Rackspace has turned OpenStack into a product and is pushing it into private clouds where it will meet competition from that other open source cloud Eucalyptus.

The free new OpenStack-based widgetry is called Rackspace Cloud: Private Edition and it's the first time Rackspace has extended its managed services outside its own data centers.

Rackspace doesn't expect the widgetry to be a moneymaker for another couple of years. Eucalyptus would agree with that statement.

Rackspace said it will manage the installations since it knows how OpenStack works and prides itself on its "fanatical support." The deployments will be set up by certified partners like Cloud Technology Partners (cloudTP), MomentumSI and China's TeamSun.

They can build the clouds using a newly published Private Edition reference architecture on-premise or in a collocation operation like one of the 99 Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers worldwide using Cisco switches and Dell servers and storage along with software from Opscode and RightScale.

Rackspace's pricing will vary according to how many physical servers it's managing. It will support the OpenStack cloud orchestration layer and see to updates, performance tuning, fixes for OpenStack bugs, security patches and training.

Rackspace published the free reference architecture Monday in the name of compatibility and interoperability. It says Private Edition includes instant provisioning through a self-service portal for employees, API access for developers and admin control panels to set quotas and manage usage.