An "Elastic Server" is a mass customized application stack; just the software you want, no more, no less. These custom application stacks can be assembled from component libraries, configured to a variety of virtualization and cloud-ready formats, downloaded and deployed quickly and easily.

"Elastic Server Platform" is our online service for custom configuration and assembling of application stacks (Elastic Servers) and making them available in a variety of virtualization-ready formats. It also provides a download directory of the stacks you have built, as well as stacks published by other users. It provides a dashboard view which highlights the most popular components as well as an overall view of community activity. Additionally the platform allows any individual, team or company to be a software component provider through importing their software offerings into the platform. Also, any individual, team or company can distribute or sell their finished servers through Elastic Server Sites which allow their customers to customize and download servers in virtualization and cloud-ready formats.

The virtualization we refer to is “platform virtualization”. Given a hardware platform, the "host" operating system creates a simulated computer environment (a virtual machine) for its "guest" software. The "guest" software, is often a complete operating system that runs just as if it were installed on a stand-alone computer.

1. Partitioning

• Multiple applications and operating systems can be supported within a single physical system
• Servers can be consolidated into virtual machines on either a scale-up or scale-out architecture
• Computing resources are treated as a uniform pool to be allocated to virtual machines in a controlled manner

2. Isolation

• Virtual machines are completely isolated from the host machine and other virtual machines. If a virtual machine crashes, all others are unaffected
• Data does not leak across virtual machines and applications can only communicate over configured network connections

3. Encapsulation

• Complete virtual machine environment is saved as a single file; easy to back up, move and copy
• Standardized virtualized hardware is presented to the application - guaranteeing compatibility

Cloud computing refers to computing resources being accessed which are typically owned and operated by a third-party provider on a consolidated basis in Data Center locations. Consumers of cloud computing services purchase computing capacity on-demand and are not concerned with the underlying technologies used to achieve the increase in server capability. The Elastic Server Platform allows users to assemble and deploy servers to Cloud Computing Platforms in minutes.

CohesiveFT proudly uses GetSatisfaction to manage its support inquiries. Please post all questions at http://getsatisfaction/cohesiveft . For Commercial support login to our support site and open a ticket.

Check the community directory for pre-configured Elastic Servers by either clicking on the download link at the top of the page or going to the Community Directory .

See the feature comparison between our editions for that latest information. In general the Community Edition is for non-commercial use for developers, architects and operations staff to experiment and do proof of concepts around virtualization and basic cloud computing. The Personal Edition is for individuals who are beginning to run their business, and/or their customer's business through production use of virtualization and cloud computing. Our Team Edition (later in 08) brings these features to integrated workgroups; where each member has private resources and shared team resources.

Elastic Servers come with a terms of use license. Community Edition servers are for non-commercial use. Personal Edition allows you to deploy 5 instances (or copies of instances) for production use per month. Additional deployment licenses can be purchased in "10 packs" for the Personal Edition.

Since the software inside the Elastic Server is "your stack", comprised of your own choices of open source, commercial source for which you have licenses, or your own "personal" source, we do not charge for the servers. The subscription to the Elastic Server Platform enables you to use our on-demand processes to capture your server definitions and reproduce them with speed and quality for virtualization and cloud computing. As part of this subscription we have terms of use constraints on how many virtual server instances can be deployed to production on a monthly basis. Additional deployment licenses can be purchased.

CohesiveFT endeavors to make as much of our capabilities available to customers as self-service. We don't like talking to sales people and we assume you don't either. That said, if you have questions or needs beyond what our Community Edition and Personal Edition Trial can provide we are happy to discuss those needs in a phone consultation, contact us . Currently we are getting a lot of questions about when and where to use "P2V" (physical to virtual), V2V (virtual to virtual), D2C (datacenter to cloud) and how the Elastic Server Platform's "Zero to Virtual" approach facilitates these virtualization strategies.

The Elastic Server Manager is a web UI management console shipped with all Elastic Servers. The Elastic Server Manager provides the user with one central location to manage the Elastic Server: starting and stopping component processes, manage time settings, manage user access, change network settings, view and install updates, view and download logs, and manage the Elastic Server firewall.

“Rubberbands” are small software components that make connect all or part of an Elastic Server to an "ambient environment". This might be connectors to enterprise monitoring systems like Tivoli or Unicenter, or small adaptors for ensuring an appropriate launch of a component in a computing cloud from vendors like Amazon or Flexiscale. For example, this includes linkages to our built in firewall, to the web-based admin screens, or setting desired default behavior for a particular stack component. We will be adding an initial set of rubberbands to connect popular components to the Elastic Server Manager. In the future we will provide a mechanism for community created rubberbands to be included in the component repository.

The Elastic Server Manager is available via HTTP on port 2999 and HTTPS on port 4433. Your Elastic Server's IP is dependent on where it is deployed. In local virtualization deployments the Elastic Server will display its IP on the splash screen when it is finished booting. For Cloud Deployments (Amazon EC2) you can access the Elastic Server Manager via the EC2 Manager on the Elastic Server Platform. The service is accessed by visiting http://elasticserver.com/ec2 and clicking on 'Manage Running Instances' next to your listed EC2 credentials. The resulting page displays all EC2 Elastic Servers available for launch and currently running Elastic Server at the bottom. Click on the 'Admin Console' link next to the running instance.

All Elastic Servers are shipped with 'cftuser' credentials. You can choose to use a static password or let the Elastic Server Platform generate a random one on the Server Configuration Page during assembly. We do not ship the root credentials but users can sudo to root and modify configuration files. Currently there should be no limitation on what the cftuser can do via sudo. Try "sudo su" and use cftuser's password, and you will become root. Just remember when doing things as the superuser you can make changes that could break the Elastic Server.

Yes, there is an Alpha Version of the Elastic Server Manager listed on our Developer Wiki .

Elastic Server Sites can be thought of as portals for assembling Elastic Servers defined by an individual, a team or a company for use. These Sites are created using a built-in portal editor which requires a but of familiarity with web page content management systems where HTML, CSS, and forms are used. Elastic Server Sites lets you create content pages with grouped components for different areas of interest. The types of Sites currently available in the Community Edition include: Open Source Projects (ex. Mule ESB); Industry Standards (ex. AMQP), and Technical Communities (ex. SOA Parts for Java, RoR). Private Sites for enterprise specific IT initiatives can be created.

Site creation is restricted to Personal and Enterprise Edition users. The Elastic Server Platform has a Site Editor that makes Site creation easier than most Website CMSs. If you are interested in creating a technical interest site or Open Source site for the Community Edition - let us know - we will most likely say "yes".

You can make a recommendation/request on our GetSatisfaction site . You can also use the "Bring Your Own" (BYO) feature set to upload your own components (described below).

We allow Elastic Server Platform users to add to the component library on a community-shared or private basis depending on your edition subscription via BYO.
In the future, we intend to allow Elastic Server Platform users to add to the component library on a community-shared, team-shared or private basis.

BYO stands for "Bring Your Own". BYO is a set of features available to Elastic Server Platform users today. BYO allows users to upload their desired component package and bundle it in the Elastic Server Component Library for inclusion in Elastic Servers.

At the basic level, a "Package" is the smallest component that we support for installation of applications onto an Elastic Server. It could be a single file or a set of files archived together. For example, a Red Hat RPM file is a "Package". Similarly, a Debian DEB file is a "Package".

The Platform doesn't allow for direct installation of "Packages". Since most people will want to have a set of "Packages" rather than a single one, we chose to work with "Bundles". A "Bundle" is a collection of "Packages" grouped together to form a single set that can be added to Elastic Server Sites and assembled into Elastic Servers. Also, bundles can be grabbed "ala carte" using the Bundle Explorer for assembly into an Elastic Server. An analogy would be that the "Package" is the atom, the "Bundle" is the molecule. Sometimes the atom is useful by itself, but often the molecule is more useful.

BYO Bundles are available on the "My Packages and Bundles" page or from the "Bundle Explorer"   if the bundles are shared by the user.

Below is a brief HOWTO:
- From the "My Packages and Bundles" page, click on "Build New Package"
- Select the package type (Jar, War, Ruby on Rails, Mule endpoint, or Tar file)
- Fill in the necessary information
- Click next and choose your source file
- Click "Build Now" and wait for a couple of minutes - Your package is ready and (if you checked "Make it a Bundle") so is your bundle
Note: The bundle is imported into the system at this point, but it may take up to 15 minutes for it to be ready for use in assembling servers.

Currently private packages and bundles are enabled in both the Community and Personal Editions BUT will be restricted to Personal Edition in the near future. Community Edition users will import their components into a "staging area" where they can then publish to the community. By default your packages and bundles are private. Only you can see them. There is an option to make them available to the community. In the future we will be implementing an additional layer whereby you'll be able to make your bundles available to a specific group of people.

That is your decision. We have seen stacks that we think "don't work", but it is the user's choice. That said we monitor build errors that are a result of conflicting versions, port conflicts, etc. and add a conflict rule to our database so the next user of that combination of components is warned before attempting to assemble a server. CFT-created Elastic Server Sites are also tested to ensure all combinations created have no conflicts. Elastic Server Sites created by community members, teams or companies could have conflicts. Because the Platform is always growing with user generated components and portals, the knowledge of the conflict rulebase will also continue to grow. Ultimately, we want users to have the option of "their stack" how they want it, without limitations imposed by us.

Yes, community members will be able to see information you enter on your 'Profile' page. Your username, title, company, URL, about you paragraph, and your build stats will be published on our community site.

Before you click 'Save & Build' on the 'Server Configuration' screen, there is a check box to share the server in the Public Directory located under the server name and description fields. You can also share your private Servers from that Elastic Server's home page. Servers that are shared to the community directory, and not downloaded will be reverted to "private" status occasionally to improve the clarity of the community directory.

The Elastic Server Platform build queue is a First-In-First-Out system, your Elastic Server will be built in the order in which it was received. Build times vary depending on the number and kind of components you chose to include with your server. The Elastic Server Platform site will show the server's progress through 5 different stages, so keep an eye on the page for new stage information. You will also be emailed regardless of the build outcome. Included in the email will be a download URL upon success or a support contact in the event of a build failure.

Once you have submitted your Elastic Server configuration to be built, everything happens at our Elastic Server On-Demand facility. Log back in to continue to view the build progress on the 'Factory' page. You will be emailed regardless of the build outcome. Included in the email will be a download URL upon success or a support contact in the event of a build failure.

Elastic Servers are shipped with user access credentials and basic accessibility instructions. We do not sell or distribute email addresses in any way.

Elastic Servers can be formatted for VMware, Xen, Parallels, or for the Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud ). Just select your preferred format on the 'Server Configuration' screen. (Download Links are below)

Download Virtualization Clients based on Elastic Server virtual image selection.
VMware Images:
VMware Player for PC or Linux (free)
VMware Fusion for Mac (free beta version)
Parallels Images:
Parallels Desktop for Mac (free 15-day trial)
Xen Images:
Citrix XenDesktop (free)
Virtual Iron (free evaluation)

VPN-Cubed is a packaged service offering from CohesiveFT that enables customer-controlled security in a cloud, between multiple clouds, and between a customer's private infrastructure and the cloud.

VPN-Cubed gives customers an encrypted LAN in a single cloud and an encrypted WAN across multiple clouds, allowing cloud-based clusters to appear to be part of one physical network. Using VPN-Cubed, customers can establish their own security perimeter for their cloud-based assets.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network in which some of the links between nodes are carried by open connections or virtual circuits in some larger network (e.g., the Internet) instead of by physical wires. The link-layer protocols of the virtual network are said to be tunneled through the larger network when this is the case. One common application is secure communications through the public Internet, but a VPN need not have explicit security features, such as authentication or content encryption. VPNs, for example, can be used to separate the traffic of different user communities over an underlying network with strong security features.

VPN's are common, many people connect to their Email or File Server over a VPN. The VPN-Cubed use-case is more demanding and requires additional flexibility.
For example, traditional remote worker VPN Servers don't require failover capabilities, route between many nodes, or run outside of your enterprise infrastructure. VPN-Cubed does all of these things.

Access to networking, computing, and storage available on a pay-per-use basis.

Customers are ultimately responsible for the security and integrity of their own data, even when it is held by a service provider. Most cloud vendors give users control over the visibility of the user's systems. For example, The Amazon EC2 security systems allow users to place running instances into arbitrary groups of their choice, specify which groups can communicate, and which IP subnets can talk to which groups. This configuration at the cloud VLAN (virtual local area network) level should be standard operating procedure for anyone putting instances in the cloud. Amazon goes on to say, "Of course, you should also secure your instances as you would any other Linux host."

CohesiveFT suggests adding a level of security beyond what the cloud vendor offers. For example, all servers created at the Elastic Server factory come with a built-in firewall. For governance and regulatory purposes, it is considered best practice to ensure you've implemented a level of security that you control. VPN-Cubed is one example of customer-controlled security for cloud-based assets.

The offering based on the Open VPN standard that enhances your security and control of machine images in the cloud and across clouds. OpenVPN is a full-featured open source SSL VPN solution that accommodates a wide range of configurations, including remote access, site-to-site VPNs, Wi-Fi security, and enterprise-scale remote access solutions with load balancing, failover, and fine-grained access-controls. CohesiveFT has used a pre-cursor to the VPN-Cubed approach in production for more than a year via the Open Source VcubeV® project

OpenVPN was chosen because it uses standard OpenSSL encryption, runs on multiple operating systems and does not require kernel patching or additional modules. The OpenVPN protocol also is firewall-friendly, as it can pass all traffic over a single UDP tunnel (the default port is 1194)..

With VPN-Cubed, your servers are placed into an encrypted VPN where your cloud-based clusters will appear to be part of one physical network. You can expand your corporate infrastructure outside your current data center or allow outside services to use applications in your corporate data center. You may also consider a remotely hosted data-crunching cluster that you rent by the hour, which uses your corporate data warehouse system for its input. By putting both ends inside of VPN-Cubed, the cluster compute nodes have secure access to the data which can be enabled just for the duration of the compute grid's existence. Keep your sensitive data in your data center and just use the cloud for affordable, on-demand computing in high load scenarios. VPN-Cubed provides the ability to quickly switch between clouds in the event of major outages or spikes in computing demand. VPN-Cubed extends your owned data center into the clouds with security and control.

VPN-Cubed gives you the flexibility of giving you an encrypted LAN in a single cloud or data center and an encrypted WAN across multiple clouds and data centers. Making all your cross-cloud deployments or hybrid data centers appear to be part of one physical network.

A hybrid data center utilizes both traditional "raised floor" data center space that houses your company's owned hardware and virtual machine images in a single or multiple cloud(s).

Visit the Elastic Server factory to assemble, deploy and manage custom stacks for deployment to the cloud.

VPN-Cubed Managers are CohesiveFT virtual servers that are deployed into a cloud with your other servers for the purpose of synchronizing communications and managing the vpn tunnels between that deployment, your data center, and other cloud deployments.

Jeff Barr from Amazon Web services defines "cloudbursting" as the need to handle sudden and extreme spikes in demand by enabling a hybrid cloud-computing model that combines both private data center resources and remote cloud resources such as Amazon EC2. The dynamic deployment of a software application that runs on internal organizational compute resources or public cloud to an alternate public cloud to address a spike in demand or cloud failure.

Multicasting is a technical term that means that you can send a piece of data (a packet) to multiple sites at the same time. Because 5, 10, or 100 machines can receive the same packet, bandwidth is conserved. On a multicast network, you can send a single packet of information from one computer for distribution to several other computers, instead of having to send that packet once for every destination.

The reason this is important is multicasting is controlled at the hardware level. Most cloud providers disable multicasting to make management easier for them. Try to imagine calling your cloud vendor and asking them to enable network multicast on all of the physical devices where your virtual machines might run. Not likely. VPN-Cubed allows you to "Cloud Multicast." Having multicast protocol available in the cloud means you don't have to change your software, or ask your vendors to change their software. Additionally service discovery and server election (in failover scenarios) are often built on multicast protocols. VPN-Cubed allows you to be in control with service discovery and service election over multicast in a single cloud or across multiple clouds (x-cloud) despite 3rd party control of utility hardware allowing you to unite cloud clusters over public internet securely.

VMware (Workstation, Virtual Server, ESX Server), Citrix Xen, Microsoft Hyper-V, Open Source Xen, Parallels (Workstation, Server), Amazon AMI, KVM, Sun (Open XVM), and others as requested.

Amazon EC2, Flexiscale, GoGrid, Mosso, and others as requested.

Windows Server 2008, Debian (Etch, Lenny), Ubuntu (8.04LTS), Fedora, CentOS 4, RHEL, openSuse, Novell SLES, and others as requested.

The VPN-Cubed offering provides:

* An encrypted VPN, Virtual Machine firewall
* 1-year re-configuration support included (up to 4 hours of consultation included)
* Up to 50 servers in base package all this along with additional optional management services provided through CFT's Elastic Server platform.
* VPN-Cubed is delivered over phone, IM, screen sharing and remote access as a combined offering of software and services.

Standard implementations range from $25-50K with additional servers in VPN-Cubed available and additional reconfiguration services available. Contact sales(at)cohesiveft.com for a quote.

* The Customer:
o defines the size of cluster to go into the Cloud VPN
o defines server specific (OS, Packages)
o provides sample Virtual Machines (alternatively CohesiveFT can develop VMs with customers using the Elastic Server platform)
o provides Access to test account(s) at their cloud provider(s). You will also run CFT-specific VMs (VPN-Cubed Managers, for example) as part of their cloud topology

* CohesiveFT:
o configures necessary VPN-Cubed software configuration for customer VMs
o configures individual machine firewall (if part of configuration)
o generates credentials (X509) for each server
o provides CFT VPN-Cubed Managers as part of customer's cloud cluster and works with you to configure cluster in a single cloud or x-cloud.
o provides the necessary launch scripts and boot time behaviors to connect machines to the VPN-Cubed at boot and re-boot time

Contact a member of the CFT team (sales(at)cohesiveft.com) to start cloud computing with confidence. You can also check out the Elastic Server Platform to start testing dynamically assembled custom machine images in the cloud now.