Introducing c12n: Your Open Source VMware Alternative for Sovereign IaaS
Let’s face it: in the world of cloud infrastructure, traditional solutions like VMware have had their day in the sun, but they come with a price – literally. High costs, vendor lock-in, and that sinking feeling when you realize you’re stuck in a never-ending loop of license fees and recurring payments. If you’re tired of playing by their rules, we at Cloudification have the perfect antidote: c12n a 100% open-source, fully automated cloud platform that puts you back in control of your own sovereign Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
Goodbye VMware, Hello c12n
c12n is more than just an alternative; it’s a reliable, secure, open-source cloud solution that caters to modern enterprise needs, a liberation from the overpriced commercial solutions. Whether you’re managing a highly secure air-gapped environment or scaling from 5 to 500 nodes in a converged or hyper-converged setup, c12n gives you the tools to do so with ease. Our platform is entirely open source, meaning there are no licensing fees and no hidden costs – just open industry standards and transparent project development.
Under the hood: The Best of Open Source
The power behind c12n lies in its foundation of proven open-source technologies. At its core is OpenStack, a free, open standard cloud computing platform that provides all major IaaS features and has a global footprint of over 45 million compute cores.
This is complemented by Kubernetes, the leading container orchestration platform, and Ceph, a distributed software-defined storage platform capable of holding 50 PB+ of data. We also integrate Argo for Continuous Delivery, Prometheus for comprehensive monitoring, and MAAS for managing the lifecycle of bare-metal servers.
Let’s take a closer look at c12n components:
MAAS (Metal as a Service) handles the automation of physical server management, allowing for efficient resource pooling and provisioning. It allows automatic hardware discovery, firmware updates and base OS installation. Need to manage a dynamic data center? MAAS makes it easy.
Kubernetes (K8s) is the most popular container orchestration platform globally, automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It’s the backbone of cloud-native development, trusted by over 5 million users worldwide.
Ceph provides scalable, software-defined storage that supports object, block, and file storage on a unified distributed cluster. Ceph allows the management of multiple classes of devices (HDD, SSD, NVMe) in one cluster, with flexible configuration of topologies, replication factors and more. It’s highly resilient and is used in nearly half of all OpenStack deployments.
OpenStack is the most popular open-source platform for building and managing cloud infrastructure, offering flexibility and extensive support for multi-vendor hardware setups. It’s perfect for those looking to deploy infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) environments.
Gardener (KaaS) automates the management of Kubernetes clusters, ensuring they are consistently up-to-date and running smoothly. It simplifies maintaining homogeneous clusters across various infrastructures, including OpenStack.
These technologies work together within c12n to deliver a fully integrated and automated cloud platform. With GitOps, we’ve automated the deployment and operation of the platform, ensuring a seamless and declarative configuration using a state of the art approach. Monitoring and logging are handled by Prometheus and OpenSearch, providing real-time insights into cloud performance and reliability through hundreds of metrics and Grafana dashboards.
In summary, c12n provides a level of flexibility, scalability, and transparency that surpasses most of the solutions available on the market.
Why c12n is the Real Alternative
What makes c12n stand out is not just its technology but our commitment to the open-source community. We’ve contributed over 50 pull requests to the OpenStack ecosystem, but also to Kubernetes, Terraform, and other key projects. This upstream commitment ensures that c12n is always at the cutting edge of open-source innovation. Furthermore, c12n is designed to be vendor-lock free, giving you the freedom to choose your support providers or even operate the platform with your own in-house expertise like some of our customers do.
Experience Matters: The c12n Difference
Our team at Cloudification has nearly a decade of experience with OpenStack and Kubernetes, ensuring that c12n is built on best practices and designed for scalability. We’ve implemented c12n in large cloud installations with over 300 hypervisors, incorporating the lessons learned into a platform that grows with your needs. We also offer flexible support contracts tailored to your requirements, with no license fees, providing peace of mind and financial flexibility.
Flexible, Compatible, and Ready to Roll
For those concerned about hardware compatibility, c12n supports a wide range of configurations. You’ll need a minimum of six bare metal servers plus one bootstrap host, and we can work with any server vendor supporting IPMI and PXE. We can also integrate various storage solutions and separate physical storage networks for large clusters. If you’re unsure about the best hardware setup, we can assist with recommendations and installations through our hardware partners.
The Complete Package
While c12n matches all major capabilities of VMware it also offers a more transparent and flexible alternative. It is possible to replace about 80% of VMware’s offerings, providing a solid foundation for your cloud infrastructure. With comprehensive monitoring, alerting, and the option to integrate Kubernetes as a Service based on the open-source project Gardener, c12n is a complete solution covering requirements of modern enterprises. Additionally, it can be set up in fully air-gapped environments, ensuring maximum security for highly sensitive deployments.
What sets c12n apart from other OpenStack vendors is our use of industry-standard, free, and open-source tools to deploy and operate OpenStack. Unlike other vendors who might lock you into their solutions with proprietary components, c12n is designed to be fully transparent and flexible, allowing you to take control of your cloud infrastructure without the burden of hidden fees or licensing complications.
Ready to Break Free?
With c12n, you’re not just adopting a cloud solution; you’re embracing a philosophy of open-source, transparency, and control. Whether you’re looking to replace VMware, scale your cloud operations, or simply explore a flexible cloud infrastructure option, c12n is designed to meet your needs. Contact us today to learn more about how c12n can transform your cloud infrastructure and help you maintain full control of your digital future.
We’ve got the tech, the expertise, and the attitude to deliver a future-proof cloud solution that will replace your VMware clusters.
