Today SoftLayer Technologies launched CloudLayer™ Computing, part of its new CloudLayer™ line of services. CloudLayer Computing is built on the Citrix® XenServer™ virtualization platform from Citrix Systems, Inc., and brings enterprises massive scalability and unique opportunities for their IT environments. In as few as five minutes, customers can have cloud-based computing instances running enterprise-grade and open source operating systems.

“From day one, SoftLayer was created to bring customers IT power when, how, and where they need it. CloudLayer Computing is the next step in our evolution,” said Lance Crosby, CEO of SoftLayer. “It leverages all of our advantages and expertise in on-demand data center services to provide cloud computing that delivers as promised. There isn’t any other cloud computing service truly like it.”

Unlike other cloud computing services, CloudLayer Computing instances can be seamlessly integrated with dedicated servers, automated services, and other CloudLayer services (including CloudLayer™ Storage and CloudLayer™ CDN) to create a fully unified computing solution. Monthly billing is based on hourly usage or a monthly rate with no long-term commitment, providing an exceptional degree of flexibility. Other advantages include:

• Image Library—Capture, template, and store images for accelerated provisioning and management
• Ease of Use—Full access and control via Customer Portal and API
• Full Virtualization—Virtualized networking, security, storage, and management optimizes “beyond the box”

“SoftLayer’s CloudLayer service will offer customers an enterprise-class, secure cloud infrastructure that is also dynamic, manageable, and cost effective,” said Simon Crosby, CTO, Virtualization and Management Division, Citrix. “The cloud-proven scalability, performance, and support for secure isolation and multi-tenancy featured in XenServer provides a powerful virtual infrastructure upon which SoftLayer can deliver a rich set of enterprise services. We are excited to partner with SoftLayer to help transform cloud economics for the enterprise.”

In addition to offering on-demand computing instances, CloudLayer Computing lets SoftLayer customers build their own cloud computing environments from the ground up. SoftLayer dedicated servers can be paired with leading cloud solutions such as the Citrix Cloud Center™ (Citrix C3) to customize and manage environments ideal for providing online applications and other Web-based services.