Author: David

Grazed from Data Center Knowledge.  Author: Rich Miller.

It’s been more than five years since the unveiling of the Sun Blackbox, the first commercial data center container. Modular designs are now common in huge cloud data centers and high-performance computing (HPC), and vendors say they are poised to push further into the mainstream.

What’s the state of the modular market? Five years in, the questions abound: Are any customers really buying them? Who are they? How large is the potential market? What does the analyst community think about modular data centers?

Here’s an update in which we answer these questions…

Grazed from CloudTweaks.  Author: Sourya Biswas.

Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money: UPDATE 6

This is the seventh in a continuing series on startups raising funding. You can read the first six in the series here:

1. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money:  UPDATE 5
2. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money: UPDATE 4
3. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money: UPDATE 3
4. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money: UPDATE 2
5. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money: UPDATE 1
6. Cloud Computing Startups Raise Big Money

Today, there are two startups in focus – Code 42 and Knowlarity…

Grazed from BusinessWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

Cloudyn today announced the general availability of the next generation in cloud cost management solutions, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for dynamically optimizing the costs of cloud computing resources. Cloudyn’s technology provides cost visibility, control and optimization for cloud customers. Cloudyn doesn’t just provide customers with insight into cloud usage and spending, it provides personalized next steps. Cloudyn’s recommendations engine provides maximum savings without impacting operational efficiency or using intrusive software that takes control away from the customer.

"Many organizations that deploy applications on public clouds have been surprised with unexpectedly high bills. Unfortunately, cost calculators, monitoring tools and rigid spending controls fall short when it comes to balancing spending and performance," said Paul Burns, President of Neovise, an analyst firm focused on cloud computing. "Cloudyn moves beyond those approaches by providing intelligent and actionable recommendations for rightsizing cloud resources. By providing feedback on an ongoing basis, Cloudyn lets users optimize spending while maintaining performance, even as the environment changes."…

Grazed from ZDNet.  Author: Editorial Staff.

It would seem that cloud computing has crossed the Rubicon. Until quite recently, the main objection to cloud computing cited by surveys and anecdotal evidence alike has been the issue of security. Where is my data, will it be secure against hackers and hardware failure and can I get it back again have all been highly pertinent and frequently asked questions. I think that’s changing.

Cloud computing is of course, primarily about hosting your data somewhere other than your own premises. Yes, I know about private clouds but for the purposes of this discussion, I’m talking about public clouds. And rightly so, before doing that, companies ask the questions above, and more, in order to assure themselves that their single biggest and most precious asset isn’t going to disappear on them. There’s a couple of pieces of evidence which suggest that this is changing…

Grazed from VentureBeat.  Author:  Dean Takahashi.

Network virtualization start-up Nicira is coming out of stealth mode today and it has an impressive set of customers who evidently believe that it can disrupt the likes of Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks. The idea is to become a company that can offload data networking demand as needed in the age of cloud computing.

If it lives up to its billing, as some of its customers say it does, it can save tens of million of dollars in spending on data centers and network infrastructure.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Nicira has secured $50 million in investments from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and NEA, as well as VMware founder Diane Greene and venture capitalist Andy Rachleff…

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author: Dustin Amarhein.

One of the first things I learned when I started talking with clients about their plans for platform-based clouds is that there is no such thing as a ‘simple application environment.’ Even for the most basic, CRUD-style applications, you can count on there being numerous different components involved in the overall solution. While one may immediately identify application servers, web servers, and databases, it quickly becomes clear that LDAP servers, identify management components, data grids, load balancers, and more are equally important. Indeed, the enterprise application ecosystem is not one where the word ‘simple’ is often tossed about.

The inherent complexity of enterprise application environments has had, and will continue to have a significant impact on the design and implementation of many PaaS solutions. In fact, one could argue that the preeminent design point in many PaaS solutions on the market today is rooted in eliminating this complexity. To do this, PaaS solutions attempt to abstract all the way up to the application level. In other words, users supply application artifacts and possibly define application characteristics. From there, it is the job of the PaaS system to handle the underlying application infrastructure, completely absolving the deployer from having to get into the nitty-gritty of the application serving environment…

Grazed from Voice and Data.  Author: Graham Schultz.

With technologies like cloud computing and virtualisation becoming more prevalent, the network is coming under greater pressure than ever before. Despite these demands, the network is not getting the attention it deserves.

If a business has more than two computer terminals, it more than likely has a network. The network enables an organisation to easily share, communicate, interact, perform transactions – the list is endless. In fact, many organisations rely entirely on the network to operate. While some small businesses have little more than a modest local area network (LAN), perhaps connecting a small server to a handful of terminals, the largest enterprises are capable of handling networks of massive data centres, as well as regional LANs and a multitude of components, linked to locations around the world…

Grazed from GigaOM.  Author: James Urquhart.

I’ve spoken quite a bit to date about the application-centric nature of cloud computing, and how this changes the nature of operations for the enterprise. That’s all well and good, but it should be quickly apparent that there are some constraints out there that limit what options a team has in where to place and run cloud applications.

Sure, we can talk about virtualization platforms, supported operating systems and SLAs (if SLAs even matter). However, I would argue that one of the most critical determinations of the placement of cloud workloads is also one of the weightiest: the law. I’ve called this out before, but I think there are some new elements worth exploring given recent controversy over applicable laws in the European Union and the United States…

Grazed from DailyFinance.   Author: Alex Planes.

There aren’t a lot of companies scrambling for the top of the hardware mountain, but the companies that use server hardware seem to grow like weeds. Cloud startups have been popping up all over the place, and there are plenty of established companies looking to expand their presence. Who will win in the long term? If history is any guide, whoever makes the best use of scale — and pairs that scale with the most accessible options — will win the day.

Which cloud companies offer their wares utility-style, whether bare-bones fashion or on top of a platform? Let’s look at the biggest, best, and brightest competitors in this cloudy arena…