Sun Provides Open APIs for Cloud Computing
As of this summer, Sun Microsystems will provide storage and computing resources for cloud computing. They intend to open up the APIs with a public review process.
Sun's Open Cloud should be available starting the spring of 2009 with open source components such as MySQL and OpenSolaris to distinguish itself from proprietary platforms such as Amazon. Sun wants to make the technology underlying the cloud available to its partners so that they can build their own clouds but remain interoperable with Sun's. Part of their strategy is to set up an open Sun Cloud, with web developers, students and researchers as their target audience. Sun also targets newly founded ventures whereby they can hope to have a faster and cost-effective access to computing resources. Costs for the Sun Cloud have not yet been established.
Sun is putting the APIs through a public review process on a Kenai.com forum that it established as a community website for open source projects back in the fall of 2008. A change log, which requires registration, will list the actions based on the feedback from the APIs.
Sun's announcement follows their takeover of Q-Layer and Ian Murdocks's recent adoption of Sun's cloud strategist role. From Q-Layer Sun inherited the Virtual Data Center that cloud users can set up via a drag-and-drop facility for platforms and applications. Cloud storage should, according to Sun, be accessible through WebDav and the Open Cloud APIs be compatible with Amazon's Simple Storage Service (S3).
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.