Grazed from DataCenter Dynamics. Author: Editorial Staff.

Baidu, the largest Chinese search engine, is pushing the boundary of data center design with its cloud computing data centers. By integrating new hardware technologies including ARM-based servers, custom-designed all-in-one racks, 10Gb top-of-rack (TOR) switches and self-designed Solid State Disks (SSD), Baidu is boosting the performance of its cloud computing data centers. And it says it expects such efforts will lay the foundations for the technology benchmark for China’s internet data centers (IDC) of the future.

Self-designed 10Gb TOR switch

Baidu deployed a self-designed 10Gb TOR switch on over 5,000 servers in one of its cloud computing data centers. It is a server cluster which is believed to be the largest 10Gb TOR based cluster in the local market. By using self-designed hardware and software, an original design manufactured module, as well as DAC (direct attached cable), the cost of Baidu’s 10Gb TOR is almost the same as the commercial 1Gb TOR switches, Baidu said. Baidu started its research and development on the design of TOR switches in 2011 and launched first generation 10Gb TOR switch in 2012…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

SaaS adoption came from the bottom up. Salespeople within enterprises needed a useful CRM system, and instead of begging IT, they used their own credit cards to purchase a Salesforce.com subscription. Eventually, IT figured out Salesforce.com was pervasive in the enterprise and took over the implementation, settling on the strategy by default.

These days it’s the same story around cloud-based file sharing, email, office automation applications, and even larger-scale options such as mass storage and compute services from IaaS and PaaS providers. We seem to be OK with users and developers figuring out the cloud, then IT coming in and making sense of the arrangements…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Krishan Lal Khatri.

Cloud computing is gaining popularity since last few years. It is a computing model that uses shared infrastructure to provide computing resources to companies dynamically over a cloud, such as internet. It enables companies to use data storage, software applications, and computer processing power owned and maintained by cloud service providers through the internet or proprietary network of the service provider. The cloud computing services are broadly divided into three categories:

1. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

3. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Alternatively, some providers use some different nomenclature, e.g. Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) for IaaS and only SaaS for later two categories…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: N. Nataraj.

Wipro Technologies today announced the launch of the Wipro AssureHealth platform in partnership with Microsoft. This is primarily targeted at healthcare providers to deliver innovative solutions for Remote Fetal Monitoring and Cardiac Care that will ensure high quality treatment at reduced costs, especially for chronic diseases.

The Wipro AssureHealth platform leverages Microsoft’s Cloud, Mobility and Analytics offerings to allow care providers to monitor patients regularly and precisely. This is done through hosted services and mobile apps that integrate medical devices, IT Infrastructure and 24/7 customer support, to deliver highly scalable solutions. This is a value based service aimed at revolutionizing user experience like never before…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Joe Panettieri.

OpenStack Summit 2013 is set to start April 15 in Portland, Ore. The open source platform seems to be gaining momentum with cloud services providers (CSPs). IBM (NYSE: IBM) has just placed a huge bet on OpenStack. Plus, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) have each built their public clouds on the emerging software platform.

Some folks think today’s OpenStack is a lot like Linux from a decade ago — destined to emerge as a de facto standard for the next generation of computing. But in reality, OpenStack faces plenty of challenges. As Talkin’ Cloud looks ahead to the conference, I hope the OpenStack community addresses these five issues head-on:…

Grazed from NewsWise.com. Author: Editorial Staff.

In their new book, Cloud Computing Service and Deployment Models: Layers and Management, two professors from the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business present a cohesive, highly effective way for businesses large and small to find the answers. Co-authors Alberto M. Bento and Anil K. Aggarwal, both professors of information systems in the school’s Department of Information Systems and Decision Science, have gathered experts from several disciplines to consider how business can best manage and take advantage of the opportunities stemming from this unprecedented growth in information resources. The relatively straightforward solution to the problem, they say, is cloud computing.

Cloud computing is a term that has had its time in the spotlight, as so many ideas and concepts in the world of technology do. But it remains an approach beyond the grasp of many ordinary users of computers and the Internet. The earlier applications allowed data—whether they’re for music, documents, spreadsheets, photos, even the dreaded cat video—to be stored elsewhere, in a secured, dedicated environment. While somebody else maintains this information, the user is free to move from laptop to mobile device to tablet to virtually anything else that can "see" the Internet, and pull down the needed data from the cloud at will. The user is only a login and password away from accessing what he or she needs, and his or her computer hardware and network can work fast and efficiently without all of that "baggage" stored locally…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

Amazon Web Services launched a beta service called Trusted Advisor to help customers configure their workloads during its Re:Invent Show last November. This week the company made it available for a 30-day free trial.

Given the complexity of the Amazon services and server instances, Trusted Advisor is sorely needed to help customers, especially newcomers, navigate through the tangle of details. Several other vendors also provide a service similar to Trusted Advisor, and some, such as Cloudyn, CloudCheckr, Uptime Software and Cloud Cruiser, offer more features. But since AWS remains the fountainhead of best practices information, Trusted Advisor is likely to gain authority…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Joe McKendrick.

Let’s face it: it’s not easy to figure out the various costs aspects of cloud. Obviously, there are the low monthly charges that are appealing, or savings from consolidation. But for companies with well-run IT operations, the benefits of moving to cloud may be negligible. In calculating cloud financials, too many organizations "overlook or underestimate cloud’s true, core costs at the enterprise workload level," states a new report from Saugatuck Technology.

First, a well-run IT environment may not see much in the way of savings. Organizations that already have highly optimized IT environments should not assume that a move to cloud will deliver significant infrastructure savings, the report, authored by Saugatuck analysts Charles Burns and Bruce Guptill, cautions. "On an optimized in-house infrastructure, costs for running a workload in a public cloud could actually be greater than the costs for running the workload in-house."…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Walter Bailey.

As the name implies, High Performance Computing (HPC) is something that is paving different ways to increase performance of the public and private cloud. It explains the various mechanisms to get the best out of your cloud in minimum resources. You can obtain larger profits by pitching in a little effort, and cash flows with the help of HPC. According to the latest research results, the High Performance Cloud is getting exceedingly popular day by day in IT world and it is expected that it would gain more and more popularity in coming years. The studies suggest that more than $20 billion have invested in this field in previous years and as per IDC, and the adaptability of HPC is increasing at the rate of 7.6% annually.

According to Jason Stowe – CEO of Cycle Computing, one of the main reasons behind the popularity of High Performance Computing is the convenient accessibility of cloud resources as well as their low price range. The HPC and cloud technology, if utilized in a better and intellectual way can give a real boost to one’s organization in a proficient manner…

Grazed from The Guardian. Author: Editorial Staff.

The public sector has not been immune to the appeal of cloud computing, with governments keen to accelerate adoption of cloud services. However, while the private and commercial sector has taken to cloud computing more readily, there still exists a somewhat sporadic adoption across the public sector.

Introducing a cloud first policy can be an effective way to endorse and encourage the sector to embrace the benefits that cloud computing can bring. Factors that need to be addressed to promote acceptance and bring about simplified adoption include cultural barriers, based around fear, uncertainty, and a lack of information. Governments are taking steps to facilitate implementation and reduce barriers. There is no one favoured approach because the widespread adoption of public cloud for service delivery is not yet at a mature level…