Category: News

Grazed from BackupTechnology. Author: Editorial Staff.

The term “bandwidth” has been used in Electrical Engineering for years to mean “the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous set of frequencies, measured in hertz”. In the early 1990’s Telcos started to use the term “bandwidth” to describe the volume of data handled and defined it as “the transmission rate of data across a network”. Bandwidth in data transmission is measured in bits per second and it represents the capacity of network connection. Increase in the capacity means improved performance, considering other factors like latency. We will further discuss the effects of utilisation of bandwidth to the challenges associated with cloud computing.

Cloud computing providers usually calculate required bandwidth of customers just by considering the available quantity of bandwidth as well as the mean bandwidth utilisation needed by variety of applications. In addition, cloud computing providers consider latencies in transmission to calculate the required time to upload both the initial backup and all subsequent backups. For that reason, Internet based cloud backup service providers work hard to enhance the overall Internet bandwidth. They also do everything within their power to reduce the amount of data that flows through their pipes…

Grazed from DigitalJournal. Author: Editorial Staff.

AliCloud, Alibaba Group’s cloud computing arm, today announced that it has launched its second data center based in Silicon Valley in the United States, addressing increasing demand for affordable and secure, mission-critical cloud computing while creating an infrastructure for high availability and effective disaster recovery. Cloud customers can apply for the center’s services starting Monday (October 12).

The new facility is AliCloud’s ninth globally and the fourth data center announced in 2015, after its first U.S. data center in March 2015, a Singapore data center announced in August, and an environmentally-friendly lakewater-cooled data center at Qiandao Lake, China in early September. AliCloud also maintains data centers in Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Shanghai in China, and plans more facilities in other international locations in the Middle East, Asia and Europe in the future…

Read more from the source @ http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/2702166#ixzz3o57QGcYt

Grazed from FedScoop. Author: Greg Otto.

Some of the biggest proponents of cloud computing in the federal government know their data centers are not going to be shut down overnight. So, agencies must figure out how to take advantage of the agility of the cloud while they’re still dependent on legacy data storage systems. That’s easier said than done, said two executives from early cloud adopters within the federal government.

“Hybrid cloud is really difficult,” Chris Webber, the chief cloud architect for the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Lab, told FedScoop at the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference this week. “The controls that have to be put in place to manage the transport of data, it’s really tough to pull that off.”…

Grazed from ITProPortal. Author: Barclay Ballard.

Amazon has revealed a pretty substantial piece of hardware for transferring large amounts of data to the cloud. Amazon Snowball weighs a hefty 50 pounds and can be used to store up to 50 TB of data before being shipped to Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS hasn’t really entered the hardware market before, but Snowball does fit the company ethos of helping customers gain access to cloud computing.

Some businesses find data migration to the cloud challenging, particularly when dealing with magnitudes in the order of terabytes or petabytes. Slow Internet speeds or inadequate network infrastructure can make wireless transfers impractical. Jeff Barr, chief evangelist for Amazon Web Services, believes that as the latest addition to the company’s Import/Export service, Snowball can provide a genuine boost for business customers…

Read more from the source @ http://www.itproportal.com/2015/10/08/amazon-snowball-launched-to-help-with-cloud-data-transfer/#ixzz3o56bsXcJ

Grazed from BusinessInsider. Author: Eugene Kim.

Amazon wants its internet cloud service to connect everything from trash cans to hand sanitizer dispensers. At its annual re:Invent developer conference Thursday, Amazon Web Services launched a new internet of things (IoT) platform that helps devices easily connect to cloud applications and send massive amounts of data to be analyzed for future actions.

That means developers will now be able to connect cars, turbines, or even trash cans to AWS services to process data coming out of those devices and come up with meaningful actions. For example, if a hand sanitizer is about to get empty, it can send a signal to the AWS platform and get it filled up in advance…

Read more from the source @ http://www.businessinsider.com/aws-launches-iot-platform-2015-10

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Alex Konrad.

As more devices from cars to thermometers and light bulbs get connected to the Internet, Amazon is the latest tech company to make its bid to play host. Amazon Web Services, the Seattle-based company’s cloud computing unit it launched in 2006, has become an increasingly strategic business for Amazon, with more than 1 million businesses signed up as customers and revenue of $7.3 billion.

To keep up that growth, AWS is increasingly looking to work with companies not traditionally top-of-mind as potential users of web services, unlike the startups and tech companies that host much of their business online through Amazon’s cloud. On Thursday, Amazon announced the AWS IoT, a platform for processing and using data from Internet-connected devices…

Grazed from CPAPracticeAdvisor. Author: Isaac M. O’Bannon

New guidance is available for state and local tax professionals that examines how cloud computing is increasingly affected by state sales taxes. Titled, Sales and Use Taxes: Cloud Computing, it is the latest Tax Management Portfolio from Bloomberg BNA, which provides expert analysis on evolving state tax challenges associated with cloud computing. This Portfolio has been made available to all subscribers to the Bloomberg BNA Premier State Tax Library, Bloomberg Law, and other Bloomberg BNA state tax services. It was authored by two leading tax industry experts, Stephen Kranz, Partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, and Mark Nebergall, President of the Software Finance and Tax Executives Council.

“The rules governing cloud computing taxation are developing rapidly in state legislatures and administrative agencies across the country,” said the authors. “Unfortunately much of the administrative guidance is questionable at best. Disparate and changing interpretations by state tax administrators makes taxation of cloud computing transactions even more challenging for both sellers and customers…

Grazed from DQIndia. Author: Editorial Staff.

Teradata Corp. , the big data analytics and marketing applications company, announced that it is making its Teradata Database, the market’s leading data warehousing and analytic solution, available for cloud deployment on AWS to support production workloads. The initial version of Teradata Database on AWS will be offered on a variety of individual multi-terabyte virtual servers–known as Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (EC2) instances–in supported AWS regions via a listing in the AWS Marketplace.

“Today, Teradata is adding more innovation by coupling data warehousing capabilities with public cloud convenience,” said Tony Cosentino, Vice President and Research Director at Ventana Research, a leading benchmark research and advisory services firm. “No longer is cutting-edge technology the sole domain of the upper echelon of the corporate community; soon virtually any organization on the planet can tap into – and trust – the power of Teradata.”…

Grazed from Reuters. Author: Mike Stone.

Dell Inc., the world’s third largest personal computer maker, is in talks to buy data storage company EMC Corp, a person familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of the biggest technology deals ever. A deal could be an option for EMC, under pressure from activist investor Elliott Management Corp to spin off majority-owned VMware Inc.

The terms being discussed were not known, but if the deal goes through it would top Avago Technologies’ $37 billion offer for Broadcom. EMC has a market value of about $50 billion. Dell is also in talks with banks to finance an all-cash offer for EMC, the person told Reuters on condition of anonymity as the talks were confidential…

Grazed from CloudComputingNews. Author: James Bourne.

The term ‘enterprise transformation’ is frequently heard, relating to organisational change and moving away from legacy technologies. Accenture defines it as a “fundamental shift [of] strategy, in response to major disruptions through a complete, business-driven remodelling of how a company structures itself.” But how far down the company does change go?

Antonion Piraino, chief technology officer at IT management software provider ScienceLogic, argues organisations need to assess the effects of bimodal IT at an operational level as well as at the application layer. Speaking at IP EXPO, Piraino explained the consequences of bimodal IT – the idea that organisations need two speeds of IT, one for reliability and the other for agility…