IBM/Google Cloud Environment

Google and IBM are working together on a cloud computing infrastructure that will be used to support an array of services and applications tailored for consumers and businesses. IBM/Google cloud environment could become the chief competitor for Microsoft`s Live Mesh Platform, which was unveiled in the end of April.

 

The two companies developed a cloud computing environment that runs on Linux and includes Xen virtualization and an Apache implementation of the Google File System called Hadoop. It is now being tested at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon University, notifies Computerworld.

Google's Eric Schmidt and IBM's Sam Palmisano did not announce any future plans except that IBM/Google cloud is suggested to deliver software and services to consumer and business users. Thus it would compete with Microsoft's software-plus-services strategy and the recently announced Live Mesh, a storage and synchronization framework. Microsoft is attempting to tie the cloud to desktop and devices, and its on-premise business and server applications.

Schmidt was quoted by the Dow Jones news service as saying Google's relationship with IBM is a "key plank" in its strategy "otherwise we can't reach the customers."