Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Jack Vaughn.

"To build or to buy" has long been the soliloquy of enterprise technology leaders. But as cloud databases and database as a service (DBaaS) offerings continue to mature, administraors are left with more to consider, because the cloud — and the big data cloud, in particular – is bringing a "to rent" option into the mix.

Storing data in the cloud was by no means the first thought when cloud computing arose. The concept has more than its share of security and compliance issues, and moving masses of on-premises data to the cloud isn’t easy. But for some types of data-intensive applications, rented cloud architecture increasingly seems the way to go…

Grazed from BusinessWire. Author: PR Announcement.

HyperX®, a division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of the HyperX Cloud gaming headset. HyperX Cloud features extremely comfortable ear cushions and larger audio drivers to give gamers ultimate comfort and superior sound during long game play sessions.

HyperX Cloud uses memory foam ear cushions and a soft, leather-padded headband with custom stitching for enhanced comfort and style. The over-the-ear, closed-cup design helps block out ambient noise for a more immersive game experience. Interchangeable velour ear cushions allow gamers to hear their surroundings while also delivering dialogue and every explosion and gunfire in clear, high-fidelity audio from the large 53mm drivers. HyperX Cloud also features a detachable microphone and is made of aluminum for durability…

Grazed from Computing. Author: Graeme Burton.

Internet and cloud companies must turn over all information to US government agencies on demand, regardless of where the data is held. That is the landmark judgment by US Magistrates court judge James C. Francis in a judgment against software giant Microsoft. It follows moves by Microsoft to quash a search warrant that sought the contents of emails of a customer, whose data was held on a server physically located in Ireland.

"Microsoft contends that courts in the United States are not authorized to issue warrants for extraterritorial search and seizure, and that this is such a warrant. For the reasons that follow, Microsoft’s motion is denied," wrote Francis in his judgment. He continued: "On December 4, 2013, in response to an application by the United States, I issued the search warrant that is the subject of the instant motion…

Grazed from NetworkComputing. Author: Mark Peters.

For decades, the standard model for IT procurement has typically involved an IT manager being aware of an IT need and then quantifying it. This happens with more or less involvement from organizations’ buying and legal departments (which is either more or less welcome!). The IT manager will then hold some type of beauty contest among the usual-suspect vendors (directly or virtually via a partner).

Then a winner is selected, usually based on criteria the buying IT manager determined before going into the decision-making fray. But recent ESG research indicates that three factors are conspiring (well, maybe that’s too dramatic a word, but they’re certainly combining) to put this formula under pressure. They are:…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Jeffrey Burt.

Hewlett-Packard officials are introducing enhancements to the company’s HP-UX operating system and new Itanium-based NonStop servers aimed at midrange enterprises, part of the giant tech vendor’s larger Project Odyssey effort. HP also on April 28 is unveiling enhancements to its Integrity-based CloudSystem Matrix with HP-UX, a converged offering designed for private clouds and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) environments that run mission-critical workloads.

The same trends—from cloud computing to big data to greater mobility—that are driving the growing demands for better energy efficiency, smaller footprints and lower costs also being felt by large organizations that run mission-critical workloads on systems like HP’s Integrity and NonStop servers, which are powered by Intel’s Itanium processors, according to HP officials…

Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Intelligent Living Inc. stated today that it created a new subsidiary company called Provectus and, in doing so, has merged the assets of both Venturian Group of Miami and Perfect Solutions of Northfield, NJ into the subsidiary to create a robust, full service Managed IT and Private Cloud services company with current revenues of $2.2 million. This new subsidiary will bring revenue and operational efficiency to Intelligent Living, which will be demonstrated on the balance sheet over the next few years.

Intelligent Living Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Josh Eikov said, "We made the decision to become an infrastructure company to both the medical and marijuana industries which are completely burgeoning markets that represent a global opportunity approaching $60 billion by the end of the decade. In our market research we realized that someone needed to build the roads, bridges and tunnels for all of this business activity to be conducted on and so, the birth of Provectus: Managed IT and Cloud Services."…

Grazed from DataCenterKnowledge. Author: Robert Jenkins.

Since the dawn of cloud computing, its appeal to businesses could be summed up in three words: scalability, availability and accessibility. But, cloud computing has been around for a while now, and like any other technology, we inevitably reach the point where people start asking what’s next. We live in an age where paradigm-shifting innovations are rolled out more often than at any other point in history.

Consequently, businesses never stop looking for the next breakthrough that will launch the next generation of their product or service. Scalability, availability and accessibility will always be the pillars upon which the cloud was built, but where is that next cost-efficiency upgrade coming from?…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

The next version of Microsoft (MSFT) Forefront Identity Manager will sport a new name, but it also will lean on the advantages of Azure and be designed to enable hybrid cloud computing. But there’s still plenty of time to get ready for it. Microsoft doesn’t plan to release Identity Manager until the first half of 2015.

The Microsoft Server and Cloud Platform team wrote in a blog that the next version will be available next year. Identity Manager was designed to help organizations ensure appropriate access to corporate information, regardless of where the data is located. And that seems to be part of Microsoft’s strategy to tie this into its hybrid cloud strategy…

Grazed from SysConMedia. Author: PR Announcement.

Today, at the 5th Annual Telco Cloud World Forum, the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), the global organization where members work together to advance the deployment of enterprise cloud solutions and services that are interoperable, secure and free of vendor lock-in, announced a collaboration with Intel® Corporation. Under the collaboration, the ODCA will integrate its usage models into the Intel® Cloud Finder Program, an online reference site that assists users with the selection of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).

"ODCA members have stated a desire to easily identify cloud services meeting ODCA requirements, and Intel Cloud Finder provides an ideal tool to meet this requirement," said Mario Mueller, ODCA chairman and vice president of IT Infrastructure, BMW. "With enterprises ramping up cloud service usage based on ODCA usage models this year, the availability of this tool is perfectly timed for members’ expected deployments."…

Grazed from ITWorld. Author: Joab Jackson.

IBM has assembled a vast array of hosted cloud services, and now it has somewhere to show them off. On its IBM Cloud online marketplace that goes live on Monday, enterprises can find the full range of IBM’s offerings behind a single gateway. "So many of our customers want to build new cloud-based, front-end systems, but they want to tie them into their back-end infrastructure. We’re delivering a whole set of integration components and control services to do the connection, and monitor and control what is taking place," said Steve Mills, IBM senior vice president and group executive for software and systems.

The marketplace has more than 100 hosted IBM applications, as well as middleware components from IBM’s Bluemix platform as a service (PaaS). It also serves as a portal to IBM’s SoftLayer infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and houses a collection of services from IBM partners…