CloudSigma Joins Short List of Canonical-Certified Ubuntu Cloud Providers

CloudSigma is now one of the handful of Canonical-certified Ubuntu cloud providers. The certification means that Canonical has validated CloudSigma, and that the company's Ubuntu server guest images have been optimized.

CloudSigma offers SSD storage and lets users define storage topologies on its cloud. It touts flexibility in resource provisioning as a major benefit. CloudSigma is cross-platform, but it already has a significant number of Ubuntu users.

The company has been working with Ubuntu over the past few months to become a certified partner. In addition to optimized guest images, customers coming to CloudSigma can be assured the Ubuntu server images are updated daily and have access to a full repository for Ubuntu-related cloud applications.

“The main benefit of the relationship is Ubuntu is just a smoother experience for customers,” ,” said CloudSigma CEO Robert Jenkins. “We have the full integration with Ubuntu, including orchestration, contextualization, and functionality. What they’re getting from an end-user perspective is a best-practice cloud image.”

The optimization does make a significant difference, according to Jenkins. Depending on the configuration, there is a performance gain over non-optimized Ubuntu images.

CloudSigma joins an exclusive list of Ubuntu-certified cloud providers. The others are IBM SoftLayer, VMware, Joyent, Amazon Web Services, and HP.

Ubuntu has a sustained track record as the most popular guest operating system in the world’s major public clouds, with around 70 percent of workloads running on Ubuntu thanks to its security, versatility and a policy of regular updates.

CloudSigma has been expanding its cloud's physical footprint rapidly. It recently added three new locations in San Jose, California, Miami, and Honolulu. Its other cloud locations include dual sites in its home base Zurich and in the Washington, D.C., area.