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Mirantis Simplifies OpenStack Management with New Open Source Software
Mirantis simplifies complex operations with a unified approach to OpenStack management on Kubernetes, addressing the growing demand for cost-effective, open-source alternatives.
Key Highlights:
Unified Management: Rockoon consolidates disparate OpenStack services into a single, coherent system, streamlining complex operations.
Enhanced Reliability: It provides a stable, versioned abstraction layer over OpenStack Helm APIs, shielding users from upstream changes and ensuring production-grade stability.
Optimized Lifecycle Management: Rockoon leverages Kubernetes' advanced orchestration capabilities for upgrades, self-healing, and scalability, reducing operational complexity.
Ease of Deployment: It includes a deployment script that automates the setup of an OpenStack cluster on Kubernetes, compatible with lightweight environments.
The News:
Mirantis, a leading provider of open-source cloud infrastructure solutions, has announced the launch of Rockoon, an open-source project that simplifies OpenStack management on Kubernetes. The move comes amid a surge in interest in OpenStack as a cost-effective alternative to proprietary solutions, particularly following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware. Read the announcement blog here.
Analyst Take:
OpenStack is experiencing a resurgence, driven by factors like rising cloud costs and the need for greater control over infrastructure. Companies like GEICO are leading this trend, with GEICO notably migrating from VMware to OpenStack. This shift is motivated by OpenStack's open-source nature, cost-effectiveness, and ability to avoid vendor lock-in. GEICO's move signals a broader trend of large organizations seeking more flexible and customizable cloud solutions, and OpenStack is well-positioned to meet these demands.
Mirantis' release of Rockoon is therefore a significant step forward in the open-source cloud infrastructure ecosystem. By offering a unified and streamlined approach to OpenStack management on Kubernetes, Rockoon looks to address a key challenge faced by many organizations. The integration of OpenStack and Kubernetes has become increasingly prevalent, with consensus estimates putting over two-thirds of OpenStack deployments as leveraging this combination. Rockoon builds on this emerging trend by providing a comprehensive solution that simplifies the deployment and management of OpenStack services on Kubernetes.
What was Announced:
Mirantis has released Rockoon, an open-source project that simplifies OpenStack management on Kubernetes. Rockoon offers a unified enterprise-grade application programming interface (API) that integrates with Kubernetes, streamlining the management of OpenStack clusters. It brings the benefits of Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes (MOSK) – a product with over four years of proven effectiveness among Mirantis' largest clients – to the OpenStack community.
Key Features of Rockoon
Rockoon acts as the primary controller in MOSK, offering these advantages: Streamlined Operations: Unifies OpenStack management into one streamlined, coherent system. Enhanced Reliability: Delivers a stable, versioned abstraction over OpenStack Helm APIs, protecting users from upstream updates and maintaining production stability. Optimized Lifecycle Management: Uses Kubernetes' sophisticated orchestration for upgrades, self-healing, and scaling, simplifying operations. Ease of Deployment: Features an automation script for setting up OpenStack clusters on Kubernetes, suitable for light setups like laptops and VMs.
By employing OpenStack Helm charts, Rockoon tackles typical production issues, ensuring scalability and reliability, making it the perfect choice for enterprises needing a solid OpenStack management solution.
Mirantis Passionate About Open Source
Mirantis positions itself as deeply committed to open source, the company describes itself as the only pure-play open source company in the container management space. While the likes of Red Hat, SUSE and Canonical would take issue with this description, the contribution that Mirantis does make to over 50 open source projects is undeniable. This commitment isn't new; it's been at the core of their business from the very beginning. Mirantis firmly believes that open source empowers customers, freeing them from the restrictions of proprietary systems and allowing them to control their own technology choices.
This commitment to open source is more than just words. Mirantis has an Open Source Program Office (OSPO) dedicated to ensuring they act as responsible members of the open source community. The OSPO guides internal teams on best practices, fosters collaboration with external communities, and promotes transparency in their open source activities.
Miranti is explicit about the companies’ approach to open source through a set of values that are clearly defined by the company:
Innovation: They aim to create value for everyone through public innovation.
Trust: They emphasize building robust, secure, and reliable solutions collaboratively.
Inclusivity and Meritocracy: They believe in doing things the right way, with everyone involved, and rewarding those who prioritize the community.
Community-First: Solutions are developed in the open, with contributions to public projects taking precedence. They actively work with communities and educate their customers about the value of public contributions.
Transparency & Accountability: Mirantis is committed to regular reporting on their open source progress and holding leaders accountable for achieving their goals.
This commitment translates into action. Mirantis actively drives, maintains, and contributes to a wide range of open source projects, including:
Driving Projects: They lead projects like k0s (a lightweight Kubernetes distribution) and K0smotron (a Kubernetes control plane manager), pushing innovation in the Kubernetes ecosystem.
Maintaining Projects: They maintain critical projects like Moby (the upstream project for Docker), dockershim, and libnetwork, ensuring their continued development and stability.
Contributing to Projects: They actively contribute to major projects like Kubernetes, OpenSDN, Airship, Helm, and many others, collaborating with the wider community to improve these technologies.
Mirantis' comprehensive approach to open source, from their OSPO to their active involvement in numerous projects, demonstrates their dedication to building a truly open and collaborative future for cloud native technologies.
Looking Ahead
OpenStack and Kubernetes are hard to deploy at scale. As these movements mature, large enterprises are looking for simplification and less of a science project approach. Call it Platform Engineering, call it a drive to simplicity, this trend is going to play out in the months ahead.
Mirantis' release of Rockoon represents a significant development in the open-source cloud infrastructure ecosystem. It addresses a key challenge faced by many organizations in managing OpenStack on Kubernetes by providing a unified and streamlined approach. As the adoption of OpenStack and Kubernetes continues to grow, Rockoon is poised to become a valuable tool for organizations looking to leverage the benefits of these open-source technologies.
In the coming months, we can expect to see further development and adoption of Rockoon as organizations embrace this new solution for managing their OpenStack environments. Mirantis will also likely continue to enhance Rockoon with new features and capabilities, further solidifying its position as a leading provider of open-source cloud infrastructure solutions.
Overall, the release of Rockoon is a positive development for the open-source community and for organizations looking to adopt OpenStack.
By simplifying the management of OpenStack on Kubernetes, Rockoon looks like it makes it easier for organizations to leverage the benefits of these powerful technologies, ultimately driving innovation and accelerating their digital transformation journeys. As always it will be the adoption of Mirantis’ approach that will be the true measure of success. Time will tell but I am impressed with what i see so far.
Steven Dickens | CEO HyperFRAME Research
Regarded as a luminary at the intersection of technology and business transformation, Steven Dickens is the CEO and Principal Analyst at HyperFRAME Research.
Ranked consistently among the Top 10 Analysts by AR Insights and a contributor to Forbes, Steven's expert perspectives are sought after by tier one media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, and he is a regular on TV networks including the Schwab Network and Bloomberg.