OpenNebula Systems has made available 6.0, codenamed “Mutara,” the latest version of its cloud computing platform. This release adds features that revolve around a new focus on edge capabilities, intended to allow users to deploy hybrid and multi-cloud environments that avoid vendor lock-in.
“Mutara” is slated by OpenNebula as the first stable release of a new OpenNebula 6 series. It introduces a distributed cloud architecture composed of edge clusters that the firm claims can run any workload, whether virtual machines or application containers, on any underlying platform. This means deploying to bare metal or inside virtual machines, on a public cloud provider platform or on-premises.
The edge clusters apparently adopt a hyperconverged configuration, using a native three-tier storage architecture that simplifies and speeds up the deployment of containers and services.
In addition to its command line interface, “Mutara” adds a web interface called FireEdge that enables users to manage public cloud and edge providers, and the provisioning of OpenNebula’s edge clusters. The point-and-click interface allows users to expand their cloud using third-party resources in just a few minutes, according to OpenNebula.
“Mutara” ships with a set of drivers and templates – virtual machine definitions – for AWS and Equinix Metal resources, to speed setup, and allows users to create edge clusters based on KVM, LXC or Firecracker, the AWS microVM service.
Also new in this release is support for Dockerfiles and a revamped Marketplace for VM templates, which now stores service templates, delivering a better user experience where the execution of complex container workflows and multi-tier services is involved.
OpenNebula 6.0 also now supports VM Backups, which periodically save the data from user virtual machines to a remote storage location, set up as a private image marketplace.
In addition to these features, there have been a host of other improvements, such as revamped VNC dialogs and asynchronous operation warnings in the Sunstone admin GUI. Hypervisor driver improvements include vSphere 7 support and a new driver for LXC system containers, easing the use of containerised apps across platforms.
OpenNebula is open source and available in a free Community Edition, or an Enterprise Edition that provides access to support and Professional Services provided by OpenNebula Systems engineers for a subscription fee.