Mirantis Adds Resource Balancer to OpenStack for Kubernetes Platform
Mirantis today updates its instance of the OpenStack framework that runs on Kubernetes clusters to include an ability to dynamically schedule workloads to better optimize the consumption of infrastructure resources.
Company CTO Shaun O’Meara said the Distributed Resource Balancer added to version 24.2 of Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes (MOSK) provides IT teams with a capability that is similar to the Distributed Resource Scaler (DRS) that VMware provides.
MOSK 24.2, based on OpenStack 2024.1, code-named Caracal, and the most recent Ceph Reef open-source software-defined storage technology, also adds support for the Open Virtual Network (OVN) as an alternative to the Open vSwitch software-defined networking (SDN) software that Mirantis previously supported.
Previously, the OpenStack community has made several efforts to provide capabilities similar to DRS, but the Mirantis approach is different in that it combines the OpenStack scheduler and live migration tools embedded on the Kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) with the ability of Kubernetes to dynamically scale consumption of infrastructure resources, said O’Meara. Those capabilities combined enable IT teams running workloads on OpenStack to more easily maximize infrastructure utilization, he noted.
In addition, IT teams can also better balance workload distribution and minimize any “noisy neighbor” issues that might arise when certain virtual machines are deployed too close together, added O’Meara.
Mirantis plans to contribute Distributed Resource Balancer to the open source community as part of an ongoing effort to be a better community citizen, said O’Meara. In the absence of vigorous support from multiple vendors, the open source community is in danger of being dominated by a small number of vendors in much the way it was in the 1990s when IBM primarily battled Microsoft, he added. Today ensuring the current pace of open source innovation is maintained is crucial, noted O’Meara.
In general, more organizations are evaluating their platform options in the wake of the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom. The cost of migrating away from VMware platforms is generally higher than the increased fees many organizations are incurring in the wake of the merger. However, many more organizations are considering a wider spectrum of platforms for new applications as part of an effort to reduce their dependency on a single vendor, noted O’Meara.
Mirantis is also making available a total cost of ownership (TCO) calculator to provide an approximation of how much can be saved by moving to Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes from rival platforms such as VMware.
Finally, MOSK also provides automated full-stack management of the underlying infrastructure, from hardware provisioning to software configuration, plus centralized logging, monitoring and alerting that can be managed across multiple cloud and on-premises IT environments via a single pane of glass, he added.
Each IT team will need to decide how many platforms they are willing to manage. Broadcom is clearly betting whatever increased costs are incurred will be much less than the total cost of managing multiple platforms. Rivals such as Mirantis, however, are conversely betting that the total cost of open-source software creates an offer that is going to be too good for anyone to ignore.
