<s>
The	B-Application
Rackspace	I-Application
Cloud	I-Application
is	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
products	O
and	O
services	O
billed	O
on	O
a	O
utility	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
basis	O
from	O
the	O
US-based	O
company	O
Rackspace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Offerings	O
include	O
Cloud	O
Storage	O
(	O
"	O
Cloud	O
Files	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
virtual	B-General_Concept
private	I-General_Concept
server	I-General_Concept
(	O
"	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
"	O
)	O
,	O
load	O
balancers	O
,	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
backup	O
,	O
and	O
monitoring	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rackspace	B-Application
Cloud	I-Application
announced	O
Mosso	B-Application
LLC	O
in	O
March	O
,	O
2006	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
wholly	O
owned	O
subsidiary	O
billed	O
as	O
a	O
utility	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
offering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mosso	B-Application
offered	O
PaaS	B-Application
web	O
hosting	O
on	O
LAMP	O
and	O
IIS	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
it	O
pre-dated	O
mainstream	O
adoption	O
of	O
the	O
term	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
,	O
it	O
was	O
"	O
retooled	O
"	O
and	O
relaunched	O
on	O
February	O
19	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
adopting	O
the	O
tagline	O
"	O
Mosso	B-Application
:	O
The	O
Hosting	O
Cloud	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
Mosso	B-Application
"	O
branding	O
(	O
including	O
the	O
mosso.com	O
domain	O
)	O
was	O
then	O
dropped	O
on	O
June	O
17	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
in	O
favour	O
of	O
"	O
The	B-Application
Rackspace	I-Application
Cloud	I-Application
"	O
branding	O
(	O
including	O
the	O
rackspacecloud.com	O
domain	O
name	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
then	O
,	O
customer	O
contracts	O
were	O
executed	O
with	O
Rackspace	O
US	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
d/b/a	O
The	B-Application
Rackspace	I-Application
Cloud	I-Application
rather	O
than	O
with	O
the	O
Mosso	B-Application
LLC	O
subsidiary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
companies	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
EMC	O
Corporation	O
with	O
its	O
"	O
Decho	O
"	O
subsidiary	O
)	O
also	O
use	O
alternative	O
branding	O
for	O
their	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
offerings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2011	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
Rackspace	B-Application
Cloud	I-Application
"	O
brand	O
merged	O
with	O
Rackspace.com	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
files	O
is	O
a	O
cloud	B-Architecture
hosting	I-Architecture
service	O
that	O
provides	O
"	O
unlimited	O
online	O
storage	O
and	O
CDN	B-Operating_System
"	O
for	O
media	O
(	O
examples	O
given	O
include	O
backups	O
,	O
video	O
files	O
,	O
user	O
content	O
)	O
on	O
a	O
utility	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
launched	O
as	O
Mosso	B-Application
CloudFS	O
as	O
a	O
private	O
beta	O
release	O
on	O
May	O
5	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
Amazon	B-General_Concept
Simple	I-General_Concept
Storage	I-General_Concept
Service	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlimited	O
files	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
5	O
GB	O
can	O
be	O
uploaded	O
,	O
managed	O
via	O
the	O
online	O
control	O
panel	O
or	O
RESTful	O
API	B-General_Concept
and	O
optionally	O
served	O
out	O
via	O
Akamai	B-Application
Technologies	I-Application
 '	O
Content	B-Operating_System
Delivery	I-Operating_System
Network	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
online	O
control	O
panel	O
,	O
the	O
service	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
over	O
a	O
RESTful	O
API	B-General_Concept
with	O
open	O
source	O
client	O
code	O
available	O
in	O
C#	B-Application
/.NET	O
,	O
Python	B-Language
,	O
PHP	B-Application
,	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
and	O
Ruby	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jungle	B-General_Concept
Disk	I-General_Concept
,	O
previously	O
also	O
owned	O
by	O
Rackspace	O
,	O
allows	O
Cloud	O
Files	O
to	O
be	O
mounted	O
as	O
a	O
local	O
drive	O
within	O
supported	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
(	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Uploaded	O
files	O
can	O
be	O
distributed	O
via	O
Akamai	B-Application
Technologies	I-Application
to	O
"	O
hundreds	O
of	O
endpoints	O
across	O
the	O
world	O
"	O
which	O
provides	O
an	O
additional	O
layer	O
of	O
data	O
redundancy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
control	O
panel	O
and	O
API	B-General_Concept
are	O
protected	O
by	O
SSL	B-Protocol
and	O
the	O
requests	O
themselves	O
are	O
signed	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
safely	O
delivered	O
to	O
untrusted	O
clients	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
cases	O
considered	O
as	O
"	O
well	O
suited	O
"	O
include	O
backing	O
up	O
or	O
archiving	O
data	O
,	O
serving	O
images	O
and	O
videos	O
(	O
which	O
are	O
streamed	O
directly	O
to	O
the	O
users	O
 '	O
browsers	O
)	O
,	O
serving	O
content	O
over	O
content	B-Operating_System
delivery	I-Operating_System
networks	I-Operating_System
,	O
storing	O
secondary	O
static	O
web-accessible	O
data	O
,	O
developing	O
data	O
storage	O
applications	O
,	O
storing	O
fluctuating	O
and/or	O
unpredictable	O
amounts	O
of	O
data	O
and	O
reducing	O
costs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
native	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
support	O
for	O
the	O
Cloud	O
Files	O
API	B-General_Concept
so	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
yet	O
possible	O
to	O
"	O
map	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
mount	O
"	O
it	O
as	O
a	O
virtual	O
drive	O
without	O
third-party	O
software	O
like	O
that	O
translates	O
to	O
a	O
supported	O
standard	O
such	O
as	O
WebDAV	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
cloud	O
infrastructure	O
service	O
that	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
deploy	O
"	O
one	O
to	O
hundreds	O
of	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
servers	I-General_Concept
instantly	O
"	O
and	O
create	O
"	O
advanced	O
,	O
high	O
availability	O
architectures	O
"	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Amazon	B-General_Concept
Elastic	I-General_Concept
Compute	I-General_Concept
Cloud	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
servers	I-General_Concept
"	O
are	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
running	O
on	O
the	O
Xen	B-Operating_System
hypervisor	I-Operating_System
for	O
Linux-based	O
instances	O
,	O
and	O
Citrix	B-Application
XenServer	B-Operating_System
for	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
Linux	B-Application
instances	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
quad	O
core	O
hardware	O
node	O
has	O
between	O
16	O
and	O
32	O
GB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
allocations	O
between	O
256	O
MB	O
and	O
30	O
GB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
distributions	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
are	O
supported	O
,	O
including	O
Arch	O
,	O
CentOS	O
,	O
Debian	O
,	O
Fedora	O
,	O
Gentoo	B-Application
,	O
Red	O
Hat	O
Enterprise	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
are	O
"	O
much	O
cheaper	O
and	O
generally	O
easier	O
to	O
use	O
than	O
a	O
traditional	O
dedicated	O
server	O
"	O
,	O
though	O
it	O
is	O
still	O
necessary	O
to	O
maintain	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
solution	B-Application
stack	I-Application
which	O
is	O
not	O
required	O
for	O
the	O
Cloud	O
Sites	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
main	O
differentiators	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
services	O
;	O
where	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
includes	O
full	O
root	O
access	O
and	O
thus	O
allows	O
for	O
more	O
customisation	O
,	O
the	O
Cloud	O
Sites	O
product	O
is	O
less	O
flexible	O
but	O
requires	O
less	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
14	O
,	O
2010	O
,	O
Rackspace	O
began	O
offering	O
a	O
managed	O
service	O
level	O
on	O
the	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
product	O
,	O
which	O
added	O
additional	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
common	O
applications	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
patching	O
and	O
other	O
routine	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
2014	O
,	O
Rackspace	O
ceased	O
to	O
advertise	O
the	O
First	O
Generation	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
and	O
the	O
Standard	O
Next	O
Generation	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
on	O
its	O
main	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
product	O
page	O
,	O
opting	O
to	O
only	O
disclose	O
the	O
Next	O
Generation	O
Performance	O
1	O
and	O
Performance	O
2	O
products	O
that	O
require	O
a	O
minimum	O
US$50	O
per	O
month	O
service	O
charge	O
per	O
account	O
for	O
support	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
Tools	O
are	O
applications	O
and	O
infrastructure	O
software	O
built	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
the	B-Application
RackSpace	I-Application
cloud	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	O
listed	O
include	O
Zend	O
,	O
a	O
PHP	B-Application
stack	O
,	O
Cloudkick	O
,	O
a	O
cloud	O
performance	O
testing	O
services	O
,	O
CopperEgg	B-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
real-time	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
server	I-General_Concept
and	O
application	O
monitoring	B-Application
service	O
,	O
Xeround	B-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
MySQL	B-Application
cloud	O
database	O
,	O
and	O
MongoLab	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
cloud	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
popular	O
NoSQL	B-General_Concept
database	O
MongoDB	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
API	B-General_Concept
launched	O
on	O
July	O
14	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
under	O
the	O
Creative	O
Commons	O
Attribution	O
3.0	O
license	O
allows	O
clients	O
to	O
create	O
,	O
configure	O
and	O
control	O
virtual	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
issuing	O
basic	O
management	O
commands	O
this	O
"	O
enables	O
elastic	O
scenarios	O
"	O
whereby	O
servers	O
are	O
instantiated	O
and	O
destroyed	O
in	O
response	O
to	O
fluctuating	O
load	O
(	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
key	O
characteristics	O
of	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RightScale	B-General_Concept
is	O
among	O
third-party	O
providers	O
to	O
have	O
announced	O
support	O
for	O
this	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
Sites	O
is	O
a	O
platform	B-Application
as	I-Application
a	I-Application
service	I-Application
offering	O
now	O
owned	O
by	O
Liquid	O
Web	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
traditional	O
web	O
hosting	O
only	O
built	O
on	O
horizontally	B-Architecture
scalable	I-Architecture
hardware	O
infrastructure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Should	O
this	O
allocation	O
be	O
exhausted	O
then	O
subsequent	O
usage	O
is	O
billed	O
on	O
a	O
utility	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
an	O
"	O
unlimited	O
"	O
number	O
of	O
sites	O
,	O
databases	B-Application
and	O
email	O
accounts	O
and	O
includes	O
reseller	O
options	O
such	O
as	O
client	O
billing	O
and	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Touted	O
as	O
"	O
the	O
fastest	O
way	O
to	O
put	O
sites	O
on	O
the	O
cloud	O
"	O
,	O
it	O
runs	O
Windows	B-Application
or	O
Linux	B-Application
applications	O
across	O
"	O
hundreds	O
of	O
servers	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
Sites	O
supports	O
the	O
PHP	B-Application
5	O
,	O
Perl	B-Language
,	O
Python	B-Language
,	O
MySQL	B-Application
,	O
.NET	B-Application
2.0	O
+	O
,	O
ASP	B-General_Concept
and	O
Microsoft	O
SQL	O
Server	O
2014	O
application	O
frameworks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
non-standard	O
unit	O
of	O
measurement	O
primarily	O
reflects	O
CPU	O
processing	O
time	O
but	O
also	O
includes	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
operations	I-General_Concept
so	O
pages	O
with	O
many	O
database	B-Application
queries	I-Application
will	O
consume	O
more	O
"	O
compute	O
cycles	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	O
Sites	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
Java	B-Language
,	O
Tomcat	B-Language
,	O
ColdFusion	B-Language
,	O
SSH	B-Protocol
,	O
RDP	B-Protocol
,	O
API	B-General_Concept
access	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
Exchange	I-Operating_System
or	O
custom	O
server-side	O
components	O
at	O
this	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.NET	B-Application
environment	O
dropped	O
support	O
for	O
"	O
full	O
trust	O
"	O
in	O
favour	O
of	O
"	O
modified	O
medium	O
trust	O
"	O
despite	O
having	O
previously	O
announced	O
on	O
their	O
blog	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
been	O
able	O
to	O
work	O
directly	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
engineer	O
a	O
system	O
that	O
could	O
accommodate	O
Full	O
Trust	O
without	O
compromising	O
the	O
security	O
,	O
scalability	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
performance	O
of	O
other	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
servers	I-General_Concept
and	O
most	O
other	O
cloud	O
products	O
are	O
physically	O
located	O
in	O
any	O
of	O
six	O
data	O
centers	O
:	O
Chicago	O
,	O
Northern	O
Virginia	O
,	O
Dallas	O
,	O
London	O
,	O
Sydney	O
,	O
or	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
separate	O
"	O
UK	O
"	O
account	O
is	O
required	O
to	O
access	O
the	O
London-based	O
cloud	O
products	O
,	O
however	O
a	O
single	O
"	O
US	O
"	O
Rackspace	B-Application
cloud	I-Application
account	O
can	O
access	O
all	O
US	O
data	O
centers	O
along	O
with	O
the	O
Sydney	O
and	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
regions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
online	O
control	O
panel	O
was	O
custom	O
built	O
by	O
and	O
for	O
the	B-Application
Rackspace	I-Application
Cloud	I-Application
service	O
(	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
using	O
control	O
panel	O
software	O
like	O
cPanel	B-Protocol
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
control	O
panel	O
includes	O
management	O
interfaces	O
for	O
the	O
Cloud	O
Sites	O
,	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
and	O
Cloud	O
Files	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
databases	B-Application
,	O
24	O
x	O
7	O
support	O
)	O
that	O
apply	O
to	O
them	O
,	O
with	O
white	O
label	O
branding	O
options	O
for	O
messaging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2010	O
,	O
RackSpace	O
contributed	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
its	O
Cloud	O
Files	O
product	O
to	O
the	O
OpenStack	B-Application
project	O
under	O
the	O
Apache	B-Application
License	I-Application
to	O
become	O
the	O
OpenStack	B-Application
Object	O
Storage	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2012	O
,	O
Rackspace	O
announced	O
it	O
would	O
implement	O
OpenStack	B-Application
Compute	O
as	O
the	O
underlying	O
technology	O
for	O
their	O
Cloud	B-General_Concept
Servers	I-General_Concept
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
change	O
will	O
come	O
a	O
new	O
control	O
panel	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
add-on	O
cloud	B-Architecture
services	I-Architecture
offering	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
server	O
monitoring	B-Application
,	O
block	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
virtual	O
networking	O
.	O
</s>
