Eucalyptus is a robust open source platform that enables organisations to build private and hybrid clouds, offering cost efficiency, flexibility, and control. Its compatibility with AWS services makes it ideal for integrating on-premises infrastructure with the public cloud.

Cloud computing has transformed the way organisations manage their IT infrastructure by providing on-demand access to computing resources such as servers, storage, databases, and software over the internet. This eliminates the need for physical hardware and allows businesses to scale resources according to their needs, which in turn reduces operational costs, improves efficiency, and enhances flexibility.

Cloud computing operates on three primary service models: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). These models offer varying levels of control and flexibility for businesses. IaaS, in particular, allows organisations to rent IT infrastructure (such as virtual machines and storage) and provides the most control over their resources.

For many organisations, especially those with specific security, compliance, or performance needs, public cloud services may not always be the ideal solution. This is where private and hybrid clouds become crucial.

Private clouds provide a dedicated environment hosted either on-premises or in a third-party data centre, offering organisations full control over their infrastructure and data. Hybrid clouds combine the benefits of private clouds with public cloud services, enabling businesses to extend their private infrastructure with the flexibility and scalability of the public cloud when needed. This setup helps manage workloads dynamically, optimise costs, and achieve greater operational efficiency.

Eucalyptus is an open source software platform that enables businesses to build private and hybrid cloud environments. It provides organisations with a cost-effective solution for implementing cloud computing within their existing IT infrastructure. The name ‘Eucalyptus’ stands for ‘Elastic Utility Computing Architecture for Linking Your Programs to Useful Systems’.

What makes Eucalyptus stand out is its compatibility with Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides a framework for building private and hybrid clouds that can mimic the behaviour of AWS services such as EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) and S3 (Simple Storage Service). This allows organisations to leverage AWS APIs and seamlessly integrate their on-premises infrastructure with public cloud resources provided by AWS.

As an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solution, Eucalyptus allows organisations to deploy, manage, and scale computing resources such as virtual machines, storage, and networking services within a private cloud environment. It gives businesses the flexibility to retain control over their data and resources while also enabling them to take advantage of public cloud offerings when necessary. This makes Eucalyptus an ideal solution for organisations looking to create AWS-compatible private or hybrid cloud infrastructures without being locked into a single cloud provider.

History and evolution

Eucalyptus originated as a research project at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2008. Its primary goal was to create an open source software platform capable of building private and hybrid cloud environments that could emulate the services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Eucalyptus became one of the first platforms to offer AWS API compatibility, making it highly attractive to organisations looking for a flexible, cloud-native solution while maintaining the option to integrate with AWS for hybrid cloud setups. Initially designed for academic and research purposes, Eucalyptus rapidly gained attention from the industry due to its open source nature and its potential to bridge private infrastructure with public cloud services.

Here are the key milestones in Eucalyptus’ evolution.

2009: Eucalyptus Systems, Inc. was founded to commercialise the platform and support its adoption in enterprise environments.

2012: Eucalyptus partnered with AWS, ensuring continued API compatibility between the two platforms. This was a significant step in reinforcing its position as a hybrid cloud solution.

2014: Hewlett-Packard acquired Eucalyptus with a vision to integrate its cloud offerings, particularly in hybrid cloud deployments. Despite the acquisition, the development and support for Eucalyptus continued.

2015 onwards: While newer platforms such as OpenStack gained traction, Eucalyptus has retained relevance due to its specialised AWS integration and ease of use for hybrid cloud scenarios.

Eucalyptus has since become a powerful tool for enterprises looking to implement cost-effective, AWS-compatible private clouds. Although the open source landscape has expanded with alternatives like OpenStack, Eucalyptus maintains a loyal user base due to its streamlined interface and specific use cases in hybrid cloud computing.

Key features of Eucalyptus

AWS API compatibility: Full compatibility with AWS services like EC2, S3, EBS, and IAM enables seamless integration and workload movement between private clouds and AWS.

Scalability: Eucalyptus allows dynamic allocation of compute, storage, and network resources, scaling to meet changing demands.

Flexibility: It supports both Linux and Windows, and can be deployed on commodity hardware, making it cost-efficient and customisable.

Security: Built-in user authentication, role-based access control, and AWS IAM integration ensure secure access and resource management.

Virtualisation support: Supports multiple hypervisors like KVM and Xen, providing flexibility in virtualisation.

Hybrid cloud functionality: Eucalyptus enables hybrid cloud setups, allowing seamless workload migration between private clouds and AWS for disaster recovery, development, and testing.

A comparison with other cloud platforms

→ Eucalyptus versus OpenStack

AWS compatibility: Eucalyptus excels in AWS API compatibility, making it ideal for organisations using or planning hybrid architectures with AWS. OpenStack, while powerful, lacks the same level of AWS integration, complicating setups.

Ease of use: Eucalyptus is simpler to set up compared to OpenStack, which has a more complex, modular architecture requiring deeper customisation. This makes Eucalyptus more appealing to smaller teams or those seeking quicker deployments.

Community and ecosystem: OpenStack has a larger community and broader vendor support, whereas Eucalyptus, though focused, lacks the same level of community backing.

→ Eucalyptus vs VMware vCloud

Cost efficiency: Eucalyptus is an open source platform, making it a more affordable option compared to proprietary platforms like VMware vCloud. Organisations can deploy Eucalyptus using commodity hardware and without the costly licensing fees associated with VMware’s products.

AWS API support: Eucalyptus provides out-of-the-box AWS API compatibility, which is not a native feature of VMware vCloud. This makes Eucalyptus a better choice for organisations that want seamless integration with AWS.

Maturity and support: VMware vCloud offers a more mature and enterprise-grade support system than Eucalyptus, which can be crucial for larger businesses with complex cloud infrastructures. However, this comes with a higher cost and potential vendor lock-in.

→ Eucalyptus versus Microsoft Azure Stack

Platform integration: While Azure Stack is designed for organisations heavily invested in Microsoft Azure, Eucalyptus is tailored for those who wish to remain in the AWS ecosystem. Organisations that prefer AWS over Microsoft Azure will find Eucalyptus more fitting for hybrid cloud scenarios.

Cost and flexibility: Eucalyptus, being open source, offers greater cost flexibility and the ability to avoid vendor lock-in compared to Azure Stack, which requires licensing and subscription costs. For organisations seeking more control over their infrastructure without being tied to a single provider, Eucalyptus can be a more strategic choice.

Eucalyptus is often chosen for its AWS compatibility, making it ideal for hybrid cloud environments that integrate with public cloud services. Its ease of use, scalability, and cost-effectiveness appeal to small to medium enterprises seeking to avoid vendor lock-in. The ability to seamlessly migrate workloads between private clouds and AWS makes it well-suited for disaster recovery and flexible development environments. While it lacks the extensive ecosystem of OpenStack or VMware, its focus on AWS integration sets it apart in hybrid cloud deployments.

Building a private cloud with Eucalyptus

Setting up Eucalyptus

Setting up a private cloud using Eucalyptus involves several steps that require careful consideration of both hardware and software requirements. Here’s an outline of the process.

→ Hardware requirements

Servers: At least two physical servers are needed, one for the cloud controller (CLC) and the other for the node controller (NC). For larger environments, additional node controllers and cluster controllers may be deployed.

Memory: Minimum 4GB RAM for the cloud controller and 2GB for each node controller, depending on the number of virtual machines (VMs) to be hosted.

Storage: Disk storage varies depending on VM needs. SSDs or fast HDDs are recommended for performance.

Network: A reliable and fast network infrastructure, with at least 1Gbps Ethernet, is required to ensure efficient communication between cloud components and client machines.

→ Software requirements

Operating system: Eucalyptus can run on several Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, CentOS, and RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).

Virtualisation: It supports KVM and Xen hypervisors for virtualisation. Ensure that the chosen hypervisor is installed and configured on the node controllers.

Database: A MySQL or MariaDB database is required to store metadata, configurations, and user data for Eucalyptus.

→ Installation and configuration

The process of installing and configuring Eucalyptus involves the following steps.

Install Eucalyptus: Install Eucalyptus software using the package manager for your Linux distribution. For example, on CentOS, run:

yum install eucalyptus

Cloud controller (CLC) setup: Install the CLC on a dedicated server to manage user requests and resources. The CLC also includes the Walrus Service for S3-compatible storage.

Set up cluster controllers (CC): Install CCs to handle networking and communication between the CLC and node controllers in multi-cluster environments, ensuring VMs are properly configured.

Node controller (NC) configuration: Configure NCs to host virtual machines, manage local resources (CPU, memory, disk), and interact with the CLC.

Storage controller (SC) setup: Install SCs to manage EBS-like volumes, handling storage requests and attaching volumes to VMs.

Configure networking: Set up networking using Eucalyptus modes (managed, unmanaged, or static). ‘Managed Mode’ handles IP addressing and networking automatically.

Testing and access: Test the cloud by launching instances via the CLI or web interface, ensuring proper VM provisioning and storage attachment.

Provisioning compute resources

Eucalyptus allows on-demand provisioning of virtual machines (VMs), similar to AWS EC2 instances.

Cloud controller (CLC): CLC is central to Eucalyptus, handling user requests and managing resource allocation. It supports interactions via APIs (compatible with AWS EC2), web interfaces, or command-line tools, enabling users to request VMs, configure networks, and allocate storage.

Node controller (NC): The node controller (NC) runs on physical servers, managing VMs by allocating compute, memory, and storage resources using hypervisors like KVM or Xen. It interacts with the cloud controller (CLC) and cluster controller (CC) to fulfil resource requests.

Storage controller (SC): The storage controller (SC) provides persistent block storage (EBS-like) to VMs. It manages volumes that retain data beyond VM termination and coordinates with the CLC for efficient storage request handling.

Here are the steps that must be followed to provision compute resources.

Define virtual machine image: Choose or upload a VM image (e.g., EMI or AMI) from the catalogue.

Launch VM instance: Use the ‘Eucalyptus Management Console’ or command-line tools to specify instance type and network settings, which the NC uses to provision the VM.

Monitor and manage VMs: Access running VMs via SSH or remote desktop, and use Eucalyptus tools to monitor performance metrics like CPU usage and memory consumption.

Managing storage resources

Eucalyptus supports block storage and object storage.

Block storage (EBS-like volumes): Managed by the storage controller, block storage provides persistent volumes similar to AWS EBS. Users can create, attach, and detach volumes, with features like snapshots for backups.

Object storage (S3-compatible): The Walrus Service offers S3-compatible storage, enabling users to manage data objects with features like buckets, ACLs, and versioning. It provides scalable storage for unstructured data, with integration into IAM for access control.

Overall, Eucalyptus offers a robust and cost-effective AWS-compatible solution for managing compute and storage resources in private and hybrid clouds.

Integrating Eucalyptus with AWS

Eucalyptus facilitates hybrid cloud integration by offering compatibility with AWS APIs. Organisations can run a private cloud on their hardware with Eucalyptus while leveraging AWS for additional capacity during peak times or for specific services.

EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): Eucalyptus provides an EC2-compatible environment for managing virtual machines, easing the transition between private and public clouds.

S3 (Simple Storage Service): The Walrus service in Eucalyptus offers S3-compatible storage, allowing for seamless data synchronisation and backup between on-premises and AWS.

IAM (identity and access management): Eucalyptus supports IAM-compatible policies, aligning access controls across both private and public cloud environments.

Seamless integration: Eucalyptus ensures that applications and data can easily move between private and public clouds. For example, apps can be developed and tested in Eucalyptus and then deployed to AWS for production. Businesses can also use AWS for additional resources during peak times, while maintaining baseline operations in their private cloud.

Use cases and real-world applications

Disaster recovery: Eucalyptus can be used to maintain backups in AWS, ensuring quick recovery and continuity in case of a disaster.

Development and testing: Developers can use Eucalyptus for testing in an EC2-compatible environment, with the option to deploy to AWS for production.

Extending on-premises resources: Organisations can scale their on-premises resources with AWS during high-demand periods, using Eucalyptus for seamless integration.

NASA Nebula used Eucalyptus for a hybrid cloud setup, managing private cloud infrastructure while leveraging AWS. UC Santa Barbara implemented Eucalyptus for research computing, extending to AWS for larger-scale tests as needed.

Benefits of using Eucalyptus

Cost efficiency: Eucalyptus reduces costs by enabling organisations to use their existing infrastructure for private and hybrid clouds, avoiding the high expenses of public cloud services. As an open source platform, it eliminates licensing fees and allows for customisation, lowering the upfront investment. Additionally, it prevents vendor lock-in, offering financial flexibility by allowing businesses to switch platforms without penalties.

Flexibility and control: Eucalyptus provides significant flexibility in resource management and customisation. Organisations can tailor their cloud environment to meet specific needs, allowing precise control over compute, storage, and networking resources. Deploying Eucalyptus on-premises ensures full control over data and infrastructure, maintaining data governance and compliance within the organisation. This approach is particularly advantageous for industries with strict regulatory requirements, unlike public cloud solutions where data might be located remotely.

Scalability and performance: Eucalyptus supports high scalability, allowing businesses to handle fluctuating demands by provisioning additional compute resources or integrating with AWS for temporary workloads. This seamless AWS extension helps manage large-scale operations without frequent hardware upgrades. A well-designed Eucalyptus cloud reduces latency and improves response times by keeping critical workloads on-premises. It also provides performance optimisation tools like load balancing and autoscaling to ensure efficient resource use and minimise bottlenecks.

Technical challenges

Compatibility issues: Integrating Eucalyptus with other cloud platforms or IT systems can be challenging, particularly if certain services are not fully supported. While Eucalyptus is designed to be compatible with AWS APIs, some integrations might still encounter difficulties.

Technical complexity: Setting up and managing a Eucalyptus-based cloud can be complex, especially for organisations without extensive cloud expertise. It requires handling Linux-based systems, networking, and cloud management, as well as ensuring high availability and managing upgrades.

Security considerations

While Eucalyptus enables organisations to retain control over their data, it also places the responsibility for cloud security on them. This includes implementing best practices such as network segmentation, encryption of data at rest and in transit, and secure authentication mechanisms like IAM.

In hybrid cloud setups, which combine private Eucalyptus clouds with AWS, security is crucial. Organisations must manage access controls carefully, ensuring AWS-compatible credentials are secure, and encrypt data synchronisation between public and private clouds to protect sensitive information.

The future

The future of Eucalyptus is likely to be shaped by trends in cloud computing. As hybrid solutions become more popular, Eucalyptus may enhance its compatibility with a broader range of public cloud services beyond AWS. Emerging technologies such as edge computing and IoT could also influence its evolution, enabling Eucalyptus to support distributed cloud environments with low-latency requirements.

Additionally, with the growing reliance on AI and ML workloads, Eucalyptus might adapt to better support these technologies. Future developments could focus on integrating AI and ML frameworks, allowing organisations to manage data-intensive tasks while retaining control over their proprietary models and datasets.

Despite challenges like technical complexity and security concerns, Eucalyptus remains a versatile and cost-effective choice for businesses aiming to retain control over their cloud infrastructure. Its ability to integrate with AWS and its potential for future growth in hybrid and emerging cloud technologies underscore its relevance.