The Cloudware architecture, says 3Tera, incorporates storage, computing, connectivity, security – the resources required to build and run applications in the cloud, along the lines of a product like Amazon’s EC2 or S3 services, the popular reference point for cloud computing services.

The company says Cloudware is “vendor agnostic,” meaning that the service is capable of supporting software from any third-party provider. Initially, it will support the most popular operating systems, including Linux, Solaris and Windows.

3Tera has been building its reputation as one of the marquee developers of technology for assembling grid-based computing platforms for application hosting and other implementations (in the press release’s language – the leading innovator of cloud computing technology and utility computing services), but there has been little indication that the company intended to support an infrastructure solution of its own before now.

The press release includes a quote from Todd Abrams, President and COO of Layered Technologies, the hosting company that has operated as the fairly flagship implementation of AppLogic. “With the introduction of Cloud Computing without Compromise, hosting your application in the cloud just became incredibly easier,” says Abrams. “Customers not only have the ability to choose their own operating system, middleware, security, vendors, location, etc., they also get their own personally customized virtual private data center.”

There’s no official indication in the announcement of where the hardware for the service is going to be hosted, but the close relationship and the apparent enthusiasm for a service that would seem to be in competition with its own Grid Layer service might at least hint at the possibility that Layered Tech is involved in the project.

According to the press release, Woopra has been experiencing huge market demand prior to its official launch. The Web analytics platform provides real-time stats delivered via a revolutionary client-server application, and includes unique features such as the ability to identify and chat real time with visitors to the monitored site.

The beta version of Woopra was quietly unveiled last week to a select audience of 200 at WordCamp Dallas, a two-day event hosted by blogging software tool provider WordPress and sponsored by Layered Technologies. But news of what the application could do rapidly spread to over 2 million people as buzz began to grow, says Layered Technologies.

“The instant growth of Woopra is a perfect example of how grid solutions provide new capabilities for growth,” says Peter Nickolov, president and chief technology officer of 3Tera. “Scaling an online application, such as Woopra, can be enormously challenging. Being able to quickly deploy and operate on a highly available and scalable utility computing platform offers a unique business solution.”

Woopra’s chief information officer, Elie Khoury, says that the public feedback it has received since WordCamp has been phenomenal and the company is aggressively working to make its application available to as many as 100,000 websites within the next few weeks.

Layered Technologies says that with 3Tera’s AppLogic platform, it will be able to provide Woopra with grid computing solutions, enabling the company to package its entire application into a single, self-contained entity, but also give it the flexibility to scale back from a fraction of a CPU to hundreds of machines without any code modification.

“We are excited about the launch of Woopra and the fact that we will be hosting it on The Grid,” says Todd Abrams, chief operating officer and president of Layered Technologies. “With such high demand, we are working closely with Woopra to ensure that all of Layered Technologies’ clients can gain access to the application as quickly as possible.”

An official launch date for the application has yet to be determined.

Specifically, DedicatedNOW’s Virtual Cluster will be built using the AppLogic utility computing platform developed by 3Tera.

AppLogic is currently in use in a few production environments in the Web hosting business, among them the environment operated by Layered Technologies. And utility computing has a few more prominent, large-scale implementations, as in the case of Amazon’s EC2 and S3 services.

DedicatedNOW says its own Virtual Cluster hosting service will enable small businesses to scale their services easily, where they would be unable to build fully managed clusters themselves.

In its announcement the company offers some of the standard “allows us to accommodate customer demands for availability and scalability,” statements.

In a market where hosts are working to determine the right marketing notions and product descriptions around services like virtualization and grid-based offerings, DedicatedNOW appears to be the only company using the term “Virtual Clustered Hosting” (or at least the only one Google knows about).

DedicatedNOW’s Virtual Cluster will be available April 1, starting at $299 per month. More specific information about the offering is available at the company’s website.

The companies say they are offering free virtual private servers and free virtual private data centers to any California business where its IT or Web presence has been affected due to the disaster. Virtual private servers and virtual private data centers will be offered for free for 90 days and all setup charges and support fees for the period will be waived.

“Layered Technologies is proud to team with 3Tera to offer assistance during this unprecedented tragedy,” says Todd Abrams, president and chief operating officer of Layered Technologies. “The people of California are in our thoughts, and we are glad to be in a position to extend our support to those who have experienced disruptions.”

Web-based storage solution DynaVol offers a reliable, affordable and secure environment for data management needs, whether storing data or serving static content, says the company. The DynaVol solution is provided by Layered Tech’s virtual private server environment and enabled by 3Tera’s AppLogic grid operating system.

The companies will also be presenting the Assured Success Plan to encourage other businesses to adopt utility computing, says 3Tera. ASP is a subscription based combination of one-on-one training, consultation and support offered to new AppLogic users running virtual private data centers. ASP helps Web 2.0 and SaaS companies quickly deploy and operate their applications on a highly available and scalable utility computing platform.

“We pride ourselves in offering the latest and greatest technology to our clients to enable them to compete in their industry and grow their business,” says Michael Platner, CEO of Layered Technologies. “AppLogic 2.1 allows for greater scalability and control of the infrastructure, assuring users of their ability to grow.”

The AppLogic grid operating system is the first commercial platform designed specifically to enable true utility computing, says the company. The system converts commodity servers into scalable grids on which users can visually deploy, operate and scale transactional Web applications without modifying code. The 2.1 release adds application monitoring and support for multiple CPUs per appliance.

Layered Technologies also announced new pricing for its virtual private servers. The VPS Silver Layer now starts at $49 per month and the VPS Gold Layer starts at $59 per month, both with a $19 setup charge.

The companies will provide a live online demonstration of the virtual private data center at LT PACT in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 27 at 9 a.m. PST. The virtual private data center features HP hardware and 3Tera’s AppLogic grid operating system, and allows 460 processors, 920GB RAM, and 47 terabytes of storage to be harnessed for application deployment and operation with just a browser.

A virtual private data center is the utility computing solution for operating SaaS and Web 2.0 applications. It eliminates the need for data center colocation, private racks and managed hosting services by enabling users to assemble, deploy, monitor and manage all their infrastructure and applications using only a browser. Web 2.0 and SaaS companies can now easily afford to scale capacity as their business grows.

“Many people believe the Internet is a game of deep pockets and whoever builds the biggest datacenter holds all the cards,” says Vlad Miloushev, president and CEO of 3Tera. “Working with Layered Technologies has enabled us to demonstrate how utility computing levels the playing field. With staggering power like this available to anyone, instantly and without long term commitments, innovative startups with popular applications can serve audiences of millions.”

Powered by 3Tera’s AppLogic grid operating system and operated by Layered Tech’s new TheGridLayer division, VPD eliminate the need for colocation, private racks and managed services by enabling subscribers to assemble, deploy and manage Internet-scale infrastructure and applications using only a browser and basic IT skills. It enables companies to gain the ability to deploy existing applications without modifying code, scale applications from a fraction of a server to dozens of servers in minutes and add or remove servers and storage without disrupting applications.

“We’ve partnered closely with Layered Technologies because they share our vision of utility computing,” says Vlad Miloushev, president and CEO of 3Tera. “VPD combine Layered’s world-class expertise in running over 12,000 servers with our cutting-edge grid technology to fundamentally change the way people build and operate Internet-scale infrastructure. Developers can now focus on building applications instead of configuring hardware, installing software, moving data or modifying code. With the VPD, all they need in order to have complete control of their applications is a browser and basic IT skills.”

TheGridLayer VPD is available immediately in bronze, silver and gold versions and pricing starts at $999 per month for a four-node Bronze system,

The grid-based solution will provide Layered Technologies’ customers with a range of new services including fast and simplified resource provisioning, instant high availability and on-demand scalability. Customers will no longer have to worry about the quantity and type of servers they are running.

“3Tera’s grid technology is positioned to radically change today’s Web hosting market and Layered Technologies is among the first hosting providers to leverage these benefits to offer private grid servers and new Web hosting services,” says Todd Abrams, president and COO of Layered Technologies. “Using the AppLogic platform enables us to offer our customers new critical functionality such as rapid provisioning, snapshots, universal high availability and scalability for their online solutions in a cost-effective way.”

AppLogic is a multi-purpose grid operating system designed to run any Web application on the commodity servers Web hosts already have in place. AppLogic’s packages Web applications and the infrastructure required to deliver them into easy-to-manage entities, enabling it to offer numerous services from the same grid.