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Using large cloud computing providers is convenient, but not exactly cheap. ubiCloud, a new startup founded by the team behind Citus Data, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2019, wants to change the dynamics by offering a layer of core cloud computing services as well as affordable bare-metal servers from providers like Hetzner, OVH Cloud, Leaseweb, and AWS. . This includes Managed service And Open source version It allows developers to build their own clouds on bare metal providers.
Right now, Ubicloud’s focus is on a small set of core components: compute and the PostgreSQL database service (Citus Data is also betting big on PostgreSQL), as well as core networking capabilities for creating public and private virtual networks. Attribute-based access controls are also included by default. Over time, the team plans to add block storage and Kubernetes-based container service as well.
Image credits: ubiCloud
Co-founders Ozgun Erdogan and Umur Cubukcu previously built Citus Data, where they also met Daniel Farina, who was previously instrumental in building Heroku PostgreSQL. During his time at Microsoft, he also worked on several core Azure services. Citus Data was part of the Y Combinator cohort in the summer of 2011, and after his time at Microsoft, Cubukcu returns to the accelerator as a visiting partner in 2023.
“We’ve obviously built our careers and what we have on the cloud itself, right? Citus Data wouldn’t be possible without it,” Cobocco said. “We’re big fans of the cloud. At the same time […]we’ve been at this for a long time and we see where there are actually ways to do it better, or do it easier.
He acknowledges that Ubicloud will not replace the full range of AWS offerings. But he says the majority of the value is probably in the 10 percent of those offerings and he believes Ubicloud’s managed service can offer that to developers at a lower price and with a simpler developer experience. “The delta between hardware costs and what the hyperscale charges has become progressively larger. It used to be that we would see significant price drops, but that’s not quite happening anymore. Later, he also pointed out that one of the areas where progress has been made is It is a checkout fee, which helps service like Ubicloud.
Developers on Ubicloud will be able to choose where they want to host their services. Right now, the team tells me, one of the best things about Ubicloud is running GitHub Action. The company is also seeing a number of users building machines for long-term workloads on the platform, as well as strong demand for its PostgreSQL database service.
Erdogan stressed that a Kubernetes platform is also on the way, which in turn will allow the team to offer more features in addition to the infrastructure-as-a-service layer.
If you’ve been in the cloud long enough, AWS’s open source competitor may seem a bit familiar. Since the dawn of the hyperscale cloud, we’ve seen projects aimed at providing core AWS services, mostly for on-premises use cases. Poster child here Open pilewhich has gone through its own boom and bust cycle, but has found stable ground in recent years.
However, the Ubicloud team sees its approach as completely different. “OpenStack is from a different era,” Koboko said. “He reminds me […] A little bit of Hadoop, where there’s a consortium where a lot of different companies come together. It’s open, yes, but then it supports 10 different types of operating systems and hypervisors – and for it to work, you really need an army of people. It’s a solution, but you don’t have, for example, OpenStack as a managed service, right? It’s very complex, whereas with Ubicloud, our managed service is available from day one. You sign up, and you can start using it in two minutes.
Likewise, Erdogan noted that today’s open source landscape is very different. This allows Ubicloud to use existing open source projects for virtual networking and storage services, for example. “Fifteen years ago, all these services [that are on the Ubicloud roadmap] You do not have open source data plane components. These days, for core services, all but one or two of these good alternatives are open source.
Ubicloud also announced today that it raised a $16 million seed round, which closed in early January. Investors include Y Combinator and 500 Emerging Europe, as well as a number of angel investors.
The company currently has 10 employees, split between San Francisco, Amsterdam (where the Citus Data team built a small engineering team during the team’s Microsoft days) and Istanbul.
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