Author: David

Grazed from The Var Guy. Author: DH Kass.

Midmarket backup solutions provider STORServer has released version 5.0 of its Virtual Machine Backup (VMB) software, featuring IBM (IBM) Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments (TSM) and designed to protect VMware (VMW) vSphere backup machines.

Adding TSM to the new Virtual Machine Backup software enables users to protect their data without a traditional backup window by offloading workloads to a centralized server and avoiding any impact on the physical resources of the VMware server, according to IBM documentation. STORServer VMB 5.0 supports both TSM for VE v6.4, which includes the incremental forever or periodic full backup strategy available for full virtual machines, file level and instant restore operations and the prior TSM for VE v6.3…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

According to my friend Brandon Butler at Network World, "Dell has dramatically shifted its cloud computing strategy, canceling plans it once had to launch a public cloud service based on the OpenStack open source platform, and discontinuing an EMC VMware-based public cloud it already has on the market."

What is Dell going to do now? Give up on computing and move to agriculture? Go back to building computers in dorm rooms? Nope. The company will focus more on private clouds — OpenStack-flavored private clouds, to be exact…

Grazed from WSJ. Author: Clint Boulton.

Although the hype suggests that CIOs are ditching on-premise software in droves for the maintenance-free comforts of cloud computing, the reality is different, with two of cloud’s biggest arguments–lower capital outlays and freedom from on-premises agreements–not enough to convince some CIOs.

For companies with easy access to capital, the cloud’s promise of reduced capital expenditure is not enough. Dropping on-premise vendors means leaving behind expensive service contracts, but also the expected services and the agreed-upon vendor obligations should something go wrong. Some companies considering the cloud fear that today’s cloud service level agreements, which establish the legal relationship between the cloud provider and the client, may not go far enough to guarantee data security and establish financial responsibility…

Grazed from Virtual.com. Author: Editorial Staff.

It’s been over two years since we posted our blog analyzing the financials of public versus private cloud computing solution models. While the dollar figures may have changed since then, the outcome still holds true—building a private cloud, while more expensive initially, can save nearly 50 percent over the course of three years versus a public cloud.

First… the assumptions. Many factors can go into a financial cloud computing model, so this is merely a starting point for discussion. Here’s what we did:

+ Assumed all instances of public or private cloud server usage are active 24/7

+ Calculated the public cloud (Option 1) using 10 extra-large CPU classes, 60 large CPU classes, and 30 small CPU classes

+ Used a scenario of 100 virtual server instances, for initial analysis purposes…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Tom Caper.

As enterprises begin to eagerly experiment with cloud software solutions to pioneer their business to new levels, it is important to clarify the value it brings to your business and the requirements needed for successful implementation. Here are 6 key factors to consider when picking a SaaS provider for your enterprise:

1. Prioritizing Quality User Experience

As users are more willing than ever to experiment with different apps and software to suit their needs and maximize productivity, the stranglehold of IT-mandated enterprise software has been considerably reduced. It is important for IT departments to analyze the enterprise SaaS solution they are choosing from the user’s perspective and whether it can really offer the best experience over other alternative software in the market…

Grazed from PCWorld. Author: Joab Jackson.

Deploying an update of its DB2 database, IBM is pitching its SmartCloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) for use in data reporting and analysis. "We’re the only player in the marketplace that has [a cloud service] for data-in-motion — being able to analyze data in real time," said Bob Picciano, IBM’s general manager for Information Management.

Starting in the second half of this year, the IBM SmartCloud IaaS will start using version 10.5 of IBM’s DB2 database, which should be generally available by early June. One new set of technologies that will come with this database, collectively called BLU Acceleration, can speed data analysis by 25 times or more, IBM claimed. IBM also announced that SmartCloud can now run copies of SAP’s HANA in-memory database, initially for test and development jobs…

Grazed from SiliconAngle. Author: Maria Deutscher.

Managing workloads in hybrid public environments is more complex than ought it to be, according to cloud computing specialist Appcara. Earlier this week the Santa Clara-based firm pulled the curtains back on a turnkey solution that will help small to medium enterprises (SMEs) resolve this issue, a solution built on automation and analytics.

The new AppStack Express Appliance features a homegrown tool that captures metadata in real-time and stores it in a continuously updated ‘configuration repository’. The system taps into this database to automate provisioning and maintenance tasks. Appcara pegs its patent-pending technology as a superior alternative to the server templates and scripts that have become an indispensable part of most admins’ toolkit…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Salam Ul Haq.

The ever expanding internet data coupled with social and mobile infrastructure expansion has made big data analytics a buzz word, especially looking at the fact that ninety percent of the world’s internet data is created in the last couple of years. However Big Data is the name of a problem, not a solution. The solution is the advanced algorithms running on large platforms crunching data and numbers to generate useful information.

It could be termed as data recycling to obtain packets of information from a dense knowledge and data clouds. Naturally, most solutions involving big data are based on huge processing clusters to handle the load of processing bulk information making it prohibitive for small and medium level business which cannot cope with the barrier of entry investment. In the last few years, large enterprises have invested their resources to generate analytics and harvested tremendous gains in business by streamlining marketing and streamlining products to user needs…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Ken Owens.

Ask anyone in technology circles, “What is cloud?” and you’ll get a handful of different answers. But the responses will likely all relate back to three key models: Public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud. Businesses need to be aware of how these models can fit into their strategies. We know from this independent survey conducted by research firm Vanson Bourne for Savvis that IT leaders are shifting their views on cloud computing – and broader IT outsourcing. About 60 percent of leaders agreed that owning IT infrastructure wasted resources, compared to just 38 percent two years earlier.

Not surprisingly, given these figures, a huge percentage of organizations have shown an air of regret around the purchasing of IT equipment. Equally significant, as these organizations shift to cloud and outsourcing, we’re seeing CIO mindshare now center on more strategic concerns…

Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Brandon Butler.

Many times in discussions about cloud computing, the hybrid cloud – meaning a service that combines both off-site public cloud and on-premises private cloud computing resources – is thought of as being some nirvana state that will be the dominant architecture at some point in the future. Well, Forrester cloud expert James Staten has news for many IT shops: Hybrid cloud is already here, whether you know it or not.

Staten lays out the argument in one of his latest blog posts, but it boils down to the point that if enterprises are using some sort of public cloud resource – like an customer relationship management (CRM) app from Salesforce.com, or some on-demand virtual machines from Amazon Web Services – that more likely than not those applications are using information from some on-premises databases or applications hosted behind your company’s firewall. If there is some sort of transfer of data between your on-premises systems and that public cloud resource, then you’ve got a hybrid deployment. “If you are planning for hybrid down the road, I have a wakeup call for you,” Staten says. “Too late, you are already hybrid.”…