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Making Cloud Computing Secure for the Enterprise
March 15th, 2010 : Kevin NormandeauMany companies are eager to take advantage of cloud computing, but concerns about possible security breaches and loss of data hold them back. Trust – or lack of it – is one of the primary reasons for the hesitancy of enterprises to put their data and applications in a multi-tenant public cloud. Security issues associated with third-party cloud environments continue to prevent organizations from benefiting from the cost savings and flexibility that the cloud can offer. This white paper from CloudSwitch explores how companies can overcome barriers to cloud security by enabling enterprises to run selected applications and data in the cloud with the same protection and control available internally.
For cloud computing to become an attractive option, IT and security executives need to be certain that their company’s applications and data are safe. But when the infrastructure is partly out of the enterprise’s control, it becomes impossible to know if sensitive information has been accessed or compromised. Today, using a public cloud means moving from an internal environment where a company has complete control of data and processes to an environment where some parts of the environment belong to someone else, and are often opaque. This creates real risks and exposures that cannot be ignored.
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CA Buys NimSoft As Cloud Spree Continues
March 10th, 2010 : Rich Miller
A look at the dashboard for Nimsoft NMS Unified Monitoring.
CA today continued its cloud computing buying spree, announcing that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire monitoring provider Nimsoft, Inc. for $350 million in cash. The deal follows CA’s recent acquisitions of Cassatt, NetQoS and Oblicore and the planned acquisition of 3Tera.
Nimsoft offers “unified monitoring” that can monitor and benchmark data center environments as well as Google Apps, Rackspace Cloud, Amazon Web Services and EC2, Salesforce.com and other cloud environments services. A complete API is available to both customers and third party developers to enable extensions to NMS.
CA said buying Nimsoft will boost its offerings for enterprises and MSPs. “With our planned acquisition of Nimsoft, CA will be equipped to capture several important growth market segments—including emerging enterprises, emerging national economies, and the MSPs who are providing these customers with IT management services via the cloud,” said Chris O’Malley, CA’s executive vice president, Cloud Products and Solutions Business Line. “Penetration of these markets will further expand our global leadership in IT management and complement our existing strength with large enterprise customers.”
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Amazon S3 Now Hosts 100 Billion Objects
March 9th, 2010 : Rich MillerAmazon Web Services has quietly passed an interesting benchmark: the company’s S3 storage service now hosts more than 100 billion objects. This factoid was noted this morning at Data Center World, when keynote speaker Brian Lillie of Equinix said that Amazon now is hosting 102 billion objects in S3 (Simple Storage Service).
Over the past year, the number of objects stored on S3 has grown from 54 billion to 100 billion, according to Amazon CTO Werner Vogels, who mentioned this startling growth curve in his recent presentation at the Cebit computer trade show in Germany.
It’s a fuzzy milestone, to be sure, as we don’t know how much infrastructure is required to store those 100 billion objects, or how much revenue Amazon is generating from them. But in an industry where we’re used to big numbers, 100 billion is an eye-popping total. By any measure, that’s a huge storage cloud, and likely a sign of things to come.
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Lillie: Mobile Growth to Have ‘Profound Impact’
March 9th, 2010 : Rich MillerThe mobile revolution is coming. and the world’s infrastructure isn’t ready yet. That’s the clear message from Equinix CIO Brian Lillie, who says new devices like the iPad are making mobile video a reality.
“Think what happens when the iPad takes off,” Lillie said. “People are surfing the Internet and streaming video on their mobiles, and it’s just starting. As prices come down for these new devices, the growth of traffic will surpass expectations.”
Lille was the keynote speaker this morning at Data Center World Spring 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn. He warned the audience of 800 data center professionals that the coming tsunami of mobile traffic will be disruptive to their networks and facilities.
“The mobile Internet will have a profound impact,” said Lillie. “We’re just at the beginning, but we’re not ready. This is the message we’re bringing to the carriers. And they know it.” He said some carriers are preparing to increase their network capacity ten-fold over the next decade.
Lillie said the growth is being driven by the development of mobile apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android phones and other mobile devices. As these new apps bring a universe of everyday tasks into the palms of users’ hands, usage is accelerating – along with the data traffic streaming across global networks.
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Microsoft ‘All In’ on Container-Powered Cloud
March 4th, 2010 : Rich Miller
Microsoft had one of its data center containers on display at the University of Washington Thursday as CEO Steve Ballmer spoke to students about his vision for cloud computing.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today emphasized that “when it comes to the cloud, we are all in.” He shared that message first in a speech at the University of Washington, later in an all-staff email, and also in a major ad campaign the company is launching today.
Most of Ballmer’s talk focused on the end-user experience of cloud computing services. But he brought a data center with him: one of the next-generation containers that Microsoft data center GM Kevin Timmons described yesterday in a presentation in New York. The prototype (seen above) is the latest in a series of evolving designs for Microsoft’s containers, also known as an IT-PAC (pre-assembled component). The design is likely to undergo additional refinements as Microsoft continues scouting locations for its next major data center.
“It includes the equivalent of about 10,000 servers,” said Ballmer .”It’s a cool, next-generation concept. We used to have to stick fire hoses into these things to cool them down. (With this) next generation technology, you can put a garden hose in to one of these things to cool down.”
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Rackspace’s Lew Moorman on ‘Cloud Fatigue’
March 3rd, 2010 : Rich MillerCan cloud computing survive the hype? As the buzz surrounding cloud computing gets ever louder, how can customers locate the signal amidst the noise? In this presentation, Lew Moorman of Rackspace begins by addressing the hype. ”I think everyone is tired of the cloud,” says Moorman, President, Cloud and Chief Strategy Officer at Rackspace. “I think there’s some cloud fatigue going on. Some people are attaching cloud to their brand and services where it doesn’t belong. But I think it is absolutely the new reality, and here’s why: It’s cheaper, better and more reliable.” This video runs about 9 minutes.
Check out our Cloud Computing Channel for other perspectives on these topics. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.
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Roundup: ReliaCloud, enStratus, HP, Intel
March 1st, 2010 : John RathHere’s a roundup of some of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:
ReliaCloud Offers enStratus Management Platform. Cloud provider ReliaCloud announced a new partnership with enStratus, a national cloud management platform that delivers governance for enterprise applications in the cloud. ReliaCloud is a product of Minnesota managed hosting and data center provider VISI. ReliaCloud customers now have access to a suite of software management tools from enStratus that are also used with Amazon Web Services, Rackspace and Microsoft Azure platforms. ”The highly regarded management platform and experience in cloud security and availability management at enStratus is invaluable to regulation-heavy businesses or enterprises that are concerned about reliability and business continuity,” said Jason Baker, chief technology officer for ReliaCloud. ReliaCloud and enStratus will be hosting the Minneapolis CloudCamp on Tuesday, March 2nd.
HP on Data Center Efficiency. Last week Hewlett Packard announced a range of services for small to midsize data center operations that help improve efficiency, increase flexibility of IT budgets and ensure service-level commitments. HP services aim to simplify the management of multivendor environments and maximize return on investment. Ron Silliman, Gartner principal research analyst said “organizations should take a whole-environment approach to operational efficiency to reduce risk and drive better business outcomes.” ZDNet reported that HP will launch its Singapore research hub, focusing on data center architecture, cloud computing services and sustainable processes and practices. Prith Banerjee, director of HP labs said that the Singapore site will aim to “lower total cost of ownership by 75 percent in data centers and halve the carbon footprint.” The lab will support cloud research at other HP Labs sites that will then funnel into Cirious, HP’s enterprise cloud software platform.
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Who Are the Contenders for the Federal Cloud?
March 1st, 2010 : Rich MillerWhich players figure to benefit if the U.S. government’s looming data center consolidation shifts large numbers of federal applications from in-house data centers to cloud computing platforms? In recent weeks, key players in the government computing niche have been positioning their cloud offerings ahead of the announcement of the consolidation initiative. Here are the companies whose track record and cloud platforms have positioned them for leadership in this lucrative niche:
HP: The huge hardware and software giant designed and built a secure cloud computing platform for the Department of Defense. The cloud initiative, known as RACE (Rapid Access Computing Environment) is designed to reduce costs, consolidate applications and shorten delivery times for DoD computing projects. On Feb. 16 HP announced a Cloud Design Service to provide consulting services for organizations building large-scale hybrid cloud environments. The company’s EDS unit has been a leading systems integrator for government agencies, including DHS and the FDA.
IBM: Big Blue is an established player in the government IT arena, and is already building a cloud platform for the U.S. Air Force that is designed to be “capable of supporting defense and intelligence networks.”
CSC: Last June CSC announced Trusted Cloud Services, a cloud computing offering that will build on the company’s historic strength managing highly-secure data center infrastructure for government and enterprise clients. CSC is partnering with Terremark and Microsoft, among others, to support its offering.
Terremark: The colocation and managed hosting specialist has been among the early winners in the government cloud shift, hosting the Data.gov and USA.gov web sites on its cloud platform, while benefiting from CSC’s presence as the anchor tenant in its NAP of the Capital Region data fortress in Culpeper, Virginia.
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Skytap: Automating Networks in Clouds
March 1st, 2010 : Linda LeungSkytap claims it is the first enterprise private cloud provider to offer network automation features to customers, enabling them to create multiple secure networks that support advanced virtual routing and IT policies.
Sundar Raghavan, Skytap chief products and marketing officer said the automation features, which the company has been working on for the past six months, gives Skytap a lead over other private cloud providers that are working on similar functionality. Cloud providers are currently only able to offer a single network in the cloud, Raghavan said.
“We enable customers to run their enterprise applications unchanged,” said Ian Knox, senior director of product management. The network automation features enable customers to build a computing environment with application images and complex networking topologies using firewall-based security policies. Access to the cloud is through self-service Web UI and APIs.
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