March 23, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Are Hyper-V and App-V the new Windows Servers?

By David
Grazed from ZDNet.  Author: Ken Hess.

Bear with me, if you will, for a moment while I put forth an interesting idea concerning Microsoft’s future in the cloud computing business marketplace. I believe that traditional server operating systems (OSs) will go out of style long before desktop format computing will and there’s a very good reason for that: We just don’t need standalone servers anymore. Yes, I realize that’s a pretty strong statement in any arena but, as I wrote above, bear with me while I discuss this salient point with you. I think that Microsoft will replace standard, standalone Windows Server with Hyper-V and App-V. And, you’ll probably select which one you want to use during installation. Windows vServer 2015 or Windows Application Server 2015?

Click. Restart. Deploy.

Once your system is up and running, you can select through a series of Roles for your new Server, if you selected Windows Application Server 2015, such as Remote Desktop Server, Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Communications Server, Media Server, Active Directory Server, Office Applications Server or Custom Applications Server. The Custom Applications Server would allow you to deploy applications that don’t fall into one of the other categories…

March 23, 2012 Off

All you need to know about cloud data transfers

By David
Grazed from InfoWorld.  Author: David Linthicum.

What is it with data-transfer cloud computing performance? Some people think cloud services provide great performance, and some think they don’t perform well at all. The reality is that both beliefs are true, depending on how you use cloud services and the cloud providers themselves.

There are a few basic, core patterns that define data-transfer performance:

  • Enterprise to cloud
  • Mobile to cloud
  • Cloud to cloud

Enterprise-to-cloud seems to be where the problems exist. Information is transferred, typically over the open Internet, from servers in the enterprise to public cloud computing providers. If you’ve ever checked out the speed difference in downloading data from a remote website versus an intranet site, you already know what the issues are in this arena. As a rule, try to avoid transfer of large chunks of data from the enterprise to the public cloud computing provider…

March 23, 2012 Off

Tensions Between CIOs, Other Execs Surface in Cloud Survey

By David
Grazed from CFO World.  Author: Anuradha Shukla.

Business leaders see cloud computing as a way to circumvent IT in order to acquire cloud services on their own and this is creating tension between business and IT stakeholders.

This finding is apparent by a new commissioned cloud survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of BMC that suggests a comprehensive cloud strategy can alleviate growing tensions between business and IT teams.

BMC Software’s study entitled ‘Delivering on High Cloud Expectations’, includes in-depth responses from 327 enterprise infrastructure executives and architects across the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific…

March 23, 2012 Off

Largest cloud computing conference and expo opens in Hanoi

By David
Grazed from VietnamNet Bridge.  Author: PR Announcement.

The 2012 Cloud Computing and Security World Conference & Exhibition, themed “Security and Modernity: Building social confidence in modern services”, is being held at Hanoi Tower in the capital city from March 22-23.

The annual event is the seventh of its kind in Vietnam, and has become the largest and most prestigious national forum about security in the Southeast Asian country.

This year’s event is expected to create an ideal venue for leading information technology (IT) experts and businesses to introduce innovative initiatives and effective solutions related to cloud computing application for both government and enterprises…

March 23, 2012 Off

Yardi Announces Voyager SaaS and Private Cloud Solutions

By David
Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Yardi announced today the release of Voyager S, a Software as a Service (SaaS) successor to its popular Yardi Voyager™ software. Voyager S has all the features of Yardi Voyager version 6.0 in a SaaS model and is initially available for residential and commercial clients in North America.

SaaS solutions have gained wide acceptance in many industries including real estate. SaaS solutions enable suppliers to provide more seamless integration of new releases and updates. The first release of Voyager S will provide improvements in reporting and supports Microsoft reporting services. The second release of Voyager S will provide iPad, tablet and Mac support…

March 23, 2012 Off

Dome9 Security Addresses Widespread Microsoft RDP Cloud Server Vulnerability

By David
Grazed from Dome9.  Author: PR Announcement.
 

Dome9 Security, the leading provider of cloud security firewall management for public and private clouds, as well as for dedicated and virtual private servers (VPS), today announced that its cloud security firewall management service protects cloud servers from today’s serious cloud server security threats, including the recently publicized Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) vulnerability. Dome9’s cloud security service that automates firewall management eliminates the tactical response to both known vulnerabilities, and vulnerabilities yet to be discovered, and delivers a strategic approach to securing cloud servers.

Employed across millions of cloud and virtual private servers, RDP is a widely used service to control remote Windows servers. The recently announced vulnerability allows hackers to gain full access of any Windows server running RDP and execute remote code without needing any authentication to the server. The exploit affects all versions of Windows Server for any public, private, or hybrid cloud, as well as traditional datacenters, but Windows cloud servers are at the greatest risk because most have public-facing, open RDP ports that are not protected by a corporate perimeter.

March 23, 2012 Off

VMware vCloud Director Essentials Training Released by TrainSignal

By David
Grazed from TrainSignal.  Author: PR Announcement.
 

TrainSignal, the global leader in professional computer training, announced the release of their VMware vCloud Director Essentials Training course.

The vCloud Director Essentials Training course teaches administrators of vSphere environments how to use VMware vCD to leverage enterprise virtualization to provide IT resources on-demand. Using vCloud Director, admins can deploy custom-built services "as a service" in order to provide a consistent user experience between private & public clouds. Managing and monitoring resources under this IaaS model opens up the opportunity for cost-efficiency and business agility to expand on top of existing investments.

This essentials training teaches the concepts behind cloud infrastructures and vCD basics for creating a vCloud Director lab. This environment can be used for testing and/or training, utilizing vApps and the vCloud API, and as proof of concept for implementing vCD with a vSphere Enterprise Plus environment. The lesson outline includes:

March 23, 2012 Off

ICT Board’s Paul Kukubo to speak at Cloud Computing Forum Africa 2012

By David
Grazed from Cloud Computing World Forum.  Author: PR Announcement.
 

The Kenya ICT Board chief executive Paul Kukubo is among industry leaders set to make keynote speeches at the forthcoming Cloud Computing World Forum to be held in South Africa on May 8 at the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg.

The Cloud Computing World Forum Africa offers delegates an opportunity to discuss the latest topics in cloud services, including security, mobile, applications, communications, virtualization and CRM among others.

Kukubo will speak on the topic: ‘Cloud Computing in the Public Sector’ covering issues including whether cloud computing is too much of a risk for the public sector, the benefits of public sector clouds for both vendors and end-users and cloud pressure – matching IT security with cost-effectiveness.

March 22, 2012 Off

Why NIST’s cloud definition is fatally flawed

By David
Grazed from Government Computer News.  Author:  Michael Daconta.

I recently sat through a briefing on cloud security in which the presenter defined platform as a service and then asserted that “PaaS is going away.”   Given that PaaS incarnations such as Hadoop are the mainstay of big data, that would imply that big data is going away — and that is patently wrong. 

Furthermore, the laypeople in the audience failed to grasp the slide on NIST’s “3-4-5” definition framework of cloud computing, which uses three service models, four deployment models and five characteristics. The framework was too complex and failed to provide the simple, unified concept of cloud computing that this audience desperately needed…

March 22, 2012 Off

Datalink Achieves Cisco Cloud Infrastructure Designation

By David
Grazed from BusinessWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

Datalink (NASDAQ: DTLK), a leading provider of data center infrastructure and services, announced today that it has achieved the Cisco Cloud Infrastructure designation within the Cisco Cloud Partner Program. The designation indicates that Datalink has met the required competencies to sell and implement “cloud-ready” infrastructure across security, networking, compute, storage and virtualization solutions from Cisco and approved third-party technology partners.

The recognition from Cisco reflects Datalink’s focus on helping organizations deploy and support next-generation data centers to drive greater business agility, efficiency, and performance. “Our experience in building private and hybrid clouds is rapidly establishing our status as go-to cloud computing partner for mid- and large-size enterprises,” said Paul Lidsky, president and CEO, Datalink. “The investments we have made in cloud computing-related training, certifications, and field-tested best practices across the unified data center translate into tangible benefits for the organizations we serve.”…