AppFog announced the acquisition of Nodester, the PaaS for Node.js, on Wednesday. Even though AppFog already supports Node.js on its PaaS platform, the acquisition brings Nodester developers into AppFog’s ecosystem and thereby gives them the ability to additionally code in Java, .NET, Python, PHP, Ruby, MySQL and PostgreSQL. The acquisition of Nodester also enables AppFog to use Nodester’s support of WebSocket to provide WebSocket technology to VMware’s Cloud Foundry. Nodester will operate as an independent service owned by AppFog until its WebSocket technology is integrated into AppFog’s PaaS infrastructure, at which point Nodester developers will enjoy full integration with all of AppFog’s polyglot support and functionality.
AppFog’s CEO Lucas Carlson commented on the acquisition by noting:
AppFog was incredibly impressed from day one with the market-leading community that Nodester has built. And now that Node is now tied with PHP for having the most number of applications running – so bringing our operational excellence and poly-infrastructure support to the loyal Nodester users; is a win for everyone.
Carlson’s reference to “poly-infrastructure support” takes note of AppFog’s ability to seamlessly deploy applications to multiple cloud providers, and from one cloud vendor to another, eliminating concerns of vendor lock-in. More so than anything else, the acquisition highlights the buzz around Node.js, as illustrated recently by Engine Yard’s commitment to support Node.js on its PaaS platform. While the PaaS space may witness a few more acquisitions in 2012, the landscape still remains sufficiently variegated that rapid consolidation is unlikely within the next year. But the trend marked by the rise of polyglot PaaS platforms is emerging with unmistakable precision. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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