Citrix Broadens Footprint in Cloud Infrastructure Market with “Project Olympus”
May 25 2011 - 1:30PM
Business Wire
Today at Citrix Synergy™ where virtualization takes center
stage, Citrix Systems announced “Project Olympus,” a groundbreaking
new cloud infrastructure product based on the popular OpenStack
project. By leveraging OpenStack, Project Olympus inherits all the
collective experience and innovation of hundreds of experienced
open source cloud developers – and a rapidly growing list of more
than 60 supporting commercial hardware and software vendors. As a
result, Project Olympus helps customers build real
infrastructure-as-a-service clouds that are scalable, efficient and
open-by-design, because they use the same architecture, approach
and technology that powers the largest and most successful clouds
in the world. This approach stands in stark contrast to
first-generation solutions that try to simulate cloud environments
by adding proprietary management layers on top of existing
datacenter virtualization stacks.
What’s New
- Next-Generation Cloud Infrastructure
Platform: Project Olympus is comprised of two primary
components: a Citrix-certified version of OpenStack and a
cloud-optimized version of Citrix XenServer®. Both versions
incorporate Xen® technology, the virtualization platform of choice
in more than 80 percent of the public cloud today.
- Open-by-Design: Project Olympus
will support a wide range of infrastructure, management and
development solutions, making it easy for customers to expand and
build on it. Reinforcing the Citrix commitment to customer choice,
Project Olympus will also support Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware
vSphere, just like it does in the desktop virtualization space with
its market-leading Citrix XenDesktop® product line.
- Ideal for both Public and Private
Clouds: Project Olympus is perfect for public cloud providers
who want to focus their attention on providing differentiation and
innovation, rather than recreating core cloud infrastructure. It is
also ideal for enterprise customers who want to build private
clouds with all the efficiency and flexibility that make the real
cloud so transformative.
- Key Part of the Citrix Cloud
Portfolio: Project Olympus is a key new addition to the Citrix
open cloud computing portfolio. It complements the recently
announced Citrix NetScaler® Cloud Gateway, which gives IT an easy,
unified way to orchestrate the delivery of any mix of SaaS, web and
Windows apps to end users, and NetScaler Cloud Bridge, which gives
IT unlimited capacity by seamlessly and securely extending any
datacenter to any external cloud service.
- Built-In Cloud Networking: In
addition to complementing NetScaler Cloud Gateway and Cloud Bridge,
Project Olympus will come pre-integrated with the Citrix Cloud
Networking fabric to ensure cloud applications and services are
delivered with the best performance, security and reliability. It
will also enable customers to fully leverage virtual switching and
intelligent L4-7 capabilities in Networking-as-a-Service
models.
- Early Access Program: Project
Olympus will begin shipping later this year. For customers who want
to begin pilots and proof-of-concept deployments today, Citrix is
also introducing the Citrix Project Olympus Early Access Program,
with key support from fellow OpenStack founding members, Dell and
Rackspace. The program provides a sneak peek into the upcoming
Citrix solution and helps customers get everything they need to
start building scalable clouds today. To help customers get
started, Dell and Rackspace are offering certified solutions for
the Early Access Program, including:
- Dell Early Access Support: As a
founding member of the OpenStack project, Dell understands that
configuring servers, storage and the networking to build cloud
infrastructures for the first time can be complex and
time-consuming. To address this, Dell is providing deployment
software and a fully optimized reference architecture based on the
PowerEdge C server platforms for Citrix Project Olympus Early
Access Program members.
- Rackspace Early Access Support:
Also a founder of OpenStack and customer of XenServer in its own
public cloud operation, Rackspace is one of the largest public
clouds in the world. To support the Citrix Project Olympus Early
Access Program, Rackspace will leverage its expertise to provide
deployment services, training and ongoing customer support for
customer clouds. Rackspace Cloud Builders, a team of OpenStack
experts, can help deploy and support private or public OpenStack
clouds in any data center.
Why it Matters
Project Olympus is a game-changing new solution that
provides:
- Openness: As open source-based
IaaS solutions become more prevalent, the freedom of the cloud will
be extended with seamless connections between other open source
datacenters. By bringing an open cloud alternative to the industry,
Project Olympus not only provides IT more scalability, but it also
allows them to enhance and innovate their services and apps while
dynamically expanding their compute capabilities without capital
expense.
- Proven Technology – Proven
technologies used by the largest clouds in the world – including
Citrix NetScaler and XenServer, OpenStack and Xen – have been
leveraged to provide a tested, certified, packaged version of the
open source OpenStack with a cloud-optimized version of Citrix
XenServer. As a result, the benefits of public cloud
infrastructures are accessible to the development of private clouds
for the enterprise and service providers.
- Rich Ecosystem: Project Olympus
will further accelerate the rapidly growing, rich ecosystem of
OpenStack cloud solution partners, including Dell, Intel and
Rackspace and a range of solutions for cloud management (e.g.,
Rightscale); security (e.g., Trend Micro) and Platform-as-a-Service
(PaaS) (e.g., GigaSpaces, Engine Yard).
Quotes
Sameer Dholakia, VP of Product Marketing, Datacenter and
Cloud Division, Citrix
“Public clouds like Amazon and Rackspace have set the bar for
how real clouds should be built, yet many vendors want to force-fit
the cloud into existing server virtualization architecture, giving
customers more of an imitation cloud. Citrix believes it is time to
leverage the open source community to bring cloud to a new level of
innovation with a solution that brings the open, elastic, scale-out
infrastructures of leading IaaS clouds to private clouds. There was
no better project to help bring Project Olympus to fruition than
OpenStack, with its dedicated industry support, rich ecosystem and
rapid pace of innovation.”
John Igoe, Executive Director of Development Engineering,
Dell
“Dell has been a part of the OpenStack initiative since the
beginning. We’ve participated in the community by providing
reference architectures, optimized PowerEdge C servers, and
innovative software to meet growing customer demand for an
open-source based cloud. By providing cloud-enabled versions of Xen
and XenServer, Citrix is augmenting and strengthening OpenStack,
helping drive new solutions that make it easier to accelerate
virtualization and cloud deployments alike. This is just the first
step. Dell, RackSpace and Citrix will continue collaborating
closely to drive new innovative cloud offerings and solutions.”
Jim Curry, General Manager, Rackspace Cloud Builders
“The momentum behind OpenStack is growing rapidly, and we are
seeing enterprises and service providers hungry to deploy
OpenStack-based clouds. Having a certified OpenStack distribution
from an industry leader like Citrix will provide a further rallying
point for the ecosystem and help drive adoption with service
providers and enterprises looking for a trusted, commercial
software provider to stand behind this mission-critical piece of
infrastructure software.”
Pricing and Availability
Early Access Program customers will receive Citrix Project
Olympus beta software free of charge. To sign up for the Early
Access Program, please visit: www.citrix.com/olympus. Project
Olympus – including the Citrix-certified version of OpenStack and a
cloud-optimized version of the popular Citrix XenServer – will be
generally available later this year.
Related Links
- More information on Project
Olympus
- Announcement: Citrix Unveils End-to-End
Cloud Networking Lineup
- Citrix OpenStack Community page
- Dell OpenStack Community page
- Rackspace OpenStack Community page
- OpenStack Community Member Blogs
- Dell:
- Citrix to Launch OpenStack Distro (with
a little help from Rackspace and Dell), Barton George, Cloud
Evangelist
- One Giant Leap for Cloud: Citrix, Dell,
and Rackspace Step Up with OpenStack, Joseph B George, Cloud
Strategist
- The OpenStack Rocket: How Citrix, Dell
& Rackspace Collaboration Propels OpenStack, Rob Hirschfeld,
Cloud Architect
- Engine Yard: Ruby, the Cloud,
and Open Standards, Mike Piech, VP of Product Management and
Marketing
- GigaSpaces: GigaSpaces Citrix
integration on top of OpenStack, Nati Shalom, CTO and Founder
- Intel: Let’s Just Leave the Barn
Door Open, Billy Cox, Director, Cloud Builders
- Rackspace: OpenStack Gains
Enterprise Backing: A Peek at Project Olympus, Mark Collier, VP of
Marketing and Business Development
- Rightscale: Commercial Support
for OpenStack on the Horizon, Thorsten von Eicken, CTO and
Founder
- Trend Micro: Open Source Clouds
Become Enterprise-Grade: Citrix and OpenStack, Dave Asprey, VP
Cloud Security
Follow us Online
- Citrix Synergy Newsroom
- Project Olympus page
- Citrix Tech Previews
- About Citrix Synergy
- Twitter: @Citrix, @Citrix_Synergy,
@CitrixCloud, #CitrixOlympus, #CitrixSynergy
About Citrix
Citrix Systems (”Citrix”) (Nasdaq: CTXS) is a leading provider
of virtual computing solutions that help companies deliver IT as an
on-demand service. Founded in 1989, Citrix combines virtualization,
networking, and cloud computing technologies into a full portfolio
of products that enable virtual workstyles for users and virtual
datacenters for IT. More than 230,000 organizations worldwide rely
on Citrix to help them build simpler and more cost-effective IT
environments. Citrix partners with more than 10,000 companies in
more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion.
For more information on Citrix, visit www.citrix.com.
For Citrix Investors
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in
this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance.
Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially, including risks associated
with revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products, their
development and distribution, product demand and pipeline, economic
and competitive factors, the Company’s key strategic relationships,
acquisition and related integration risks as well as other risks
detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking information contained in this press release or with
respect to the announcements described herein.
The development, release and timing of any features or
functionality described for our products remains at our sole
discretion and is subject to change without notice or consultation.
The information provided is for informational purposes only and is
not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any
material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in
making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.
Citrix®, Citrix Synergy™, NetScaler®, Xen®, XenServer®,
XenDesktop® are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or
more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks
and registered trademarks are property of their respective
owners.
Citrix Systems (NASDAQ:CTXS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
Citrix Systems (NASDAQ:CTXS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024