ScaleMatrix Launches “Cloud in a Box” at CA World 2011
In a press release issued Thursday, December 1, cloud computing technology provider ScaleMatrix announced that it had used the CA World 2011 event as the launch platform for its “Cloud in a Box” mobile compute platform.
According to ScaleMatrix, more than 6,000 partners attended the CA Technologies event in Las Vegas in November, many of them demonstrating technologies, frequently with an emphasis on the CA private cloud platform AppLogic (originally developed by the company 3Tera, which was acquired by CA).
As a bronze-level sponsor of the event, and a “key” infrastructure partner for CA, ScaleMatrix used the event as an opportunity to launch the product, which offers a combination of servers, software, networking hardware and environmental equipment, built into a proprietary high-density server rack, in order to simplify the deployment and creation of private cloud infrastructure…
The Great Cloud Bottleneck: How Capacity Issues Can Kill Your Cloud Project
Grazed from RedmondMag.com. Author: Doug Barney.
Ever fall half asleep waiting for a Web site to refresh or a Web app to respond, or freak out when your cloud mail is down? If so, you understand a fundamental problem with the cloud: Its speed utterly depends on our network connections, be it a WAN access point, the Internet or a private line.
So we’re not all confused with varying definitions, let’s agree on what a WAN is. According to Cisco Subnet, an independent community for Cisco users, "The WAN is a place in the network that aggregates various types, speeds and links running a disparate set of protocols together crossing metropolitan, state and even country boundaries. The largest example of a WAN is the Internet itself, which can be regarded as the public WAN. The primary purpose of a WAN is to connect users and applications connected to various LANs."
WANs and the Internet were getting clogged long before the cloud. Multimedia, Web and video conferencing, surfing, VoIP and unified communications already stress those networks that haven’t been thoroughly boosted.
Seismic Shift in Demands for Cloud Computing
A seismic shift is occurring in cloud computing demands as businesses around the globe want to connect employees through a myriad of computing devices. This seismic shift turns worldly wisdom on its head according to research conducted by TNS and funded by CSC.
In a survey of more than 3,500 IT decision makers in eight countries, thirty-three percent of survey respondents said that accessibility to information through multiple devices was the most important reason for their decision to convert to cloud computing. The other key motivating factors were accelerating the speed of business at twenty-one percent and cutting costs at seventeen percent…
Survey: Cloud isn’t a cost panacea, but few expect it to be
Cloud computing is not the money saver it’s sometimes made out to be. But don’t fret — it’s still a very valuable delivery model for IT resources, according to a new survey by systems integrator Computer Science Corporation.
While cost savings, where present, were small among the survey’s 3,645 respondents — under $20,000 in 35 percent of cases — the cloud brings a wealth of benefits around mobility, efficiency and, believe it or not, jobs. Mobility, the ability to access applications and data from a variety of end-user devices, was actually the No.1 reason respondents gave for adopting cloud computing. The survey results aren’t entirely surprising when one considers ideal cloud use cases, especially with regard to infrastructure-as-a-service clouds…
Despite Increases in Cloud Computing, Companies Have Long-Term Plans to Invest in Data Centers
A new survey conducted by CoreNet Global and Newmark Knight Frank shows that despite increases in cloud computing, 50 percent of companies are investing and planning over the long term to build or expand data centers that they manage as a corporate entity.
The survey pointed out that companies are most concerned with risk management and business continuity when deciding where to locate their data centers. One result is a preference for most companies to maintain management of data center operations internally, and not to outsource the function…
Cisco, HP Expand Cloud Computing Efforts
Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard continue to push their cloud computing agendas with new offerings and services.
Cisco executives, including Lew Tucker, CTO of cloud computing at the vendor, and Padmasree Warrior, senior vice president of engineering and CTO of Cisco, are expected to discuss the company’s cloud strategy and unveil a host of new technologies aimed at cloud service providers during a Webinar scheduled for Dec. 6. A number of Cisco cloud partners and customers also will join the discussion.
Details for the online event can be found on Cisco’s Website…
Big Switch Networks Named a Most Promising Startup Cloud Provider Finalist
Big Switch Networks, an OpenFlow company bringing the benefits of virtualization and cloud architecture to enterprise networks, today announced that it has been selected as one of three finalists for the UP-START 2011 Most Promising Startup Cloud Award.
The UP-START Award finalists are disruptive and next-generation cloud computing companies, as well as innovative stealth mode and emerging solution providers who are defining cloud technology. The panel of judges, representing recognized leaders in technology, evaluated 350 nominations before selecting a shortlist of finalists. Winners will be announced at this week’s UP Cloud Computing Conference…
Is the cloud right for manufacturing?
There is much discussion these days on whether cloud-based technology is “right” for manufacturing. Given the security concerns, what applications should manufacturers look for to help them get started? And, more importantly, why should they even care about the cloud?
Let’s begin with the basics. First of all, what is the cloud? Gartner, Inc., a leading information technology research and advisory company, defines cloud computing as “a style of computing where scalable and elastic IT capabilities are provided as a service to multiple customers using Internet technologies.” That is as good and as concise a definition as any. Cloud computing works like a computer operating system, managing multiple applications across a shared, Internet-based software and hardware infrastructure…
Preparing the network for cloud computing
Though the concept of “cloud computing” is not new, it is undisputable that it has captured the imagination of the IT industry and will play a large part in the ICT domain over the next decade and beyond.
One critical component of cloud computing which is seldom mentioned, and goes a long way to addressing concerns over the performance / reliability issues, is the role of the network. As applications become virtualised and are transferred at will between data centres, more and more cloud implementations will require lower latency to continue to function. One method of solving this problem will be to use faster, more reliable networks which in turn help customers address questions around service levels. After all, how can any cloud service level agreement (SLA) be worth anything if the performance and availability of the network is not an integral part of it?…
Information Access Through Multiple Computing Devices Primary Driver of Cloud Adoption According to Global Survey
A survey of information technology (IT) decision makers around the globe found that the shift to cloud computing is driven primarily by a desire to connect employees through the multitude of computing devices in use today. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, 33 percent of survey respondents cited accessibility to information through multiple devices as the most important reason for their decision to adopt cloud computing.
Rounding out the top motivating factors of cloud adoption within the enterprise were accelerating the speed of business, which was the choice of 21 percent of respondents, and cutting costs, with 17 percent citing it as most important. In the United States, the trend among small businesses was even more pronounced, as nearly half, or 46 percent, of small businesses cited information access through a multitude of devices as the most important reason for adopting the cloud, while 10 percent of small businesses cited cutting costs…