Author: David

Grazed from The Chicago Herald.  Author:  Will Oremus.

Thanks to the cloud, websites and apps around the world can tap into vast, remote stores of data and computing power.

And thanks to the cloud, one good blow to one of those vast, remote storage centers can take down websites and apps around the world.

That’s what happened this past weekend. A ferocious lightning storm in Northern Virginia took down Netflix, Instagram, Pinterest, Heroku and more — not because any of those companies are based in Northern Virginia, but because they all apparently rely heavily on Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud facility there. Amazon said the storm, for reasons not immediately explained, took out both its main power supply and its backup generator…

Grazed from CloudTweaks.  Author: Rick Blaisdell.

lthough estimates of the overall cloud market size vary considerably, the consensus is that cloud computing is growing rapidly. I came across interesting statistics while reading about this topic. Market Research Media, cited in the Bloomberg report, says the cloud market will reach $270 billion in 2020 while Forrester is not that optimistic, predicting last year that the market will hit $241 billion by that time and says the market will hit about $55 billion by 2014.

So, what are the trends in the cloud market?

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offers more growth opportunities than any other segment.   SaaS will retain its position as a leading segment in cloud computing. Gartner tracks ten different categories of SaaS applications in this latest forecast with CRM, ERP, and Web Conferencing, Teaming Platforms, and Social Software Suites being the three largest in terms of global revenue growth…

Grazed from EUObserver.  Author: Benjamin Fox.

Companies using cloud computing services must "guarantee" compliance with EU data rules, according to the Article 29 Working group, the EU’s leading data protection watchdog.

In a 27-page legal opinion released this week (3rd July) on the safeguards businesses would be required put in place to protect private data, the Working Group stated that firms should be required to spell out data privacy policies in all contracts with individuals using cloud services.

Under this model, individuals putting data in a cloud would have guarantees about access and use of their data, the terms and time frame for data retention, and clear rules on the deletion of personal data…

Grazed fro MSPNews.  Author: Arvind Arora

Cloud computing has been taking all the market sectors by storm. Latest cloud based solutions are being introduced everyday, with an aim to address the ever changing customer needs and to keep pace with the market trends.

Terremark, a subsidiary of Verizon Company, has announced to offer its services to NetApp, a provider of advanced storage and data management solutions that help companies in enhancing the pre-sales and post-sales support.

Cutting edge infrastructure and managed service offerings by Terremark provide a flexible, secure and high performance environment to the enterprises and governments across the globe. The company deploys its extensive network of data centers and a wide range of secure solutions to enable enterprise and government executives in utilizing the maximum potential of cloud based technologies…

Grazed from CloudTimes.  Author: Xath Cruz.

If you are not familiar with the company called Piston Cloud Computing, chances are you’re going to be within a few years, since the startup is currently developing technology that will give way to the next generation of Internet cloud services. Basically, Piston Cloud Computing is going to pave the way for changes on the Internet on a level never before seen since the Internet itself was invented.

While there are already a lot of startups working on cloud computing, Piston is on an entirely new level for the following reasons:

Piston Cloud Computing’s cofounder. Joshua McKenty, was one of the lead developers of Openstack

Openstack is a new cloud technology that has prompted all the big enterprise players to start another battle for market dominance, with Red Hat, Citrix, and Vmware all developing their own tech…

Grazed from OStatic.  Author: Sam Dean.

If you’re looking for a good way to close out the summer on a high note, keep in mind that the LinuxCon and CloudOpen conferences are taking place together in San Diego, Calif., August 29-31. And, The Linux Foundation has finalized the complete programs and keynote confirmations for the events. Here are the details on what looks like a good time if you’re into Linux and the cloud.

CloudOpen, one of several emerging events focused on cloud computing, is targeted to cover open source, standards and APIs in the cloud. It’s especially designed for software developers and IT managers responsible for deploying and developing cloud solutions. The event is being run in parallel with LinuxCon in San Diego.

According to The Linux Foundation’s schedule, the keynote confirmations for LinuxCon and CloudOpen include:…