OREANDA-NEWS. NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japan's leading mobile operator and provider of integrated services centered on mobility, announced that it has developed a cloud server management technology that shortens the service response time of cloud services by up to 50%. The source code that enables this technology to be used with a variety of cloud services was provided by DOCOMO to the OpenStack Foundation and is a standard feature of Grizzly, the new version of the OpenStack cloud platform announced on April 4.

OpenStack is a cloud platform-based software that utilizes server virtualization technology to virtually operate a single physical server like multiple servers, and assigns virtual servers to individual cloud services utilized by customers. The server management technology developed by DOCOMO enables physical servers that do not utilize server virtualization technology, which normally slow cloud service response, to be directly assigned to individual services via OpenStack, thereby speeding up the response time by 10% to 50%.

DOCOMO's new technology also offers the following features:
1. Depending on service usage conditions, the cloud platform can be switched between virtual and physical servers.
2. Software conventionally used for virtual server control can be used with physical servers without altering the software, thanks to compatibility with the OpenStack application programming interface (API) for virtual servers.
3. Up to several hundred physical servers can be managed through OpenStack scalability. Operating systems can be simultaneously installed and updated on multiple servers.

As a member of the OpenStack Foundation since 2012, DOCOMO has contributed source codes and created specifications for physical server management technologies. The company looks forward to continuing to contribute actively to the organization and the advancement of cloud services for the mobile environment.

The OpenStack Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to standardize open cloud platforms, comprises over 850 companies, including Intel, NEC, HP Rackspace and NTT DATA.