Telstra flags more Aussie regions for public cloud

Telstra is hoping to add new 'regions' for the OpenStack-based public cloud service it hosts as part of the Cisco Intercloud network, flagging a future presence for the service in a second Melbourne data centre and potentially in Sydney.

The telco signed a deal in April 2014 for Cisco to build and operate a cloud computing service from inside Telstra data centres. The service runs on Cisco hardware and RedHat's supported version of OpenStack.

The first 'region' for what has been branded Cisco Cloud Services (CCS) is hosted from Telstra's Clayton data centre in Melbourne. Late last year, Telstra announced it would also host nodes for the service in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Although it has been touting the addition of more Australian locations, it has not previously detailed where.

"We're going to have another region soon, also in Melbourne, but then potentially in the future there will be a Sydney region," head of cloud engineering Craig Fulton told iTnews on the sidelines of the Australian Data Centre Strategy Summit.

Fulton said Telstra had so far signed on "about 60 customers" to consume the cloud service.

"They range from retailers and utilities to ourselves and Cisco," he said.

Telstra's own initial use case had been for development environments in its digital engineering unit, though it is now looking at other potential areas where the service could be used.

"We're basically using it as a resource like any other public cloud," Fulton said.

The Cisco Intercloud network will eventually consist of some 120 nodes spread across the globe and hosted by various telcos, data centre operators and managed service providers.