Open Source Cloud Computing with Eucalyptus and Ubuntu

If you have concerns about spending money on experimenting or learning more about cloud computing, consider an open source solution. The Ubuntu server comes prepackaged with the latest open source cloud system, called Eucalyptus, which is in many ways similar to Amazon EC2 and can help you learn cloud computing without spending any money. For example, if you want to learn how to configure a cloud solution for in-house experimentation or development, you can load the Ubuntu cloud server and get started right away. The following sequence of commands shows you an example of launching an instance in the Ubuntu cloud using the command-line tools.

cbell@ubuntu-cloud:~$ euca-describe-images
IMAGE    eri-099C1159    image-store-1266350672/ramdisk.manifest.xml    admin
    available    public     x86_64    ramdisk
IMAGE    emi-DED7106D    image-store-1266350672/image.manifest.xml    admin
    available    public     x86_64    machine
IMAGE    eki-F52D10EB    image-store-1266350672/kernel.manifest.xml    admin
    available    public     x86_64    kernel

cbell@ubuntu-cloud:~$ euca-describe-volumes
VOLUME    vol-330A04B9     10        cloud9    in-use    2010-02-17T18:54:43.589Z
ATTACHMENT    vol-330A04B9    i-41EE0860    unknown,requested:/dev/sdb
    2010-02-18T17:44:11.561Z
VOLUME    vol-32DC04A3     10        cloud9    in-use    2010-02-17T18:54:41.002Z
ATTACHMENT    vol-32DC04A3    i-4DDB09AC    unknown,requested:/dev/sdb
    2010-02-18T17:44:11.561Z

cbell@ubuntu-cloud:~$ euca-describe-instances
RESERVATION    r-5C060A63    admin    default
INSTANCE    i-41EE0860    emi-DED7106D    172.19.1.3    172.19.1.3
    running     mykey     0     c1.medium     2010-02-18T17:32:12.441Z
    cloud9 eki-F52D10EB     eri-099C1159
RESERVATION    r-4027075E    admin    default
INSTANCE    i-4DDB09AC    emi-DED7106D    172.19.1.2    172.19.1.2
    running     mykey     0     c1.medium     2010-02-18T17:31:55.128Z
    cloud9 eki-F52D10EB     eri-099C1159

To learn more about Ubuntu cloud systems and to install your own private cloud computing solutions, see the following links:

http://www.ubuntu.com/cloud

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEC

To install an Ubuntu cloud computing environment, you need at least two servers that have virtualization support and multiple core CPUs.