Author: David

Grazed from The Register.  Author:  Lucy Sherriff.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave even less well equipped for the modern age than Fred Flintstone’s, you will have noticed the buzz about something called cloud computing. It comes with a menagerie of buzzwords: software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure on demand, hosted apps … We could go on.

The trouble with buzzwords is that they can buzz for quite a while before people begin to notice they haven’t agreed on exactly what they mean.  So, in the manner of a lepidopterist, let’s try to pin a few down for closer inspection…

Grazed from V3.co.uk.  Author:  Daniel Robinson.

Microsoft has detailed plans to integrate its SkyDrive cloud storage service more closely with Windows 8, a move that will enable users to seamlessly access files on any computer and use SkyDrive as a remote access service to fetch files held on their computer.

In its latest update posted to the Building Windows 8 blog, Microsoft said SkyDrive will evolve with Windows 8 from being just a website into a true "device cloud" for Windows customers…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Webair ( www.webair.com ) continues to evolve its industry leading cloud hosting technology by providing the fastest disk speeds possible in the Cloud through a new partnership with Fusion-io. Backed by state of the art Fusion ioMemory, Webair has deployed Cloud hosting infrastructure that provides 100 times the IOP/s performance of other solutions by guaranteeing 10,000 IOP/s per instance.

This breakthrough technology puts Webair at the forefront of cloud computing by successfully supporting even the most intensive and demanding applications, such as database servers, video encoders, data analytics and industrial content delivery products…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

BlueThread Technologies, Inc. (BlueThread) today announced that they will unveil Skybrary, an Enterprise-class Cloud Content Management solution at the Cloud Computing Conference & Expo 2012 to be held at the New York City Javits Center in June.

Skybrary is a software-only solution designed to accelerate the adoption of Cloud Storage, Collaboration, and Content Management Services. Its distributed architecture enables large volumes of content and related object data to be efficiently moved between supported content platforms, whether they reside on-premises or in the Cloud…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

vCider, Inc., a provider of on-demand virtual cloud networking solutions, today announced the availability of version 2.0 of its Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) service, which enables cloud-computing users to build secure virtual private clouds that span multiple cloud-service providers, such as Amazon EC2 and Rackspace, and extend on-premise data center infrastructure into the cloud.

Developers can use vCider VPCs to deploy secure cloud applications that span IaaS regions and platforms. No longer limited to working with a single Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, developers can build applications that are faster, more reliable and less expensive by choosing providers that offer the best technology, service, performance and/or pricing for their needs. vCider’s kernel-level encryption and "cloud-cloaking" features protect VPC traffic from malicious users and eliminates the need for host-based encryption and firewalls in the cloud, improving application performance and reducing IT labor costs…

Grazed from The New York Times.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud computing is becoming popular in business and industry because it can cut costs and simplify information technology maintenance. There is no reason law enforcement agencies couldn’t benefit too, says Taser International, the company that makes the nonlethal electric-shock guns.

Quentin Hardy reports that the company is selling small video cameras that attach to the glasses, collar or shoulder of a peace officer in order to record his actions in the field. The real innovation though is in how Taser proposes law enforcement agencies manage the videos as evidence…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author:  PR Announcement.

Unisys Corporation today announced release 2.1 of its Unisys Secure Private Cloud Solution. The new release addresses a key challenge facing IT management: lowering IT costs by managing resources more efficiently.

Release 2.1 includes a new dashboard capability that gives administrators a single, integrated view of all cloud resources: servers, networks, storage systems and more. They can use the dashboard to determine the operational status of specific resources and take necessary actions to respond to business changes in real time, deliver performance mandated by service-level agreements (SLAs) and increase infrastructure productivity…

Grazed from SFGate.  Author: PR Announcement.  

ClearDATA Networks, Inc., the fastest-growing provider of cloud computing services for the healthcare industry, today announced it is offering HIPAA-compliant cloud hosting services with HP.

ClearDATA will provide specialized healthcare-as-a-service and private cloud IT infrastructure services to their customers utilizing the HP Converged Infrastructure, leveraging HP 3PAR Utility Storage as the storage foundation. This new offering is designed to provide healthcare organizations with secure, compliant, and affordable cloud hosting services for EMI/Imaging, offsite backup and storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, EMR hosting, and genome research to the 5,000 hospitals and hundreds of thousands of clinics/medical offices in the U.S. market. ClearDATA will be exhibiting its services at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference in Booth #12313 and the HP Booth #3845…

Grazed from PCAdvisor.  Author: Anonty Savvas.

A casino-specific cloud has been built in the US, in a further sign of the trend towards industry-tailored software as a service solutions.

International Game Technology (IGT) is using the AppLogic cloud computing platform from CA Technologies to deliver its casino software through the cloud.  "Casinos of all sizes will find it more cost effective and have higher agility in managing their gaming content through the IGT Cloud," said Chris Satchell, chief technology officer at IGT.

"Using the IGT Cloud, customers will be able to optimise and monitor their operations and rapidly adapt the mix of games on their casino floor to match their customers’ tastes."  With its cloud initiative IGT aims to reach new markets where adoption and cost barriers exist around traditional software deployments. The IGT Cloud will streamline software deployments and reduce the infrastructure requirements of its casino customers…