implementing a private computing cloud.

The emergence of public Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds in the last several years is changing the way that individuals, developers and businesses utilize computing power. Unpredictable demand, aggressive development schedules and cost savings are some of the reasons that end-users are signing up for cloud computing offerings and moving their applications to the cloud.

CloudStack offers all of the necessary management software and infrastructure technology for service providers to take advantage of this market demand and host their own public computing cloud. Core management functions include end-user self administration, service offering management, cloud administration, and billing and reporting.

Any new service must offer financial viability for service providers. CloudStack has been designed to reduce both capital and operating expenses, in three key ways.

• The CloudStack is easily deployed on off-the-shelf x86 servers, gigabit switches, and requires no special purpose NAS or SAN hardware. Because of this, service providers can roll out a cloud and expand it as necessary without making expensive capital investments in special-purpose hardware.
• Launching a service with the CloudStack is easy. Simply install the hypervisor of your choice on commodity hardware, install and configure the Cloud.com CloudStack and integrate back-office systems using the well-defined APIs. Service providers can begin offering an elastic computing service in a fraction of the time required to build a system using other solutions.
• Operating costs are reduced by the end-user self administration interface. This interface gives end-users the ability to set-up new accounts, choose services, administer applications, provision servers, load VM images, and resolve common issues without ever speaking to a customer service representative.

By combining compelling business benefits and ground-breaking technology, The Cloud.com CloudStack 2.0 is giving service providers the ability to launch clouds quickly and capitalize on the emerging market for on-demand cloud computing.

Media and ecommerce websites only generate revenue if they are online and can meet  visitor/buyer demand.  By deploying web architecture in a Cloudstack-powered cloud users can scale up and scale down their infrastructure to meet that demand.

Two notable web-scale users of CloudStack include Zynga and Edmunds.com who see many benefits of using CloudStack to host their environments. Webervers can be distributed geographically and in high availability configurations managed centrally and in concert to ensure that environment is available when needed. Excess capacity can be taken offline to reduce cooling and power costs when the need has subsMedia and ecommerce websites only generate revenue if they are online and can meet  visitor/buyer demand.  By deploying web architecture in a Cloudstack cloud users can scale up and scale down their infrastructure to meet that demand. Webervers can be distributed geographically and in high availability configurations managed centrally and in concert to ensure that environment is available when needed. Excess capacity can be taken offline to reduce cooling and power costs when the need has subsided allowing media outlets with breaking news can meet the onslaught of web visitors during peak times quickly and efficiently. Seasonal businesses can meet the demands during their peak and then downsize during the offseason, without losing the capability for their next peak in their cycle. Additionally, testing and staging environments can be located within the cloud and deployed within one standardized server architecture without affecting production environments.