On 04/01/2013 03:26 PM, Joe Brockmeier wrote:
Hey all,
This is a draft of the 4.1.0 release announcement - since we're getting
close to the release, we should get this nailed down by Wednesday or
Thursday. I'll take point on gathering feedback and getting this
finalized. Once we have a more-or-less final draft, I'll loop Sally in.
# Apache CloudStack 4.1.0 Released
The Apache CloudStack project is pleased to announce the 4.1.0 release
of the CloudStack Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud orchestration
platform. This is the first major release from Apache CloudStack since
its graduation from the Apache Incubator on March 20th.
Apache CloudStack is an integrated software platform that allows users
to build a feature-rich IaaS. CloudStack includes an intuitive user
interface and rich API for managing the compute, networking, accounting,
and storage for private, hybrid, or public clouds.
This last sentence seems funky to me, but I could be crazy. If i leave
out part of the sentence ... "rich API for managing the compute ... for
private, hybrid, or public clouds" ... well, it just doesn't seem to
sound correct said out loud. Does it make more sense to say, "... for
managing compute, network, accounting, and storage resources in private,
hybrid, or public clouds," ??
The 4.1.0 release represents more than five months of development effort
by the Apache CloudStack community. The release includes many new
features and bugfixes from the 4.0.x cycle. The 4.1.0 release also marks
major changes in the codebase to make CloudStack easier for developers,
a new structure for creating RPM/Debian packages, and completes the
changeover to using Maven as a build tool.
## New Features
Some of the notable new features in Apache CloudStack 4.1.0 include:
* An API discovery service that allows an end point to list its
supported APIs and their details.
* Added an Events Framework to CloudStack to provide an "event bus" with
publish, subscribe, and unsubscribe semantics. Includes a RabbitMQ
plugin that can interact with AMQP servers. Introduces the notion of a
state change event.
* Implement L3 router functionality in the Nicira NVP plugin.
I seem to recall that this was previously L2 and Xen-only; if I'm right
(haha) and it's not just L3 but also expanding to Xen *and* KVM, perhaps
that's worth calling out?
* API request throttling to prevent attacks via frequent API requests.
* AWS-style regions.
* Egress firewall rules for guest networks.
* Resizing root and data volumes.
* Reset SSH key to access VMs.
* Support for EC2 Query API.
* Auto Scaling support in conjunction with load balancing devices such
as NetScaler.
I usually see this as "autoscaling" (or occasionally "auto-scaling"),
unless being used in reference to the Amazon product, which is called
"Auto Scaling" - perhaps I'm being overly nitpicky (and late to the
party, since some of the docs refer to it as Auto Scaling). It does
immediately come right after an EC2 reference; I don't know if anyone
would confuse them, just food for thought. At the minimum maybe just
saying "Auto scaling" (without the capital S) makes it read less similarly.
Is there an expanded list that readers can be pointed to for more
in-depth details about the new features (release notes, perhaps)? This
is short and sweet, which is good for brevity -- but if I'm new to the
project, or press, downloading isn't the quickest route to that info,
and going to the website/wiki may take some nosing around. There are
lots of cool new things, make sure they get their proper glory! :)
$.02,
-Robyn
## Downloads
The official source is available from:
http://cloudstack.apache.org/downloads.html
In addition to the official source code release, individual contributors
have also made convenience binaries available. You can find links to the
convenience binaries on the download page as well.
## About Apache CloudStack
Apache CloudStack is a complete software suite for creating
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds. Target environments include
service providers and enterprises. It is used by many service providers
to set up an on-demand, elastic cloud computing services and by
enterprises to set up a private cloud for use by their own employees.
Apache CloudStack is also available to individuals and organizations
that wish to study and implement an IaaS for personal, educational,
and/or production use.
Further information on Apache CloudStack can be found at
cloudstack.apache.org.
# # #
Best,
jzb
