Cloud computing is designed to harness the power of networks of computers and communications in a cost effective way. Cloud systems offer cheap access to huge computational, storage, and network resources. These systems offer per-user and per-application isolation and customization via a service interface that is often implemented using high-level language technologies, well-defined Application Programming Interfaces, and web services.
Most people will have used cloud computing in one form or another. If you have an email account with Gmail, Yahoo! Mail or Hotmail then you have experience of using a front end of cloud computing. At the back end of the system are the various computers, servers and data storage systems that create the “cloud” of computing services which are hidden from the end user.
There is a wide selection of open source cloud management tools that help to automate, monitor, provision, track and tweak your cloud computing infrastructure. Below is a list of 6 open source cloud management tools that have caught our attention. With good reason, these are some of the finest open source tools and libraries available to help integrate and manage cloud instances, and optimize resources.
Let’s explore the 6 cloud management tools at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Cloud Management Tools | |
|---|---|
| Puppet | Centralised configuration management for networks |
| Chef | Configuration management system written in Ruby |
| Libcloud | Unified interface to manage cloud services |
| Juju | Build entire environments in the cloud with only a few commands |
| jclouds | Cloud agnostic library |
| Ganeti | Cluster virtual server management software tool |
This article has been revamped in line with our recent announcement.
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |