Ubicloud, a new startup led by the creators of Citus Data, may bring drastic change to how cloud computing works. In a bid to make the services more accessible and cost-effective, the company has plans to introduce an open-source alternative to industry giant Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The brainchild of co-founders Ozgun Erdogan and Umur Cubukcu, Ubicloud aims to democratize cloud computing by offering core services atop budget-friendly bare-metal servers from providers like Hetzner, OVH Cloud, Leaseweb and AWS.
Presently, Ubicloud is concentrating on fundamental components like compute and a PostgreSQL database service, drawing from Citus Data’s expertise in PostgreSQL. It will soon add block storage and a service for managing containers using Kubernetes.
Cubukcu emphasizes that while Ubicloud won’t supplant the entirety of AWS’s offerings, it aims to deliver the most essential services at a lower cost and with a simple developer experience. This is important because the difference in costs between hardware and big cloud providers keeps getting bigger.
Developers utilizing Ubicloud can freely select their preferred hosting location, with GitHub Action runners emerging as a sweet spot.
In the future, Erdogan mentions that a Kubernetes platform will be made available soon and it will bring more features to the infrastructure-as-a-service layer.
In contrast to predecessors like OpenStack, Ubicloud distinguishes itself with a more streamlined approach. While OpenStack necessitated significant manpower and lacked managed service offerings, the company provides a hassle-free managed service from day one.
Also, Ubicloud uses modern open-source resources, connecting with existing projects for virtual networking and storage services. With a $16 million seed round secured and backing from investors like Y Combinator and 500 Emerging Europe, the company is poised to redefine cloud computing.
