Ubuntu Server in the public cloud
Ubuntu Server is the number one guest server platform on the world’s leading public clouds, whether you measure the total number of instances running or the diversity of customised images available.
To a degree, that success is based on the commercial service Canonical offers public cloud providers, to ensure that their users have access to an optimised cloud guest version of Ubuntu Guest that can be consumed easily and freely.
Optimised for any cloud
Ubuntu will run as a guest operating system on top of private or public cloud infrastructure. On the public cloud services that work with us, that means you can spin up instances of Ubuntu Server in just a few clicks.
Every public cloud is different. For example, each cloud infrastructure makes its own decisions about kernel and virtualisation. To ensure that Ubuntu Server offers the very best experience on the leading public clouds, Canonical works with cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace, Microsoft Azure and HP Cloud to optimise Ubuntu Server as a guest on their respective architectures. The result is at least one version of Ubuntu Server available on–demand and without licence fees, for every major public cloud.
At Canonical, we invest in the Ubuntu experience on those public clouds to provide the most complete combination of performance, update handling, compliance and reliability in the market. We also extend our commercial offerings of certification, management, audit compliance and IP assurance to paying customers using Ubuntu on certified clouds.
Supported public clouds
Ubuntu Server is currently offered as a supported guest operating system on many public clouds, including the following:
- Amazon Web Services
- Rackspace Cloud
- HP Cloud
- Internap
- Microsoft Windows Azure
Canonical designs and implements optimal update mechanisms for every cloud. So on AWS, for example, it is now possible to obtain updates at from S3 at very low cost, thanks to infrastructure unique to AWS and Ubuntu. In fact, we engage with the cloud architects on all certified public clouds, to ensure a first class update experience.
Runs on your own infrastructure, too
Ubuntu Server can be installed as a guest on top of any OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure and used for free. The quickest and simplest way to achieve this is to use Ubuntu Cloud Infrastructure, the OpenStack IAAS option in Ubuntu Server.