The Former Loudcloud Upgrades Server Software

After selling its hosting business and refocusing on software, the company formerly known as Loudcloud Inc. has progress to report.

Now Opsware Inc., the company is preparing to upgrade its server-management software, also called Opsware, which will give the product the ability to synchronize with other copies of Opsware across multiple data centers. This "multimaster" capability makes Opsware better suited for use in disaster-recovery scenarios because administrators won't have to manually re-create disabled systems. "You avoid the Frankenstein problem" in which systems are rebuilt but don't come back to life, says Timothy Howes, Opsware's chief technology officer and executive VP. The upgrade is due this fall.

The product was developed by Loudcloud for use in its own data centers. It's designed to automate the deployment, upgrade, reconfiguration, and migration of operating systems, apps, and other server software. Opsware also disclosed that the Department of Energy has licensed its software to manage its servers.

Loudcloud was co-founded three years ago by Marc Andreessen, who helped launch Netscape Communications after co-creating the Mosaic browser while a student at the University of Illinois. Andreessen is chairman of Opsware. EDS paid $63.5 million for Loudcloud's hosting business earlier this summer and signed a three-year, $52 million license to use Opsware in its hosting operations.