Rackspace acquires key OpenStack contributor

Rackspace has strengthened its position within the OpenStack open-source cloud project by acquiring key contributor Anso Labs.

Anso Labs is heavily involved in Nova, the compute side of OpenStack, according to its github repository, while Rackspace developed and donated the code behind OpenStack's Swift storage component.

"Through this strategic talent acquisition, we are increasing our investment in the success of OpenStack and our open-source strategy," Lew Moorman, chief strategy officer for Rackspace Cloud, said in a statement on Wednesday. "Our commitment to collaborating with the industry and user community to build the open cloud standard has never been higher."

"Anso Labs is a core contributor to OpenStack, the open-source cloud project with more than 50 participating organisations," Moorman said.

OpenStack is a scheme to ease platform lock-in within the cloud by developing a cloud platform built around open source and open standards. Partner companies include Cisco, Citrix, Rackspace and Nasa. Its most recent release, Bexar, was delivered on 3 February.

Anso Labs holds one of four seats on the OpenStack board, with Rackspace holding two others and Citrix one. With the acquisition, Rackspace has taken three out of four of the governance board seats, according to The Register, which broke the story.

Additionally, Anso Labs maintains the Nasa Nebula cloud, from which Nova was developed, according to its website.