~~NOTOC~~
This page introduces the [[#opennebula_ecosystem |ecosystem that is evolving around OpenNebula]], and the [[#opennebula_in_the_cloud_ecosystem |relationship of OpenNebula with the different stakeholders in the virtualization and cloud computing ecosystem]].
====== OpenNebula Ecosystem ======
The OpenNebula Ecosystem is formed by **third-party tools and plug-ins that extend its functionality**.
^Package^Description^Project^Contact^
|[[http://haizea.cs.uchicago.edu/download.html|Haizea Open Source VM-based Lease Manager (Apache license)]]|Haizea can be used to **extend OpenNebula's scheduling capabilities**, allowing it to support advance reservation of resources and queuing of best effort requests (more generally, it allows you to lease your resources as VMs, with a variety of lease terms). Making OpenNebula use Haizea as a scheduler is simple, since Haizea is a a drop-in replacement for OpenNebula's default scheduler|[[http://haizea.cs.uchicago.edu/|Haizea]] |[[http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~borja/|Borja Sotomayor (University of Chicago)]] & [[http://haizea.cs.uchicago.edu/download.html|support mailing list]]|
|[[http://dc.crs4.it/tools/vct/download|Virtual Cluster Tool (Apache license)]]|VCT (Virtual Cluster Tool) is a wrapper and a set of modified drivers for OpenNebula which adds support for **atomic virtual cluster management** with versioning and multiple transport protocols.| [[http://dc.crs4.it/projects/vida|VIDA: VIrtual Deployment Architecture]]|[[http://dc.crs4.it/ | CRS4 Distributed Computing Group]]|
Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **guidance or support to develop a new component to extend OpenNebula**. We maintain a [[http://dev.opennebula.org | development infrastructure]] that hosts experimental tools, such as a **VM consolidation scheduler for Energy Efficiency**, and could also host your OpenNebula related effort. Additionally, we suggest some [[http://dev.opennebula.org/projects/1/wiki/StudentProjectIdeas
|project ideas for students and research groups]] **interested in getting involved in virtualization and cloud computing development**, or just open source development in general. [[http://www.teachingopensource.org/index.php/Main_Page|Teaching Open-Source]] supports [[http://www.teachingopensource.org/index.php/Help_Wanted:_OpenNebula|training and mentoring activities on OpenNebula]]
====== OpenNebula in the Cloud Ecosystem ======
One of our aims is to develop an excellent working **relationship with the different stakeholders in the virtualization and cloud computing ecosystem**. The open, flexible and extensible architecture, interfaces and components of OpenNebula enable its integration with any product and service in the Cloud and virtualization ecosystem, and management tool in the data center, so **adding value to all players in the ecosystem**.
===== Users =====
Users of OpenNebula are companies, research centers, and universities interested in a **flexible, open and scalable technology solution to build a Cloud infrastructure for their internal operations or for supporting new IT, scientific, or business Cloud services**; and in an **embeddable virtualization orchestrator to enhance their Cloud computing platforms and solutions**.
When you install an OpenNebula-based cloud, you become part of the growing **OpenNebula community**. Please visit the community page to see the various **levels of involvement expected from users**; and the [[http://www.opennebula.org/doku.php?id=support| support page]] to see the **levels of support offered by the developers**.
^Types of Users^Description^Do you need help?^
|**End Users**|OpenNebula is an open and flexible tool that fits into existing data center and cluster environments to **build private, hybrid and public Cloud infrastructures**|Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **help to plan, deploy or optimize your OpenNebula-based Cloud infrastructure**|
| SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS **Cloud Platforms and Solutions** |OpenNebula can be used as **embedded virtual infrastructure orchestrator** in any Cloud solution |Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **help to build your Cloud solution on OpenNebula**, so embedding or bundling a distributed VM manager in your solution kernel|
===== Technology, Service and Infrastructure Providers =====
Different cloud and virtualization technology components and services may be needed to deliver a complete OpenNebula-based cloud infrastructure.
^Types of Providers^Description^Do you need help?^
|**Cloud Infrastructure Technology**|OpenNebula leverages the functionality provided by the underlying **infrastructure technology for virtualization, network and storage management**. For example, as key building block to cloud computing, OpenNebula supports a wide range of VM managers, namely Xen, KVM, VirtualBox and VMware, trying to collaborate in their communitties: [[http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Management_Tools|KVM Management Tools]] and [[http://www.xen.org/community/projects.html|Xen Community Project]]|Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you would like **OpenNebula to support your infrastructure technology for virtualization, network and storage**, so providing your customers with a tool for building Cloud solutions upon your products|
|**Cloud Infrastructure Services**|OpenNebula supports cloudbursting to build hybrid clouds, so **combining local infrastructure with public cloud-based infrastructure and enabling highly scalable hosting environments**. For example, OpenNebula supports the following Cloud services: [[http://www.elastichosts.com/about/partners|OpenNebula as Technology Partner of ElasticHosts]] and [[http://developer.amazonwebservices.com/connect/entry.jspa?externalID=1643&categoryID=89|OpenNebula in the Amazon EC2 Solutions Catalog]]|Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you would like **OpenNebula to support your Cloud service**, so providing your users with a tool for combining their infrastructure with your resources, or to **implement your Cloud interface**, so distributing an open-source implementation to foster adoption of your Cloud services|
|**Cloud Management Services and Tools**|Cloud Tools complement cloud infrastructures with ** higher level functionality ** for service management, virtual appliance creation and deployment... An example of tool that can be used on top of OpenNebula is [[http://www.libvirt.org/apps.html|Libvirt CLI and Desktop Applications]] |Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **help to integrate your Cloud tool with OpenNebula**, so extending the range of supported platforms, or **to cloud-enable your application**|
===== Standards, Open-source, and Research =====
Finally, OpenNebula participates in different standards bodies and open-source distributions, and is being used to overcome specific research challenges in Cloud projects.
^Community^Description^Do you need help?^
|**Open-source Distributions**|OpenNebula is part of the following **open-source distributions and communities** [[https://wiki.ubuntu.com/JauntyJackalope|Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope)]] and [[http://cloudtechnologies.morfeo-project.org/|Chapter on Cloud Technologies]] in the [[http://www.morfeo-project.org/lng/en|Morfeo open-source community]]|Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you would like to **include OpenNebula in your open-source distribution**|
|**Research Projects**|OpenNebula is being used in several **international research projects about virtualization and Cloud computing**, which are addressing research challenges such as Cloud federation, energy efficiency, VM scheduling... or are evaluating the Cloud computing model for supporting scientific and educational projects. Relevant examples are: [[http://www.reservoir-fp7.eu/|RESERVOIR - Resources and Services Virtualization without Barriers]], [[http://www.stratuslab.org|StratusLab - Enhancing Grid Infrastructures with Cloud Computing]], [[http://cloud.balticgrid.eu/index.php/Documentation/OpenNebulaInstallNotes|BalticCloud]], [[http://www.eu-egee.org/fileadmin/documents/newsletter/summer-2009/EGEE-newsletter-summer-2009.html#news8|EGEE - Enabling Grids for E-sciencE]]... |Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **help to implement your research plan using OpenNebula**|
|**Standardization Bodies**|As open-source Apache-licensed technology, OpenNebula can be used to develop reference implementations of ongoing Cloud standardization efforts. For example we actively participate in the [[http://www.occi-wg.org|OGF Open Cloud Computing Interface Working Group]] |Do not hesitate to [[:about:contributors|contact us]] if you need **help to create an OpenNebula-based reference implementation**|