Building AI-Ready Clouds with Modern OpenStack

AI has moved from promise to production. The question now is how you’ll keep up.

Futurist Sinead Bovell once compared the AI moment to “the Internet in 1993.” That comparison rings true today. Every enterprise is racing to operationalize AI, but few realize that success depends less on the models and more on the foundation beneath them. Infrastructure is the deciding factor between an AI proof of concept and an AI-powered business.

At Rackspace Technology, we’ve been building OpenStack® environments for more than a decade. Now, as global demand for data center capacity soars, we’re evolving OpenStack to meet this new era. The result is an AI-accelerated infrastructure that’s open, flexible and ready for what’s next.

The infrastructure challenge AI creates

AI isn’t just another workload. It reshapes what infrastructure must do. To deliver performance, scalability and affordability, you need:

• Heterogeneous compute at scale using GPUs, TPUs, FPGAs and specialized accelerators
• Massive data throughput to move petabytes of information without bottlenecks
• Ultra-low latency for distributed training across thousands of accelerators
• Smart workload placement that automatically aligns resources to needs
• Cost control that keeps AI adoption within reach

That’s where OpenStack and our expertise converge to give you a competitive edge.

Why OpenStack powers the AI revolution

While others try to retrofit legacy platforms for AI, OpenStack has evolved with it. The latest versions are built for GPU optimization, high-speed networking and scalable orchestration — all essential for AI workloads.

GPU mastery at every level

Through Rackspace OpenStack Flex and Rackspace OpenStack Business, we deliver GPU-enabled clouds that adapt to your AI demands:

• PCI Passthrough for bare-metal GPU performance
• NVIDIA vGPU and MIG support for efficient sharing and multi-tenancy
• AMD SR-IOV for hardware-based GPU virtualization
• Intelligent scheduling through Nova and Placement APIs

We extend this flexibility with Rackspace Spot, our managed Kubernetes service that enables GPU-powered containers. With access to NVIDIA H100, A100, L40 and L4 GPUs, you can train, test and deploy AI models at scale without the usual friction.

The CPU-first AI strategy that changes everything

Not every AI task needs a GPU. Our Accelerator Optimized Compute Platform takes a CPU-first approach that boosts performance while controlling costs. You gain:

• 2–3x gains using Intel VMX extensions and MKL-DNN
• 10x acceleration for encryption via Intel QAT
• 1.8–2.5x improvements on AMD EPYC with ZenDNN
• Smarter workload routing that uses GPUs only when necessary

It’s about efficiency, not compromise. The platform automatically matches workloads to the best compute type, whether it’s CPUs for inference or GPUs for deep training.

Rackspace Private Cloud AI: Your secure AI powerhouse

For organizations that need complete control, Rackspace Private Cloud AI delivers performance and security in one platform:

• Full AI software stack with vLLM for optimized inference
• Latest AI-ready hardware from Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA
• OpenStack control plane for automated management
• Enterprise-grade security with identity and tenant isolation
• Sovereign AI options to keep data under your control

Our Rackspace AI Anywhere solution extends those same capabilities to your on-premises environment so your AI can run wherever your data resides.

Responsible AI at scale

With our extensive AI project experience, we can combine OpenStack’s power with a proven framework for responsible AI innovation to offer:

• Deployment and governance frameworks refined through thousands of projects
• Best practices for managing AI pipelines securely and efficiently
• Continuous innovation through our contributions to OpenStack and open-source communities
• Expert support from engineers who understand both infrastructure and AI workloads

The future we’re building together

McKinsey predicts the AI infrastructure market will reach $150 billion by 2027. The opportunity is clear, but only if your foundation can scale with it.

With Rackspace OpenStack, you gain:

• Immediate access to proven infrastructure without hardware delays
• Cross-platform flexibility across Intel, AMD and NVIDIA ecosystems
• Ongoing innovation through OpenStack’s active development community
• Enterprise-proven reliability trusted by global leaders like CERN and Walmart

Step into the accelerated future

The AI revolution requires infrastructure that’s as intelligent as the workloads it supports. OpenStack provides the platform. Rackspace provides the expertise, scale and operational excellence to bring it to life.

Whether you’re seeking:

• Public cloud agility through OpenStack Flex
• Hybrid scalability via OpenStack Business
• GPU-enabled Kubernetes with Rackspace Spot
• Private control through Rackspace Private Cloud AI
• On-premises integration with AI Anywhere

We have the solution that meets your AI ambitions. Don’t let infrastructure hold you back. With our OpenStack leadership, Rackspace can help you move faster, scale smarter and compete in the accelerated future.

Talk with our OpenStack and AI specialists to design your next-generation infrastructure. Contact us →