Can any cloud catch Amazon Web Services? Part 1
While there has been an incredible increase in the competitive landscape for various cloud computing services, one company stands out to me as unique in both its approach and its success. That company is Amazon, and their Amazon Web Services offerings.
Before you accuse me of being some kind of fanboy, I want to explain why I say this. And in part 2 of this series, I’ll point out how this uniqueness will be challenged in the coming year or two. There is no guarantee that Amazon will be the dominant cloud capacity provider forever, but they deserve their props when it comes to what they have achieved to date, and how–at least for now–they continue to go about staying the leader…
HPC Startup Backs into Cloud
Some could argue that it really does take a rocket scientist to address the limitations of high performance computing systems.
According to one rocket scientist we talked to recently, the problem with HPC clusters for aerospace engineers has little to do with the applications or the real science behind the rockets. Rather, he says the thorny issues are rooted in the limitations, complexity, and general care and feeding distractions that require scientists and non IT-experts to work double-duty as HPC system managers…
Priming the private cloud pump, HP releases VirtualSystem for VMware at VMworld
HP is taking full advantage of the VMworld conference in Las Vegas this week to make a series of major announcements around its virtualization and cloud computing products. One of the most important is the announcement of HP VirtualSystem for VMware…NetApp and VMware Help Transform IT, Make Cloud a Reality
Cloud computing has quickly surfaced as an important IT initiative as more organizations evaluate alternatives to help manage the pace and growth of their business. To help accelerate customers’ transition to the cloud, today at VMworld(R) 2011, NetApp and VMware announced VMware cloud infrastructure and management on NetApp(R), a new joint solution that enables organizations to evolve to a secure cloud computing model at their own pace, gaining greater flexibility and efficiency without needing to rip and replace their existing infrastructure…
Solving the Cloud Security Problem
Study after study shows that the number one concern that IT organizations of any size have with cloud computing is security. But being concerned about something and actually doing something about it are two different things. The issue with cloud security is that it’s difficult to deploy and manage…
Eucalyptus Brings High Availability To Private Cloud
Private cloud computing would be a more attractive option if came with a guarantee it would continue running when cantankerous, legacy systems hiccup and fail. Eucalyptus Systems, supplier of software that invokes a private cloud compatible with Amazon’s EC2, says it’s built high availability into its third generation software.
Eucalyptus 3 includes high availability as a feature, not an engineering project, with an architecture that was designed to eliminate single points of failure in the private cloud, said Marten Mickos, CEO. The update has mechanisms for automatic recovery from a component failure, whether it’s a storage drive or a host server…
Cloud Computing: Jumping into the Cloud
The Verizon acquisition of Cloud Switch is tremendous validation for solution providers in the cloud enablement space and confirmation of the need for cloud onboarding tools to help lower the barrier to entry for businesses looking to adopt cloud services. Migration tools and services are always critical for driving adoption of any new technology, as consumers seek to migrate to the new from their legacy technology.Often times, the more disruptive the technology, the greater the need, and cloud is no exception in this respect. Mid-tier and enterprise businesses especially are looking for ways to streamline the onboarding process and minimize their risk around cloud adoption, as they have significantly more sunk costs than an SMB. By providing automated solutions to enable the migration of these businesses’s existing servers, MSPs and cloud providers will increase service adoption, drive revenue, and reduce costs in multiple ways…
Solutionary Enables Secure Virtualization
Grazed from PR NewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.
Solutionary, Inc., a leading managed security services provider, today announced the availability of ActiveGuard® Virtual Appliance, an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) image that organizations of any size and industry can quickly and easily deploy into virtual environments. The ActiveGuard Virtual Appliance gives organizations the ability to take advantage of the benefits of virtualization and cloud computing without compromising the business needs for security and compliance…
The cloud rains new job opportunities on tech workers
Putting all or part of a company’s operations on the cloud — shorthand for large, remotely hosted data sets and applications — isn’t without risk, as recent outages and security lapses have shown. Still, cloud computing is so cost-effective that its popularity is growing by leaps and bounds.
In 2010, U.S. firms paid $21.5 billion to make the move to cloud services, a figure expected to balloon to $72.9 billion by 2015, according to a new study by IT research and advisory firm IDC…
Regulations a Barrier to Cloud Growth in Europe
Grazed from Data Center Knowledge. Author: Olafur Ingthorsson.
Europe needs to become not only cloud-friendly but “cloud-active” to fully realize the benefits of cloud computing. That’s the view of ETNO (The European Telecommunications Network Operator‘s Association) in a recently-issued paper on cloud computing development in Europe, which emphasized the importance of relieving obstacles surrounding data privacy and security.
Fragmented regulations are a particular problem in Europe, where sometimes restrictive legislation of the EU and individual Member States has stifled the development of cloud computing services. ETNO reiterates that rules governing data transfer should be simplified, especially if the transfer is within the same group of companies. Furthermore, ETNO concludes that there is no need for applying specific regulatory or legislative action on cloud computing in Europe. It should suffice to apply general rules of data protection and consumer protection to cloud computing – as with other sectors of industry…