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ASF Project Spotlight: Apache CloudStack   

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Can you tell us a bit about the project?  
Apache CloudStack is an open source solution designed to deploy and manage large networks of virtual machines as a highly available, highly scalable cloud computing platform. CloudStack includes an intuitive user interface and rich API for managing compute, networking, software, and storage resources. CloudStack provides an orchestration layer, automating the creation, provisioning and configuration of Infrastructure as a Serve (IaaS) components. It is a turnkey solution for MSPs, cloud providers, telcos and enterprises. CloudStack includes the entire “stack” of features you need: compute orchestration, Network as a Service, user and account management, a full, open and stable native API, resource accounting, and a first-class user interface.

The project became a top-level Apache Software Foundation project in March 2013 and is currently deployed in thousands of organizations globally.

Can you tell us about any recent milestones or project developments? 
Apache CloudStack 4.20 has been released and is now available for download. This release focuses on improved networking, efficiency, resource utilization, performance, and security.

Who is your audience?
The project is of interest to many enterprises, MSPs and cloud providers, who desire open source alternatives to vendor solutions. In the last year there has been massive growth in CloudStack adoption, engagement on mailing lists and event attendance. Global enterprises are heavily looking for long-term reliability and predictability, and CloudStack delivers well on this. As an open source project with rapid development and active community engagement, CloudStack provides companies with a comprehensive technology that grows with them.

What key features of the technology do you believe will excite people?
CloudStack 4.20 introduces several key enhancements aimed at optimizing performance, reducing costs, and improving resource management for infrastructure. Some of the highlighted features of CloudStack 4.20 include:

  • ARM64 Support and Multi-Architecture Zones: enables organizations to leverage ARM64’s energy efficiency and lower operational costs for suitable workloads.
  • Ceph RGW Plugin for Object Storage: integration of Ceph RGW in the Object Storage Framework provides a scalable and cost-effective solution for handling large volumes of unstructured data, which is ideal for applications like video streaming and big data analytics. 
  • VMware NSX 4 Support: CloudStack 4.20 also enhances networking with NSX 4 support, offering advanced security and seamless connectivity for hybrid clouds alongside new dynamic and static routing options for more efficient traffic management.
  • Usage Management UI: helps organizations monitor usage patterns, manage costs, and optimize resource allocation.
  • CloudStack Webhooks: The webhook framework enables real-time notifications and integrations with third-party tools, enhancing operational responsiveness. 
  • Granular Resource Limits: further improves administrative efficiency. 
  • Implicit Hardware-Based Host Tags: enables better resource allocation. 
  • NAS Backup and Recovery Plugin: CloudStack 4.20 focuses on reliability and data protection, adding more options for backup.
  • Shared File Systems: enables user-created Shared File Systems for high availability. 
  • Dynamic & Static Routing: allows more efficient traffic management. 
  • Security Groups for Shared Networks in Advanced Zones: provides enhanced security at the instance level, ensuring compliance for sensitive workloads.

Together, these features make CloudStack 4.20 a robust, cost-effective solution for managing large-scale cloud environments.

What’s the best way to learn about the project or try it out? 
To learn more about the project and the community, visit the Apache CloudStack website. The official source code for CloudStack 4.20 can be downloaded from the project’s downloads page. 

How can others contribute to this project – code contributions being only one of the ways? 
The CloudStack community welcomes participation from anybody willing to work The Apache Way and make a contribution. You do not have to be a developer in order to contribute to CloudStack – anyone who can help with documentation, marketing, content writing and web design, among other skills, is welcome to contribute. 

Other resources include: 

The ASF is home to nearly 9,000 committers contributing to more than 320 active projects including Apache Airflow, Apache Camel, Apache Flink, Apache HTTP Server, Apache Kafka, and Apache Superset. With the support of volunteers, developers, stewards, and more than 75 sponsors, ASF projects create open source software that is used ubiquitously around the world. This work helps us realize our mission of providing software for the public good.

In the midst of hosting community events, engaging in collaboration, producing code and so much more, we often forget to take a moment to recognize and adequately showcase the important work being done across the ASF ecosystem. This blog series aims to do just that: shine a spotlight on the projects that help make the ASF community vibrant, diverse and long lasting. We want to share stories, use cases and resources among the ASF community and beyond so that the hard work of ASF communities and their contributors is not overlooked. 

If you are part of an ASF project and would like to be showcased, please reach out to [email protected]. 

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