Red Hat taps Amazon for Cloud Access option

Red Hat is providing access to Amazon Web Services (AWS), allowing Enterprise Linux customers to take on-premise applications into the cloud.

The company said that its Cloud Access option means that companies can select "appropriate computing resources for their needs" without having to enter into new business agreements or partnerships.

"Red Hat brings enterprise-class software, subscriptions and support capabilities all built into a business model designed specifically for the cloud," said Scott Crenshaw, vice president and general manager for the Cloud Business Unit at Red Hat.

"With Red Hat Cloud Access, our enterprise customers can run their applications on the type of server capacity that best suits their needs: physical, virtual, on-premise or in AWS."

The firm said that the Amazon cloud version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) shares the same features as the recently released 5.5 version, and is continuously updated with security and feature enhancements.

"Enterprises using AWS are looking for a combination of leading technology, deployment flexibility and ease of scalability," said Terry Wise, director of business development at AWS.

"Red Hat is enabling even greater ease of access to RHEL, offering an opportunity for our joint customers to benefit by further reducing costs and improving performance for their enterprise cloud deployments."

Customers must have at least 25 active subscriptions to be eligible for Red Hat Cloud Access, and meet a number of other criteria including a direct support relationship with Red Hat.