Citrix Systems 4.2 Switch User Manual


 
Chapter 2.
3
Concepts
2.1. What Is CloudPlatform?
CloudPlatform is a software platform that pools computing resources to build public, private, and
hybrid Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds. CloudPlatform manages the network, storage, and
compute nodes that make up a cloud infrastructure. Use CloudPlatform to deploy, manage, and
configure cloud computing environments.
Typical users are service providers and enterprises. With CloudPlatform, you can:
Set up an on-demand, elastic cloud computing service. Service providers can sell self service virtual
machine instances, storage volumes, and networking configurations over the Internet.
Set up an on-premise private cloud for use by employees. Rather than managing virtual machines in
the same way as physical machines, with CloudPlatform an enterprise can offer self-service virtual
machines to users without involving IT departments.
2.2. What Can CloudPlatform Do?
Multiple Hypervisor Support
CloudPlatform works with a variety of hypervisors. A single cloud deployment can contain multiple
hypervisor implementations. You have the complete freedom to choose the right hypervisor for your
workload.
CloudPlatform is designed to work with open source Xen and KVM hypervisors as well as enterprise-
grade hypervisors such as Citrix XenServer, VMware vSphere, and Oracle VM (OVM).