Cloud broker RightScale has launched more than 1 million servers on the cloud through its RightScale Cloud Management Platform, the company announced today. RightScale, a three-year old cloud specialist, has helped deploy cloud installations for clients ranging from social gaming company Zynga to entertainment conglomerate Sony Music.
"One million is a big number and testifies to the enormous traction that cloud computing – and automated cloud management – has achieved," said Michael Crandell, RightScale CEO. "It also presents more undeniable evidence that it’s no longer a question of whether or not cloud computing will become a major force for change in IT – it’s only a question of how fast."
The announcement underscores the ease and speed with which companies are deploying virtual servers on cloud computing platforms. RightScale has worked closely with the social gaming sector, but its growth also suggests the potentially large role for companies serving as cloud brokers to help companies deploy apps on cloud platforms.
Google is rumored to have deployed more than 1 million physical servers. And any number of companies may have deployed at least 1 million virtual servers in their operations. But the RightScale announcement - which accompanied its rollout of new enterprise-focused features for its management platform - provides a big, shiny data point to reflect on the growth of cloud computing as a trend.
To celebrate the milestone, RightScale announced a "1 Million+ Servers Launched" contest in which participants guess how many servers the company will have launched in the cloud by the date of the RightScale User Meetup on April 21 in New York.
To learn more about RightScale, here's our June 2009 video conversation with Crandell, who talked about his company's niche in "managing clouds" on multiple platforms (including Amazon Web Services, Google App Engine and FlexiScale), as well as trends in enterprise interest in cloud computing. This video runs about 9 minutes, 30 seconds.
