Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

CloudStack Collaboration Conference — Cloudian today announced that it has extended its industry-leading Cloudian Cloud Storage Platform for easy integration with Apache CloudStack. The Cloudian solution enables cloud service providers and enterprises to seamlessly deploy S3-compatible cloud storage quickly and cost-effectively along with a state-of-the-art cloud computing platform under a common user interface and single provisioning and sign on.

"Storage is a critical element of cloud computing, and Cloudian’s object store is very complementary to Apache CloudStack," said Kevin Kluge, VP of Product Development for Citrix and Apache CloudStack Committer. "We are pleased to have the Cloudian Cloud Storage Platform support the Apache CloudStack cloud computing platform, giving users powerful storage via a simple, elegant deployment."…

Grazed from The Register. Author: Timothy Prickett Morgan.

Retailing giant Amazon runs AWS as a subsidiary at arm’s length and in a somewhat stealthy manner at that. Having AWS be a little removed from Amazon is necessary because Amazon often competes with some of the companies that want to host applications on its cloud, and the stealth is just a way for AWS to preserve some mystique in terms of just how large the cloud computing unit is and how pervasive its use is.

As the first mover and undisputed leader in cloud computing, what we want to know is exactly the kind of data that Rackspace Hosting provides in its quarterly reports: server count, customer count, employee count, revenue per customer, and revenue by category for the collection of infrastructure and platform services that are known as the AWS cloud…

Grazed from GMANetwork. Author: Editorial Staff.

A vulnerability in cloud-based mobile browsers may allow hackers to steal cloud computing time from users of such apps in mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, a tech site reported Thursday. Security researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Oregon said the cloud resources that do the heavy lifting can be tricked into doing "other things," according to an article posted on PC World.

"(It) depends on how well-provisioned the cloud browser platform is, as well as how large of a job the attacker is executing. Cloud browsers operators who are monitoring resource use will definitely notice a spike in service use. However, reacting to BMR (Browser MapReduce technique) jobs requires the operator to build additional defenses into their framework," it quoted NCSU assistant professor William Enck, a co-author of the paper, as saying…

Grazed from Yahoo. Author: Alistair Barr.

Amazon.com Inc’s cloud computing division is going after big corporate customers, a new focus that will put the fast-growing unit into direct competition with some of the world’s largest technology companies.

Andy Jassy, head of Amazon Web Services or AWS, criticized the hefty profit margins of what he called "old guard" tech companies on Wednesday and unveiled a new data warehousing service that he said will cost about a tenth of existing solutions…

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Shaun Nichols.

Administrators with Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) are looking to cloud computing platforms to power the administration’s next generation of projects. Speaking at the 2012 re:Invent conference, Nasa IT CTO Tom Soderstrom and software engineer Khawaja Shams said that the JPL staff are using cloud platforms to power, among other things, the Mars Curiosity rover mission.

The rover, which has already made a number of historical discoveries on the red planet, uses a number of computing and storage platforms from Amazon in order to communicate with the rover and process data gathered in the mission…

Grazed from VentureBeat. Author: Dean Takahashi.

Corporate interest in software-as-a-service apps continues to grow, particularly in the era of cloud computing. But integrating those apps with the data in core systems of a business isn’t easy. And a number of companies are working on how to make integration “suck less.”

That was the topic of discussion for a breakout session at VentureBeat’s CloudBeat 2012 conference today in Redwood City, Calif. The goal is to make data integration “lightweight,” or easy enough to be done in an automated way, said Sam Ramji (pictured second from right), vice president of strategy at Apigee, a company that sells its applications programming interface (API) platform to big corporations…

Grazed from eChannelLine. Author: Mark Cox.

Distributor Avnet Technology Solutions has expanded its Cloud Solutions practice with the announcement of four new off-premise cloud computing solutions, two of them backup solutions, one SharePoint and one web hosting. All four services are powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), and are the first offerings from a new relationship between the two companies. They are available to partners in the U.S. and Canada.

"This is our coming out party with AWS," said Tim FitzGerald, vice president of Avnet Cloud Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "Our cloud portfolio was strong previously, but we have significantly broadened it with AWS. This is the first public announcement of our partnership with AWS."…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Lynda Stadtmueller.

When customers only dabble in cloud services, they fail to realize the full benefits of the cloud. This isn’t just a philosophical problem for providers; unmet expectations lead to customer dissatisfaction and a tarnished brand. In part one of this two-part tip, "If companies using cloud computing only dabble, providers may suffer," expert Lynda Stadtmueller outlined the challenges providers face from "cloud dabblers." In part two, she discusses how providers can prevent and mitigate these challenges.

The practice of "cloud dabbling" can be problematic for enterprises, since their first impression of cloud services is often dampened by unrealistic expectations for such noncommittal usage. In turn, the blowback that follows these disappointments and dashed hopes spells trouble for cloud providers as well…

Grazed from CloudTimes. Author: Saroj Kar.

CloudNOW, a nonprofit worldwide association founded by Jocelyn DeGance Graham has given 2013 top predictions regarding cloud computing. CloudNOW is working for the overall professional development of women with a focus on using technology by providing forums and platform for networking, knowledge sharing, counseling, mentoring, and economic growth. The forecasts were authored by CloudNOW members and advisors Lori MacVittie, Jocelyn DeGance Graham, Bernard Golden, and Margaret Dawson.

According to the report, the cloud 2013 predictions include a particular focus on the cloud federation, large use of cloud stack, and greater control over cloud services and resources through enterprise class characteristics…

Grazed from DataCenterKnowledge. Author: Bill Kleyman.

During the past year, new technologies have paved the way for data center innovations, efficiencies and growth. A big part of that push has been cloud computing. However, cloud technology isn’t the end-all in defining how the data center has transformed. There are numerous underlying components which now help support both cloud computing and a more robust data center infrastructure.

Demand For Cloud Staff On the Rise

Looking ahead, more organizations, data center providers and vendors are going to need help with these evolving technologies. They’ll need people who are well-versed in multiple technological disciplines who can make educated decisions in line with business needs. These engineers and architects need the ability to think and work “outside of the box” – especially with the amount of new technologies directly affecting the data center…