Ubuntu Linux’s developer and other cloud technologies make it easy for organizations to transition to open source solutions and modernize legacy IT estates.
Canonical Sunbeam, a project of Canonical, is an entirely new OpenStack tree. Tytus Kurek is the product manager for Canonical. He said that this extension is a completely new project within the OpenStack tree. The OpenInfra Foundation hosts it.
Canonical is now providing a new product, MicroStack, with the full support of Ubuntu Linux. MicroStack (based upon Sunbeam), in its initial stable release, will only support small-scale clouds (1 to 8 nodes).
Kurek, a LinuxInsider reporter, said that this means Canonical’s OpenStack commercial offering is expanding. Historically we required 9+ nodes in order to receive full commercial support. “Commercial OpenStack deployments are only available through paid consulting engagements.” No vendor was exempt.”
OpenStack Adoption Made Simple
This project is completely open source and available for free. Once the installation is complete, enterprise customers can purchase the Ubuntu Pro + Support subscriptions for the regular price to receive comprehensive security coverage as well as full commercial support.
Canonical launched the new product during the OpenInfra Summit, a three-day event in Vancouver, British Columbia. The event emphasizes collaboration directly with individuals who develop and operate open source infrastructure using Linux and OpenStack. Kubernetes is also included in the list of technologies.
It is the goal to assist users in composing, integrating, and operating these different technologies at scale to solve real-world problems. This allows organizations to easily modernize small-scale legacy IT estates, and transition from proprietary to OpenStack solutions without costly professional services engagement.
Kurek said, “In line our mission to amplify open source we are committed in delivering to the community a production-grade platforms that anyone could deploy themselves.”
Sunbeam was created to eliminate many barriers that arose during the initial adoption OpenStack. He said that it was just the beginning of a private cloud.
Sunbeam has a goal of lowering the barrier to entry for OpenStack. Operators can now create a highly functional cloud by using just 12 simple commands. Kurek stated that this would eliminate the requirement for traditionally expensive professional services. OpenStack will be transformed from “consultingware”, to software.
Lightweight and user-friendly cloud technology
Sunbeam comes with a lucid interface and very simple installation instructions, making it straightforward for everyone — even those with no previous OpenStack experience.
OpenStack is a project that anyone can adopt without any technical expertise. Engineers can use the bootstrap method to get a cloud that is fully functional in just minutes.
Sunbeam’s lightweight architecture makes it possible to use Sunbeam on machines with limited hardware resources. Canonical says that it is compatible with virtual machines and workstations, thereby eliminating the need to use dedicated hardware for testing.
OpenStack – Native Architecture K8s – a New Way to Advance OpenStack
Sunbeam is unique in its K8s native architecture. OpenStack is fully decoupled by running its services in containers. This makes it easier to perform historically difficult operations such as upgrades.
Sunbeam however isn’t another OpenStack running Kubernetes. Sunbeam uses native Kubernetes concepts like StatefulSets, operators and other Kubernetes-based principles to allow users to model, manage and deploy OpenStack like any other cloud-native app.
Sunbeam can help organizations standardize across their entire infrastructure and application portfolio. This standardization provides a modern, fresh operational experience for OpenStack.
“More Than 70% of OpenStack Users also Deploy Kubernetes. But Kubernetes are also increasingly used to Manage OpenStack Deployments themselves,” said Thierry CARRES, the Open Infrastructure Foundation’s general manager.
Cloud Computing: A Powerful Solution
Carrez reports that more than 40 millions compute cores are in use worldwide. Sunbeam is a new approach to deploying and managing OpenStack.
He said: “We’re excited about the access Canonical has provided to OpenStack and Kubernetes via Sunbeam.”
Sunbeam ships OpenStack 2023.1, Antelope. Early adopters can upgrade to the 2024.1 release next year via the Skip Level Upgrade Process (SLURP).
Sunbeam currently only includes the core OpenStack Services. Sunbeam will be rapidly evolved to match OpenStack Charms in terms of features.
OpenStack Charms form the basis of Canonical’s reference architecture for OpenStack. They are software modules that perform typical OpenStack tasks such as backups, upgrades, scaling-out and more.
Test Runs are Available
Sunbeam Project can be tested on a workstation or VM. Sunbeam is available for testing on workstations and virtual machines. microstack.run.
Canonical will be hosting a Webinar on the 12th of July about Sunbeam and its use as an alternative for small-scale proprietary virtualization systems. Participants will learn how to create a cloud within an hour.
You will need at least three machines pre-installed with Ubuntu 22.04 Server Edition. Each node needs to have the minimum requirements:
- 4 Core CPU
- 16 GB RAM
- 2x 100 GB Disk – one for the base OS and one for the block storage
- 2x NIC – one for the control plane traffic and one for the data plane traffic
Check this seminar website Please see the list below for additional requirements.
