VMware Inc. may have the best-known brand name in virtualization, but that hasn’t made it easy to join an open source cloud computing group.
When the board of directors of the OpenStack Foundation met this week, VMware’s application to join was on the agenda. But as this report from NetworkWorld U.S. details, the board didn’t get around to vote. It isn’t clear if that’s because the board ran out of time, or if there are questions about what VMware’s contribution will be.
A little background: OpenStack is an effort to create an open source cloud computing platform for public and private cloud providers. The OpenStack Foundation is a group which supports and the work and helps share resources. Its goals including delivering high quality software releases that companies can rely on to run their businesses. The foundation held first board election was held last week.
Individuals and vendors can be members of the foundation, and at an Aug. 28 meeting VMware was up for membership. As the NetworkWorld article points out, foundation members are interested in whether VMware will integrate ESX hypervisor into the OpenStack project. VMware is partly in by virtue of its recent purchase of Nicira. But the article quotes a VMware official as being coy about ESX.
The board next meets in October.