Grazed from ArsTechnica.  Author: John Brodkin.

The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud is becoming increasingly popular for high-performance computing. It’s now capable of running many of the applications that previously required building out a large HPC cluster or renting time from a supercomputing center. But as you might expect, Amazon EC2 can’t do everything a traditional supercomputer can.

Scientific applications that require super-fast interconnects are still the reserve of the IBM Blue Genes and Cray supercomputers of the world. However, Amazon’s adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections in its high-end cluster compute instances have expanded the usefulness of EC2.

As we’ve reported before, clusters of 30,000 cores, even 50,000 cores have been run on Amazon’s cloud for real-world scientific applications. A caveat is that these tend to be “embarrassingly parallel” applications, in which the interconnect speed isn’t important because each calculation runs independently of all the others…

Grazed from Wired.  Author: John Graham.

Let’s set the stage with a couple of assertions:

• There will be a proliferation of cloud solutions within an enterprise – recall the days of client/server computing, where each line of business (LOB) or department went out to purchase its own solution, outside the control of IT.
• Recognizing the previous assertion, enlightened IT leaders have already started working proactively with their peers within the LOBs, sourcing, and with the financial controllers, to “educate” them about cloud, and ensure that they and IT are invited to the party!

Within this context, and before delving into enterprise architecture, let’s consider for the moment different aspects of a system…

Grazed from InfoWorld.  Author: Ted Samson.

Advances in virtualization, cloud computing, and mobile technology have created a perfect storm for a new era in end-user computing, one in which users can revel in their own personal cloud, connecting to all their apps and data, anyplace and anytime from any device, be it a Wyse thin client at work, a company-issued Android phone on the road, a personal iPad at the airport, or a Windows XP machine at home.

Although the trend means greater productivity for users, it can be a pain for IT admins charged with the unenviable task of ensuring that those disparate services, apps, and data are delivered consistently and securely, regardless of device or platform. With the the unveiling of an enterprise-grade Dropbox-like file sharing solution called Project Octopus, VMware aims to make the personal cloud a practical reality for businesses…

Grazed from BusinessWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

Arista Networks will be demonstrating Software Defined Networks (SDN) with key partners, built on Arista EOS (Extensible Operating System), the world’s most advanced network operating system. The programmability inherent in EOS is being demonstrated in conjunction with strategic partners at Interop in Arista booth #1539.

Arista EOS is widely deployed in major cloud providers and is SDN ready, allowing network designers and administrators to deploy a data center architecture that addresses their real-time cloud computing, multi-tenant mobility, and virtual machine migration requirements. The extensibility and openness of Arista EOS provides the resilient foundation and flexibility necessary for SDN architectures, while avoiding proprietary vendor lock in.

The partner integration demonstrations at Interop 2012 and Interopnet in Las Vegas are: VMware auto provisioning with VMware SDN controller, OpenStack Nova integration with Nebula, and Big Switch Network’s OpenFlow controller…

Grazed from PR NewsWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

Intelisys Communications, Inc., the nation’s leading master agency distributor of business technology services, announced today the successful completion of the acquisition of Cloud Services Coalition (CSC), a wholly owned DBA of Terrapin Solutions.

The acquisition creates a new business unit, Intelisys Cloud Services and Complex Bids. It will continue to fulfill the charter of Cloud Services Coalition to centralize a superior portfolio of Cloud-related service providers and act as a trusted advisor to telecom agents and IT solution providers seeking to add cloud-based services to their current offerings…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Kenandy, Inc. today announced release 2.0 of Kenandy(TM) Social ERP, the first cloud ERP built entirely on Force.com, salesforce.com’s social enterprise cloud computing platform specifically for product companies. The new release adds financials and order management to Kenandy’s manufacturing management core, creating end-to-end enterprise management. Kenandy Social ERP is built for companies that design, manufacture, and distribute products to give them new ways to get control and visibility into their supply and distribution networks. The product is to be unveiled at salesforce.com’s Cloudforce event in Chicago.

"With the addition of financials and order management, Kenandy Social ERP becomes the backbone of the social enterprise," says Sandra Kurtzig, Chairman and CEO of Kenandy. "It’s time to re-think ERP, and that’s what we’ve done. Kenandy release 2.0 now offers fully integrated end-to-end ERP and it’s entirely on the cloud, easy to use, fast to deploy, mobile, global, and social."…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Callidus Software Inc. CALD -0.22% , the leader in sales effectiveness and cloud computing, announced today that it launched its new CLOUD (Continuous Learning On User Demand) Pass(TM) Learning Platform. Sales operations practitioners can now tap into CallidusCloud’s library of the latest tips and techniques in optimizing their use of the CallidusCloud(TM) product suite.

"CLOUD Pass augments the instructor-led curriculum at the CallidusCloud University, and is designed to have a profound positive impact on productivity, motivation, and ultimately, the satisfaction of our user community," said Saied Karamooz, Senior Vice President, Customer Solutions, CallidusCloud. "With CLOUD Pass, users will be just a few clicks away from learning how our solutions can help them execute better on their growth targets without stepping away from their daily routine. Coupled with our best-in-class suite of products, our enriched training program ensures that the value that our customers gain from CallidusCloud is unrivaled in the industry."…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

VMware, Inc., the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today unveiled VMware View(TM) 5.1 and an updated portfolio of end-user computing solutions designed to empower a more agile, productive and connected enterprise.

"Customers are looking for solutions that break down current technology barriers and shift the focus to delivering services that can be accessed anywhere, on any device," said Boaz Chalamish, senior vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware. "VMware View(TM) 5.1 and our growing portfolio of personal cloud solutions will address the needs to simplify technology, manage more efficiently and better connect employees."…

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author: Gilad Parann-Nissany.

MySQL is probably the most popular open source database. While there is a wealth of discussion online for MySQL database encryption,doing it right in a cloud computing environment is tricky.

The discussion here is quite long, and contains a lot of interesting details. So if you want a spoiler: it is possible to achieve true confidentiality for your MySQL database today; using the industry best practice which is split-key encryption…
 

Grazed from PR NewsWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

QualiSystems announced today its TestShell enterprise software framework’s compatibility for advanced testing of the cloud infrastructure, covering lab management, device provisioning and test automation. Using TestShell, cloud testers can accelerate automation and simplify the time-consuming and complex task of mimicking cloud infrastructure in the lab to assure performance and bring new services rapidly to the market.

TestShell’s advanced user-friendly features allow network, storage and test engineers to easily adapt to the dynamic cloud-computing testing environment. By offering a holistic solution that requires no programming skills, it is simpler and quicker for cloud architecture, designers and testers to accomplish set-up and testing of the infrastructure. The different cloud components that must interoperate – computing, services, storage and networking – are each tested individually and in concert to assure performance, stability, security, QoE and QoS using TestShell...