Multi-cloud management, hybrid clouds – these are the latest buzzwords in the cloud universe, which seems to be expanding in every direction. It's like the Grimms' story about the hare and the hedgehog: Wherever you go, the cloud is already there. Of course, not everything that looks white and wispy is necessarily the cloud, but it seems that the cloud is simply part and parcel of how things get done today. Collaborations, mobile work, big data, dynamic workplaces, internet of things... They all have a bit of cloud in them. Or around them. Or, at least, they could.

Of course, all the hype and hipness don't necessarily mean that there have been serious advances in the discussion about the issue. The topics of pay-as-you-use, flexibility, dynamics, and new cloud-native business have all become mainstream. But what about the freedom to choose the best provider? That was one of the first promises made about the cloud. A cursory look reveals that the big names in the cloud business keep reinventing the vendor lock-in.

Easy to enter but no way out, ever? This is a fear that unsettles many users. How will I get my data back? How can I move my service? How can I harness the much-lauded freedom of the cloud and the best cloud provider for my own purposes?

Dependency annoys users. This is nothing new. The public cloud has a number of improvements to make when it comes to independence. But changes are underway. Kurt Garloff recently reported from the OpenStack Summit in Austin and about the momentum that the OpenSource movement has given the cloud. OpenStack is one of the strategies for more openness and greater freedom of choice. Another one that is currently gaining ground is the Cloud Container Engine, a trend that the Open Telekom Cloud will make the most of.

As release 1.01 is currently being rolled out comes, it not only brings with it new flavors (for high-performance computing) and a relational databank service (RDS), but also the Cloud Container Engine (CCE). It is compatible with the official technical specifications – in other words, it enables access to the central Cloud Container Engine library where thousands of images are stored.

The Cloud Container Engine enables the user to move even complex applications (though not of the order of magnitude of an SAP system!) to another platform, such as from Amazon Web Services to the Open Telekom Cloud, with little effort. The Cloud Container Engine becomes even more interesting if the user doesn't want to relocate a virtual machine but a cluster, i.e. a combination of several virtual computers which handle different tasks within a single system. The Cloud Container Engine packs the application, databank, etc. into one package and move this as a single unit, rather like a logistics company loading items for transportation into a shipping container. This fact gave rise to the name "container technology".

The CCE on the Open Telekom Cloud can manage up to 500 clusters made up of virtual machines, each with max. 15 computer nodes.

Open Telekom Cloud’s CCE can administer up to 500 clusters of virtual machines each with a maximum of 15 compute nodes.