Linux for "cloud computing": Request for Input

[Tom Buskey]

On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 12:46 PM, Jon 'maddog' Hall <maddog at li.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I am doing some consulting about "Why Linux is good for cloud
> computing" (and for that matter "Software as a Service" (SaaS), which I
> consider more or less one and the same).
>
> I am going to start with the fact that Unix systems were designed
> (almost) from the beginning to be multi-tasking and multi-user, then
> worked its way out to be multi-architecture, multi-threaded and embraced
> 64-bit systems relatively early.
>
> In addition, Unix systems utilized network processes and stressed
> client/server models (evident in daemons, NFS, the X Window System), as
> well as scripting languages that allowed control of applications through
> APIs and not just a graphical interface.
>
> This gave:
>
> o scalability
> o some architectural security
> o standards based development
>
> A lot of work in highly available servers was done with Unix systems
> such as Solaris, Digital Unix and others.
>
> Linux, patterned after Unix, inherited a lot of these characteristics.
>
> In addition with Linux you get:
>
> o "Open Source" that helps give:
>
>   - needed bug fixes rapidly (under control of the service provider)
>   - development of new features by large numbers of programmers,
> researchers, etc.
>   - many "middleware" and emerging "management" systems are being
> developed on Linux, or developed as FOSS projects
>     + Eucalyptus
>     + Languages like Ruby, PHP, Python
>   - licensing terms that do not restrict what you can offer to
> customers (i.e. how many instances can you run, how many customers can
> attach, etc.)
>   - a couple of different security models (SE/Linux, AppArmor, as
> examples) to chose from
>   - graceful degradation:  If a technology is abandoned, the provider
> of services can maintain it until a migration can occur through
> community action
>   - Open development model - allows service providers to plan ahead and
> have input to development
>
> o Linux also was used as the basis for Beowulf systems, which developed
> a lot of code surrounding "high performance clusters", leading to highly
> scalable systems
>
> o Basically can be same OS on desktop as servers
>
> Any other ideas on the topic of "Why Linux for Cloud Computing?"
>

Right sizing of the OS.
1) Space: You can chose exactly what goes into the OS image on the cloud.
No browser, no wordpad.exe taking up space.
2) Function: Only install what is needed.  If notepad is the editing app,
that what is installed and nothing else needs to be maintained, educated,
patched.
3) Security: If you don't install acrobat, your server isn't affected by any
security holes in it.

Application availability:
1) Many web apps/frameworks are developed on Linux 1st.  Then they get
ported to other Unixen.




>
> Any blatant negatives for Linux as a platform?
>
> Note that I am not arguing for or against "the cloud", just why Linux is
> or is not a good system for it.
>
> The entire paper will be available for free download when it is
> finished.
>
> Thanks in advance for your input.
>
> md
>
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