New Canonical Services Aim To Simplify Cloud & Bare Metal Kubernetes Containers

Canonical is to support the rollout of containers based on the Kubernetes platform with the launch of two new consulting packages for deployments on private cloud, public cloud or on bare metal.

Kubernetes Explorer covers cloud or VMware deployments, while the more expensive Kubernetes Discoverer is intended for bare metal. Both include reference architectures, best practice support and support, while the latter also includes on-site training.

“Organisations looking for best-practice Kubernetes now have a reference architecture and specialist consulting to operate K8s on any cloud, bare metal, or virtualisation” said Marco Ceppi, product manager for Kubernetes at Canonical.

Canonical Kubernetes deployments

“Canonical Kubernetes is transforming how our customers host scale out, cloud native workloads, with an emphasis on portability across public clouds and private infrastructure.”

Ubuntu is one of the main operating systems for cloud operations and Canonical maintains relationships with all of the major public cloud providers – AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure and Oracle – so customers can move workloads between platforms.

With firms often using a combination of private and public cloud, as well as from multiple providers, Canonical hopes that acting as the middle man can help it win custom from the enterprise.

Canonical offers both a core Kubernetes deployment as well as a managed service.

“The enterprise challenge is to enable containers across hybrid cloud environments” added Dustin Kirkland, VP Product at Canonical. “Canonical’s cloud partnerships provide choice of cloud infrastructure with a consistently secure and efficient Kubernetes across multiple clouds.”

Google ceded control of Kubernetes in 2015 to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in partnership with the Linux Foundation and its supporters include Cisco, eBay, Huawei, IBM and Intel. The newest member of the foundation is Amazon, although there is no suggestion an AWS Kubernetes service is imminent.

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