Category: News

Grazed from CIO. Author: Kenneth Corbin.

For U.S. cloud computing companies that have long been fighting to defend the privacy protections involving data stored in their servers or passing over their networks, the ongoing revelations about the extent of the NSA’s surveillance activities could carry a huge price tag. For years, in markets such as Western Europe, cloud providers like Google and Microsoft have been trying to beat back concerns voiced by would-be customers — and stoked by competitors and governments — that the Patriot Act and other laws render data stored with American firms readily accessible to the U.S. government.

But the protectionist policies that some countries were pursuing — restricting cross-border data flows or requiring local hosting, for instance — had been a nuisance, but they didn’t seem pervasive enough to challenge U.S. hegemony in the cloud sector.  The equation began to change dramatically last June, when media outlets first began reporting on widespread electronic surveillance programs at the NSA, Daniel Castro, a senior analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said Tuesday at a policy discussion on the fallout of the disclosures of former government contractor Edward Snowden…

Grazed from Oracle. Author: Editorial Staff.

This chapter of the Oracle Cloud Cookbook introduces the Oracle Private Cloud Security Guide. The Oracle Private Cloud Security Guide applies to all Oracle VM, Oracle Database Appliance, Oracle Exalogic, Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c and Oracle Linux releases.

The goal of the Oracle Private Cloud Security Guide is to provide a broader understanding of how Oracle VM, Oracle Database Appliance, Oracle Exalogic, Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c and Oracle Linux fits within an Enterprise Architecture. The chapter startes with a brief introduction of Enterprise Architecture to illustrate how Oracle VM, Oracle Database Appliance, Oracle Exalogic, Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c and Oracle Linux fits within an Enterprise Architecture, followed by numerious example policies and standards…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

As enterprise cloud computing adoption grows, the pre-boot sequence (BIOS) still remains an important part of many application configuration requirements and IT administrators’ needs. For some, moving to the cloud means losing control of this important hardware feature that occurs just before an operating system loads onto a virtual machine. Today ProfitBricks, the price/performance IaaS leader known for disruptive use of technology, returns this capability back into the hands of IT administrators by enabling BIOS-level access for all its virtual machines.

For decades, on-premises installations meant application developers and systems administrators had access to this pre-boot sequence, whether it was for easing asset management, helping to recover from failure, or fine tuning systems for performance. The move to the cloud meant losing access to this important level of control, as cloud providers offer administrative credentials to a server only once the operating system has loaded…

Grazed from TelecomPaper. Author: Editorial Staff.

Within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Poland is at the forefront of countries using cloud computing, according to the survey IT Industry – Trends and Challenges, conducted by Kapsch BusinessCom. The survey was done with the participation of 900 IT managers from seven countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia. It found 31 percent of Polish firms use cloud computing, compared with an average across the seven countries of 27 percent.

It found 30 percent of IT managers in Poland plan to migrate part of their data to cloud computing within the next three years. Within the same period, 25 percent of them plan to buy integrated communication systems, against the survey average of 22 percent. Poland also comes high up in the ranking for mobile access to corporate applications via smartphones or tablets and the option of integrating one’s own mobile device with the corporate network. About 30 percent of Polish companies allow to their employees to use their own smartphones or tablets for work, compared with the region’s average of 25 percent and with leader Austria with 36 percent.

Grazed from ADTMag. Author: John K. Waters.

Java Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider CloudBees is partnering with broadband and wireless services provider Verizon to offer a version of its platform on the new Verizon Cloud, the two companies announced. Verizon unveiled its cloud computing and storage platform in October 2013, inviting interested companies to sign up through the Verizon Enterprise Solutions Web site.

Now in public beta, the Verizon Cloud comprises an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform, a cloud compute service (Verizon Cloud Compute), and an object-based storage service (Verizon Cloud Storage). The platform is being developed for the enterprise, but will be "nimble enough to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses, individual IT departments, and software developers," the company says…

Grazed from TechPageOne. Author: Dennis Smith.

Low costs, availability, scalability, flexibility and speed are all ideal goals for cloud storage. New startups are benefiting from the relief in initial outlay needs for IT hardware. Older businesses are also making the shift, to cut down on maintenance costs of running in-house data centers. They find it easier to pay for what they use and expand as and when needed, as opposed to making costly upgrades and replacements.

Given the slower read ability on platter-based drives like the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) and integrated development environments (IDE), storage speeds seem to be the only bottle-neck in an otherwise ideal solution. High energy consumption is also a concern. So, can flash storage be the missing link between cloud computing and lightning-fast data processing?…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Pedro Hernandez.

In its bid to become a global cloud computing powerhouse, Microsoft is looking far and wide. This time, the Redmond, Wash.-based software company set its sights on Japan. Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president of Cloud and Enterprise marketing at Microsoft, announced in a Feb. 25 blog post that the company was just about to flip the switch on its Windows Azure cloud operations on that day. "I am pleased to share that Windows Azure in Japan East (Saitama Prefecture) and Japan West (Osaka Prefecture) will be generally available later Tuesday [Feb. 25]."

The expansion of Windows Azure’s global footprint dovetails with the region’s increasing demand for cloud computing. "Japan’s cloud market has grown considerably in the last few years and this growth is only expected to increase, with the projected 2014 forecast estimated at around $1.6 billion," added Numoto, citing figures from IDC, a market research firm. In addition to providing business customers with a bevy of software-as-a-service (SaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings, Windows Azure in Japan’s dual-data-center layout can help them avert data loss…

Grazed from Bloomberg. Author: Editorial Staff.

EY has recently published the Worldwide cloud computing tax guide1to help support businesses facing the challenges presented by cloud computing. This article looks at EY’s findings and the insights into the tax treatment of the cloud in over 100 countries.

I. Background

Cloud computing has burst onto the commercial scene, affecting many industries. Generally defined as the hardware and software that supports transactions over a virtual network (i.e., the internet), cloud computing has a borderless quality that creates complexity for taxing jurisdictions and the tax teams that have to proactively manage tax risks for a product that is rapidly expanding on a global scale…

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Marissa Tejada.

Cloud computing is prompting the use of file sync and share services. A recent Talkin’ Cloud article highlights not only the benefits of these services but also what security measures should be considered with their use. Midsize firms that are especially aware of these security priorities will have a better chance of protecting their corporate data amid the rise of third-platform technologies, mobility and bring-your-own-device (BYOD).

Security Measures

Citing an Enterprise Strategy Group study, Talkin’ Cloud reported that more than two-thirds of cloud-based online file sharing service users enjoy the flexiblity and control over their data that these services provide. They are also interested in hybrid options. Another article on the topic featured in CloudTimes reached the same conclusion, claiming that companies of every size find the value in online file sharing…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Daniel Price.

Last week we touched upon how a project in Finland had blended two of the world’s most important industries, cloud computing and green technology, to produce a data centre that used nearby sea water to both cool their servers and heat local homes. Despite such positive environmental projects, there is little doubt that large cloud data centres and social networking sites consume vast amounts of electrical power.

A recent Greenpeace report claims the Apple data centre in North Carolina uses more power than 250,000 European homes combined. Estimates now predict that cloud computing is responsible for as much as 2 percent of the world’s electricity use. Clearly, therefore, the data world uses extraordinary amounts of energy – but is it really all bad news?…