Novell puts SUSE on Amazon EC2

Novell has begun offering its customers and independent software vendors SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and 11 on Amazon's cloud service, EC2.

EC2 will be used to deliver SUSE Linux security patches, bug fixes, and new features, Novell said.

"Novell is offering cloud providers a versatile Linux platform, complete with certified Linux applications and a robust solution for building cloud-based workloads in SUSE Studio," said Markus Rex, general manager of Open Platform Solutions at Novell.

The company hopes ISVs will use the cloud platform to service their customers directly and for them to purchase Linux instances directly from Amazon. ISVs can on-sell Novell technical support or deliver their own services. 

While Amazon established an EC2 cloud in Singapore in April, the company has yet to confirm whether it will provide an Australian data centre.

Novell last week added cloud provider Tencent as its Chinese host, and has existing arrangements with IBM, Fujitsu and Vodacom Business.