Author: David

Grazed from Channelnomics. Author: Chris Gonsalves.

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for another cloud computing survey telling us how cloud adoption rates continue to skyrocket.

Yes, businesses of all sizes and types covet the cloud for its ability to slash IT costs, introduce speedy services and make systems scalable and flexible. If researchers thought to ask, there would likely be data showing that the cloud can reduce wrinkles, trim ugly fat and raise the IQ level of the average CIO.

How hard could this really be? Cloud computing practically sells itself, right? Turns out, it’s tougher than it looks. For a technology that’s been dubbed the most important and disruptive of its generation, the cloud comes with more disclaimers than a frequent flyer program, and more caveats than the Irish Sweepstakes. Even the most optimistic surveys end with a “but” or “however” that takes some of the starch out of the whole happy affair. If cloud computing were a car, it would be a Toyota Celica with a rocket engine, handlebars, bicycle brakes – but no seat belts. Sure, it’s fast, but … Yeah, it’s cheap, but … Try selling that to one of your loyal customers…

Grazed from Government Health IT. Author: Kim Lee.

The “cloud” (in computing) is not a new concept. If you use web-based e-mail, then you probably are tapping into the “cloud,” because the remotely hosted application and information are pushed to you “on demand” based upon your needs. For a more expansive definition of cloud computing, please see the National Institute of Standards’ definition (NIST Special Publication No. 800-145).

Healthcare providers are also turning to the cloud to remotely host their applications and data. Their reasons for doing this are generally to save money and/or to help ensure data is secure and available…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

Connections for Business is inviting the public to a workshop to learn all about Cloud Computing entitled: "What is Cloud Computing? How did we get here? What does it mean to me?" John Garber will discuss the topic and answer questions from participants. Located in Hollywood Florida and happening from 8:30am – 10:00am, participants can have breakfast, network and get some valuable information on a subject that many still don’t seem to know much about.

“The Cloud” no longer has to be a mystery; Connections for Business can explain how users can use as much or as little of a service as wanted or needed at any given time and about the difference between a public cloud or a private cloud. One main concern for businesses is security. Find out how secure your data can be in cloud computing and why this is vital for any organization…

Pertino, a virtual networking solution for the cloud era, is moving a step closer to emerging from stealth with the appointments of Todd Krautkremer as vice president of marketing and Tony Wilder as vice president of operations.

"We believe the wide-area networking (WAN) is the next infrastructure to be revolutionized by the cloud and network virtualization," said Craig Elliott, CEO of Pertino. "The way organizations commute, compute and collaborate is being transformed by the cloud and mobility, yet WANs have remained essentially unchanged for the last decade. It’s time to reimagine and reinvent business networking and we have assembled a team of proven technology leaders and innovators with experience spanning cloud, networking, mobile and security to do just that."

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Splunk Inc., the leading provider of software for real-time operational intelligence, and CloudShare, the leading provider of pre-production cloud for dev and test, demos and POCs, will take the stage together at next week’s VMworld® 2012 to discuss how the Splunk App for VMware is helping CloudShare gain deep insight into its infrastructure performance, customer trends, and business metrics.

The session titled, "How a Cloud Computing Provider Reached the Holy Grail of Visibility" will take place Wednesday, Aug. 29 from 4 – 5 p.m. (PT) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Leena Joshi, director of solutions marketing at Splunk, and Elad Gotfrid, director of IT at CloudShare, will share best practices on managing and monitoring CloudShare’s dynamic SaaS environment with Splunk and the Splunk App for VMware…

Grazed from DataCenter Knowledge. Author: Rich Miller.

Joyent is ready to expand its cloud platform, and is tapping the Platform Equinix network of data centers to do it. Joyent said today that it has deployed servers in Equinix data centers in northern Amsterdam and northern Virginia, and plans to add equipment at an Equinix site in Asia later this year.

Joyent has focused on superior application speed as a key selling point and a differentiator with other cloud computing services. Deploying equipment at Equinix allows Joyent to directly connect to a dynamic ecosystem of customers, business partners and networks. By deploying its platform in close proximity to customers, Joyent said it will virtually eliminate latency for customers with high-performance mobile and web applications…

Grazed from GigaOM. Author: Barb Darrow.

NetApp is working with Fusion-io to make server-side flash a resource for storing “hot” data. The company said its Flash Accel software can boost application performance up to 90 percent in some cases.

NetApp, a leading maker of storage appliances, now wants to manage third-party storage, including server-side flash from Fusion-io. And that’s what it’s doing with its new Flash Accel software.

This is just the latest push by storage makers to reach out beyond their own islands of data center hardware to manage and administer third party products in a more holistic fashion…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Joe McKendrick.

There’s a lot of concern, much of justified, about the fate of IT jobs as cloud computing gains traction.At one extreme, some analysts predict much of IT will move outside the organization.

But maybe cloud means more opportunities than it takes away.

Evolven’s Syed Raza and Martin Perlin did a great job pulling together the top ways cloud computing is changing IT employment opportunities. Pulling information and analysis from various sites (including some from yours truly), Raza and Perlin paint of picture of great opportunity — not decline — for IT as clouds become the de facto form of enterprise computing…

Grazed from WestLaw Insider. Author: Daniel Garrie.

So what is cloud computing? Cloud computing is a general term for the delivery of hosting and other services over the Internet. Instead of storing data locally, the data and data applications are stored remotely, with access to the data provided via the Internet (the “cloud” in “cloud computing”).

Whatever the specific form, the singular characteristic of cloud computing is separation of the computer hardware from the service. The major advantage of a cloud computing solution is its elasticity- the consumer is charged by use, can make as little or as much use of the service as desired, and need not purchase, maintain, or upgrade any computer hardware…

Grazed from WestLaw Insider. Author: Daniel Garrie.

In my last post, we began exploring the landscape of cloud computing and several considerations that attorneys should be aware of before putting data in the cloud. In this second post in the series we will look specifically at choosing a data hosting provider, implementation, and security.

Many hosting services exist, so it is important to take the time to compare the services and security offered by each. By turning hosting duties over to a third-party, you lose control over the security of your data, as some or all of those security and protection duties devolve to the hosting company. Not all “clouds” are the same, and you should understand the security parameters and limitations of your particular cloud. This is a time when it is important to read the fine print before hitting the “Accept” button…