Parallels Looks To SMBs With Cloud IaaS Launch

Parallels, a hosting and cloud services specialist has launched its Parallels Automation for Cloud Infrastructure (PACI).

PACI is essentially a scalable solution for service providers, so they can deliver cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to small to medium-size businesses.

PACI provides hosting control, from provisioning and billing to self-service management and security. It is ready to deploy on any hardware platform and also provides an integrated management panel that helps IT professionals create, scale and manage cloud-hosted infrastructure, virtual data centers and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications.

Modular Approach

PACI is based on a modular architecture, enabling service providers to deploy the complete solution or select components, which can be integrated with existing solutions. For example, service providers could use PACI’s billing service or online store, or integrate PACI with their existing billing solutions, e-commerce platforms and other services. Businesses also receive access to an ecosystem of complimentary infrastructure services, such as CloudFlare for Content Delivery Network (CDN) capabilities and Scality for cloud storage management.

In addition, PACI includes built-in business logic parameters that can be tailored to the specific needs of each service provider, and administration is also simplified, as businesses can grow or shrink cloud resources, load-balance across multiple virtual machines or containers, and protect their sites and networks with firewalls and other security features. These features and other operations can be automated across multiple virtual environments, a company release noted.

“Parallels Automation for Cloud Infrastructure provides the key features and functionality that enables us to deliver the widest range of hosted services – from virtualisation storefronts to in-demand cloud applications – helping us stay ahead of the competition and compete more effectively and profitably in the cloud,” said Jason Frisch, CEO of Tsukaeru, a hosting firm that has implemented PACI in their data centre.

Virtualisation Choice

The new version of Parallels Server Bare Metal (PSBM 5.0) is fully integrated with PACI, combining Parallels Virtuozzo Containers together with hypervisor technology. The company said this combination of virtualisation capabilities gives service providers improved server density plus the flexibility to select their virtualisation technology of choice for building and managing their cloud infrastructure.

PSBM 5.0 also includes the latest release of Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for Linux (PVCfL v4.7), a high-density virtualization technology. PVCfL 4.7 is based on the latest Red Hat Linux 6 kernel, and features a new memory management scheme and full support for IPv6.

“Parallels Automation for Cloud Infrastructure enables service providers to deliver a wide range of cloud infrastructure services to meet the diverse needs of SMBs,” said Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels. “Helping the thousands of Parallels service provider partners profitably capitalise on the exploding market of cloud IaaS was our main goal, and I’m pleased with the feedback we are getting from the early adopters.”