Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux has partnered with Dell to bring its Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) to business users on Dell's PowerEdge C2100 and C6100 rack servers.

UEC is made up of Ubuntu server instances running on the open-source Eucalyptus cloud platform. This Ubuntu cloud system is designed to work as a private cloud, but it can also be used with public Amazon EC2. While Ubuntu is usually though of as the Linux for the masses, UEC is a pure business IT offering.

The Dell/Ubuntu package released today is meant for "software developers and IT organizations to run cloud proof-of-concept programs by providing an optimized, pre-configured testing and development environment." It's also the result of "a cooperative engineering effort to give businesses an easy way to build and deploy world-class private cloud infrastructures that work with the most popular public cloud providers. PowerEdge C Servers and Ubuntu software will ship with tested reference architectures and a detailed implementation guide plus support from Dell and Canonical experts."

In a statement, Neil Levine, VP of Corporate Services at Canonical, said "Open source is the driving force of cloud computing however we choose to define the concept. This initiative is a great way for U.S. businesses to realize the power of this approach -- the efficiency, savings and flexibility it brings and the power it can deliver to any data center -- and to start developing their internal cloud infrastructures with hardware and support from a familiar and trusted source."

"The Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud--based on Eucalyptus--is the leading cloud distribution in the world, popular among software developers and web companies," claimed Marten Mickos, CEO of Eucalyptus Systems in a statement. "The integration and availability of UEC on Dell servers will be ideal for the growing number of organizations that are building new consumer-facing cloud services and need cloud-ready servers. We are pleased that the Eucalyptus private cloud software, as part of the UEC, will now impact an even broader market."

Eucalyptus is also busy expanding its own services. Tomorrow, the company will announce a closer partnership with the open-source cloud management company Convirture.

To find out more about how to purchase Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud on Dell Servers visit Dell's UEC page or contact your Dell representative directly. For further information on Ubuntu products and services that are available from Dell around the world check out Canonical's Ubuntu on Dell page.