Launching Cloud Foundry, The Industry’s First Open PaaS |
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Today, we have exciting news for developers: the launch of Cloud Foundry: an open source “Platform as a Service” (PaaS) from VMware allowing easy deployment of applications written using Spring, Rails and other modern frameworks. Cloud Foundry breaks new ground in PaaS through supporting a choice of programming models; a choice of services from VMware and third parties; a choice of clouds for deployment; and being delivered in open source.
Since the creation of Spring, we’ve remained faithful to a few core values: notably, Productivity and Portability. Today, these proven values extend beyond Spring and Java into VMware’s broader cloud computing strategy. Spring makes developers more productive by reducing time spent away from business logic; Cloud Foundry eliminates time spent installing and configuring infrastructure such as application servers and JVMs. Spring facilitates portability between deployment destinations; Cloud Foundry is both a key deployment destination itself and a layer that allows deployment to a choice of clouds, both public and private.
Cloud Foundry will be the natural cloud deployment choice for Spring developers.
A Big Step for Java, but Not Just Java
To date, there hasn’t been a strong, open PaaS destination for Java. The millions of Java developers have largely been left to fend for themselves in the cloud, with weaker options than have been available, to, say, Ruby developers. We’re changing that.
With Cloud Foundry, VMware is providing a convenient and compelling destination for Java applications in public and private cloud.
We’re making this deployment destination easy to adopt. You won’t need to architect your applications in a special way or make do with a restricted subset of language or framework features, nor will you need to call Cloud Foundry specific APIs.
We want you to be more, not less, productive. We’re going all out to optimize the productivity of the overall experience. It’s not enough simply to provide a destination in the sky to deploy applications to—it’s essential to consider how developers work, and to integrate the deployment destination with a productive tool chain that they will love to use. Cloud Foundry will be closely integrated with existing Spring technologies such as Spring Roo and SpringSource Tool Suite, for a particularly productive Spring experience.
Today’s announcement is good news for Java, but goes beyond Java. We want to serve developers, whatever their chosen language and framework. So Cloud Foundry is inherently cross platform. It supports Rails, as well as Spring, applications, on the same underlying infrastructure.
We also have node.js support, and SPIs to allow both VMware and the community to add support for new platforms. Sharing of infrastructure and services between platforms will provide a major benefit to all developers.
Open PaaS, Open Source
I’m proud that VMware continues to deepen its commitment to open source. Cloud Foundry is an open source project.
SpringSource brought one of the world’s largest and most vital open source communities into the VMware family. We’ve grown that corporate commitment by embracing and leading Rabbit MQ and Redis. Today, we are launching Cloud Foundry as an open source project, as well as a cloud service.
Open source allows rapid progress while avoiding lock-in—an important concern in cloud computing. We believe that open source is the best way to push Cloud Foundry forward as a technology, and the best choice for users and customers.
Openness is a key theme in VMware’s approach to PaaS. Cloud Foundry is open in three other important ways:
- Open to multiple framework and developer communities, as I’ve already mentioned Cloud Foundry supports Spring, Grails, Node.js and Ruby on Rails with work already underway for other frameworks.
- Open to multiple services, provided by VMware or other vendors or communities: Initially we will provide basic services such as a relational database, but the choice will broaden quickly. Other initial choices are MySQL, Redis and MongoDB, and RabbitMQ will soon follow.
- Open to a choice of underlying deployment destinations: Cloud Foundry will be available as a public cloud service at CloudFoundry.com and as software you can run wherever you choose. We are embracing portability at the Cloud Foundry layer, as well as Spring Framework layer, and expect to see Cloud Foundry running on top of EC2 and other IaaS offerings.
Choice of deployment destination is particularly important to the Java community, as Java is heavily used to build enterprise applications and many organizations are not willing to run their enterprise applications in the public cloud. With Cloud Foundry, it doesn’t matter. You can run the technology behind the firewall if you wish, and control your own destiny as you embrace cloud computing.
Cloud Foundry’s embrace of openness and choice is a game changer in the PaaS world, with the potential to benefit millions of developers.
Getting Involved
It’s a big vision: an open PaaS offering a high quality, integrated developer experience. This experience will continue to improve: notably, with the introduction in the coming quarter of Code2Cloud, a cloud service bridging the gap between developer desktop and cloud deployment.
Hopefully you agree that this will be an exciting journey. Better still, you can help along the way. Begin by trying the service through signing up for a beta account. Next, you might want to try the software in your own environment, rather than in our public cloud, experiencing the portability that is core to the Cloud Foundry promise. Hopefully your interest will be piqued and you’ll want to download the source code and contribute to the project. Like Spring, Cloud Foundry is published under the Apache License, version 2.0—a widely adopted license that helps to create strong, diverse communities.
Regardless of how deeply you want to delve into the enabling technology, it’s a great time to be a developer. As always, I hope that our efforts help you to focus on cutting code, delivering business value and, above all, having fun!
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Michael says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 11:33 amRod, can CloudFoundry be used by Java developers without Spring as well (as a "pure" Java app server with a rich set of services, but no Spring framework overhead/complexity if not needed)?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 11:51 am@Michael
The Cloud Foundry infrastructure knows about Spring, so Spring apps benefit from some extra goodies. Plus there's kickass integration with STS and Spring Roo and Grails. But you aren't forced to use Spring. You can deploy any WAR file. However, your app is most likely to be simpler with Spring, wherever you deploy it.
Rgds
Rod
Rajesh K says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 12:07 pmWould it be possible to deploy JBoss Seam applications on CloudFoundry?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 12:10 pm@Rajesh Depends if they can be deployed in a WAR file.
Shantanu Kumar says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 1:47 pmWould CloudFoundry be equally useful to developers who use other JVM languages (such as Clojure or Scala) but use only a sub-set of Spring (e.g. Spring-JDBC without any configuration XML files or annotations)? What exact advantage does one get due to using Spring on CloudFoundry?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 4:14 pm@Shantanu,
Yes, this should be possible. Advantages using Spring include Spring configuration and environmental variables facilitating binding to Cloud Foundry services; Spring Insight for transparent profiling (coming); integrated tool chain (including Grails and Spring Roo); Spring Data support for supported data stores… Hopefully the Spring story will simply be more compelling, but you aren't forced to use it.
Rgds
Rod
Greg says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 4:17 pmActually, it's quite confusing. What does the "Today we are lounching Cloud Foundry" haeder mean? The Cloud Foundry launch was announced on August 19th, 2009. It was marked "beta". Today the site looks different than at that time, but it's still "beta". So what has actually happened today?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 4:22 pm@Greg
Indeed, the initial Cloud Foundry launch was in 2009. Sorry for the confusion. This is a new, more ambitious, service on a new codebase, which offers the same core benefits, but much more: choice of deployment destinations (not just EC2); choice of languages (not only Java); integrated tool chain; extensible set of services. The learning from the former Cloud Foundry was an input.
For those using it, the old service is still available at http://classic.cloudfoundry.com, and we'll have information with migration.
HTH
Rod
Mike Scott says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 7:49 pmWhat kind of support do you envisage python having?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 12th, 2011 at 9:54 pm@Mike
Hopefully we will have first class support for Python (Django?) in time, parallel with currently supported languages. Hopefully we will see community contributions even before any "official" support.
R
Sakuraba says:
Added on April 13th, 2011 at 1:54 amPlease support the Play framework!
Avi Kapuya says:
Added on April 13th, 2011 at 5:09 amWow! I am excited! this is indeed a huge step forward for Java on the cloud, and from what it looks like, it is quite complete and comprehensive
G714 says:
Added on April 13th, 2011 at 11:07 amHow is VMware announcing the first "Open Platform as a Service" when "Open Platform as a Service" "Open PaaS" and "OPaaS" are all trademarks of Sullivan Software Systems? Sullivan Software Systems formally announced the worlds first platform as a Service http://www.openplatformasaservice.com two years ago here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2571674.htm
Is VMware knowingly infringing on Sullivan Software Systems trademark or is VMware just ignorant?
sebastien says:
Added on April 14th, 2011 at 7:46 amIMO, Sullivan Software Systems missed the term "open".
G714 says:
Added on April 15th, 2011 at 5:20 pmYes, it should read:
How is VMware announcing the first "Open Platform as a Service" when "Open Platform as a Service" "Open PaaS" and "OPaaS" are all trademarks of Sullivan Software Systems? Sullivan Software Systems formally announced the worlds first "Open Platform as a Service" http://www.openplatformasaservice.com two years ago here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/06/prweb2571674.htm
Is VMware knowingly infringing on Sullivan Software Systems trademark or is VMware just ignorant?
Rod Johnson (blog author) says:
Added on April 15th, 2011 at 6:11 pmVMware respects the intellectual property rights of others and, therefore, has carefully looked into this matter before concluding the United States Patent and Trademark Office is correct in its determination that the term "Open Platform as a Service" is merely descriptive and consequently not entitled to exclusivity in its use.
Note also the use of the term "open PaaS" in this blog by Chris Keene, which predates the Sullivan announcement:
Chris was at that time CEO of Wavemaker; following VMware's acquisition of WaveMaker, he is now a VMware Vice President.
Brian Sullivan says:
Added on April 17th, 2011 at 11:51 pmHi Mr. Johnson.
First, let me say I respect VMware as a technology company. Your products have been visionary.
Now regarding your point that:
"the United States Patent and Trademark Office is correct in its determination that the term "Open Platform as a Service" is merely descriptive and consequently not entitled to exclusivity in its use",
Are you aware the application is still live at the USPTO and could be accepted on the principal register and have retroactive protection?
Here is the actual application status:
—————————————-
Mark Image
Word Mark OPEN PLATFORM AS A SERVICE
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Computer operating programs. FIRST USE: 20060902. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20060902
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77723543
Filing Date April 27, 2009
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) Sullivan, Brian INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 453 Water Street Celebration FLORIDA 34747
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "OPEN PLATFORM" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
—————————–
Also, it is common the USPTO issues non-final rejections which ultimately are accepted, as they've done with many products such as Apple Computer's. Also, Section 2(f) acceptance is also possible and a common outcome after a mark being rejected in a non-final USPTO office action.
Also, USPTO aside, there is common law trademark protection.
Now, regarding "the use of the term "open PaaS" in this blog by Chris Keene, which predates the Sullivan announcement:"
Sullivan Software, on the website, http://www.sullivansoftwaresystems.com and elsewhere starting using and claiming trademark to the term long before Chris Keene mentioned the term. Chris by the way, seems like a very sharp guy. My guess is that if he felt he originated the term Open Platform as a Service, he would own the trademark or at least applied for it.
Now, the announcement you referred to was just that – an announcement. Not the "first use" of the phrase. The "first use" of the phrase "Open Platform as a Service" by Sullivan Software was long before Mr. Keene's use. As you probably are aware, the USPTO operates on first use. Sullivan Software's first use of the phrase "Open Platform as a Service" was in 2006. On August 10, 2008 I registered the domain openplatformasaservice.com. Mr. Keene's use of the phrase "Open PaaS" you refer to was in 2009.
However, if you believe I am mistaken and either VMware or Mr. Keene began using the phrase "Open Platform as a Service" before Sullivan Software, please cite that use here.
Also, I believe when Mr. Keene realized we were using "Open Platform as a Service" long before his blog post, he stopped using the term and changed it to "Open Source Platform as a Service" as evidenced by his documentation here: http://www.wavemaker.com/ibm-quickstart.pdf among many other places. Again, Chris is a sharp guy who knows how to pivot.
So here are some of the facts. Please feel free to respond and lets let the readers and users decide who started Open Platform as a Service.
Best,
Brian Sullivan
Founder, Open Platform as a Service(sm)
openplatformasaservice.com
brian@sullivansoftwaresystems.com
(888) 600-8795
James Governor says:
Added on April 20th, 2011 at 4:37 amDear Mr Sullivan – as far as i can see Cloud Foundry is the trademark, and open platform as a service is just a description of it. PaaS is extremely common industry terminology – and open pretty much just means motherhood and apple pie. As a small company I can fully understand the desire to protect what you see as your IP, but please don't let it derail your efforts to deliver solid products that people want to use.
Murali Hr says:
Added on April 20th, 2011 at 10:40 amThanks for this great initiative ! We are actually planning to use this for building the next generation "Mobility" infrastructure for our city in Bangalore using Bicycles.
We are building a Free and Open source system for sharing bicycles and the system is built using Spring ROO , we were at the deployment stage.
I just registered with my mail ID & iam Waiting for the availability of Micro Cloud.
http://www.nammacycle.in .
Exciting journey ahead with Cloud Computing.
The Open Source Software community here is already excited about this initiative.
Murali
John Tangney says:
Added on April 24th, 2011 at 3:37 pmSupport for the Play! framework would make this sweet perfection!
goodgame cafe says:
Added on April 30th, 2011 at 7:06 pmThanks For This Blog, was added to my bookmarks.
Mahesh says:
Added on May 4th, 2011 at 5:07 amThis is great news.
Is the profiling support added ?
Clive says:
Added on July 1st, 2011 at 9:43 amHow does this announcement fit into VMWare's vFabric strategy. Is it a complementary service ?
Rahul Roy says:
Added on July 25th, 2011 at 8:14 amConnect to the MySQL Service with plain Java and JDBC.
Example – http://technoroy.blogspot.com/2011/07/vmware-cloud-foundry-developing-cloud.html
anonymous says:
Added on September 9th, 2011 at 11:21 pmMr. Johnson, If you check case history trial judges have seem to be trending towards founding “indicia of extortion” in patent lawsuits. The Apple example is laughable, I wish Mr. Sullivan the best however it is unlikely that Brian has the required army of lobbyists, congressmena and senatotors and committies like Mt Jobs has always had; this stretch by trying to compare of the Importance / example power and poltics is like litigating the cost of a single single apple by a county judge vs. OPEC & Foreign ploicies importancem, legislation costs & complexities.
Fred says:
Added on September 25th, 2011 at 12:14 pmMerci pour ce post.