Seemingly every tech vendor seems to have a cloud strategy, with new products and services dubbed “cloud” coming out every week. But who are the real market leaders in this business? Gartner’s IaaS Magic Quadrant: a who’s who of cloud market article shows Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for IaaS. Research firm Gartner’s answer lies in its Magic Quadrant report for the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market.
It is interesting that missing from this quadrant figure are big-name companies that have invested a lot in the cloud, including Microsoft, HP, IBM and Google. The reason is that report only includes providers that had IaaS clouds in general availability as of June 2012 (Microsoft, HP and Google had clouds in beta at the time).
Gartner reinforces what many in the cloud industry believe: Amazon Web Services is the 800-pound gorilla. Gartner has also found one big minus on Amazon Web Services: AWS has a “weak, narrowly defined” service-level agreement (SLA), which requires customers to spread workloads across multiple availability zones. AWS was not the only provider where there was something negative to say on the service-level agreement (SLA) details.
Read the whole Gartner’s IaaS Magic Quadrant: a who’s who of cloud market article to see the Gartner’s view on clould market today.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud Foundry laps up attention in EMC, IBM, HP, Rackspace, SAP, VMware love-in
One PaaS to rule them all, one PaaS to bind them
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/24/cloud_foundry_foundation/
The Cloud Foundry open-source project looks set to become a standard piece of technology in the thriving distributed systems ecosystem: its main backer, Pivotal, has persuaded IBM, HP, SAP and Rackspace to join a new foundation dedicated to the tech.
Cloud Foundry is a locally deployable platform-as-a-service (PaaS). That means it lets developers lasso large amounts of computers, bind them into a pool of capacity, and then deploy applications that float on this pool of humming compute and storage, sipping or chugging from the resources as per their requirements.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Unveils $1 billion Platform-as-a-Service Investment
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12438325/1/ibm-unveils-1-billion-platform-as-a-service-investment.html
The investment starts with IBM’s launch of “BlueMix,” codename for a new PaaS, open beta, that combines IBM’s software, third-party and open technologies. BlueMix will be providing DevOps in the cloud to facilitate effective and rapid construction of enterprise applications by developers, independent firms and enterprise teams. BlueMix runs on SoftLayer’s global cloud platform.
The investments also bring IBM’s middleware portfolio, such as WebSphere, to the instant global cloud distribution system of SoftLayer through pre-defined “Software Patterns” that will bring existing applications to the cloud. IBM says that with more than 200 application and middleware patterns available from IBM and IBM business partners
IBM’s middleware services focuses on mobile, web apps, integration and data management, as well as application process interface (API)-based services such as those from Watson. It forms the core of the company’s $26 billion software business.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud brokers – a helping hand to cloud deployment?
http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/hybrid-cloud/3824/cloud-brokers-a-helping-hand-to-cloud-deployment
As more cloud products come out every week, finding the right one can be a job in itself – enter the cloud broker
Cloud brokerage is still a fairly new type of business. The cloud broker (sometimes called a cloud services broker) can be more like a cloud service clearing house or app store.
The broker consults, mediates and facilitates the selection of cloud computing services on behalf of their client. They can also negotiate terms and conditions, pricing, delivery, deployment and other elements with a cloud vendor on behalf of a client.
That’s the definition, but for some the reality is different. “The role of a Cloud Service Broker (CSB) is in its infancy and how this market develops is still uncertain,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
VMware flicks switch on Euro hybrid cloud
Wernham Hogg has a new neighbour, Virtzilla’s vCloud Hybrid Service
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/02/26/vmware_flicks_switch_on_euro_hybrid_cloud/
As foreshadowed in these very pages last week VMware has flicked the switch on its VMware Hybrid vCloud Service in Europe.
Tomi Engdahl says:
If you don’t GRIP it tightly, lonely enterprise cloud will WANDER
There’s more to this than just a bigger DropBox
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/05/how_to_fly_a_cloud_for_enterprise/
In his seminar on Cloud, Enterprise and the New Rules of IT, Jared Wray, chief technology officer of cloud at CenturyLink (the company that owns and has rebranded Savvis) outlined how cloud computing has evolved from experimentation and deployment to optimisation with a particular focus on the end user.
an early issue was enabling enterprise-based workloads to get a slice of data centre performance in the cloud with automation, governance and security in place.
“We had a problem where the customer was moving past what IT was trying to figure out. We were starting to see that over 71 per cent of business users were now just using shadow IT and going to these clouds already – using things like DropBox and Salesforce… lighting up an entire environment for all their sales and marketing campaigns without IT even knowing.”
According to Wray’s figures, 50 per cent of US developers were happy to utilise shadow IT in the US, whereas the figures were up to 72 per cent in the UK.
The problem that Wray highlights is that not many clouds during the experimental phase or even now have the necessary features for enterprise workloads or compliance.
“Enterprise needs the co-location and managed services all on one platform… that wave is now starting to happen. They are always going to have co-location, always going to have network – and now they want all that business agility.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud Security Concerns Are Overblown, Experts Say
Security concerns should not deter enterprises from using public cloud technologies when it makes business sense.
http://www.cio.com/article/748863/Cloud_Security_Concerns_Are_Overblown_Experts_Say?taxonomyId=3024
Security concerns should not deter enterprises from using public cloud technologies when it makes business sense.
A panel of practitioners said at the RSA Security Conference here this week agreed that if cloud providers are vetted properly, most enterprise workloads and data can be safely migrated to cloud environments.
“The horse is largely out of the barn,” said John Pescatore, director of research at the SANS Institute. “There is no debate about whether we are going to use the cloud,” he said.
An Intermap survey of 250 decision makers at medium and large companies found that 40% of those who described themselves as “cloud-wary” cited security as their biggest impediment to adoption. In contrast only about 15% of “cloud-wise” respondents felt the same way.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don’t be shy, we know you’ve got .NET code. Why not run it on our Linux cloud – Red Hat
Two can play that game, Pivotal
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/05/red_hat_openshift_origin/
Red Hat plans to welcome Microsoft Windows .NET workloads onto its on-premises app-hosting cloud OpenShift Origin – as it attempts to close the gap between its technology and Pivotal’s Cloud Foundry.
The upgrade was announced on Wednesday by Red Hat, which will work with Uhuru Software to bring .NET and SQL Server support to its Linux-powered OpenShift technology.
“Almost every enterprise customer has some amount of .NET in their environment,” a Red Hat spokesperson explained
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM and SAP: Looks like we’re STUCK forever on the cloud highway
This ain’t no upwardly mobile freeway… Oh no, this is the road to Hell Amazon
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/24/sap_ibm_cloud_set_backs/
Earnings from SAP and IBM – two giants in enterprise IT – proved that both companies are struggling to cope with the move to the cloud and show that success in hosted computing is receding for them.
While it’s true that the big growth for SAP was in its cloud-related business – up 66 per cent for the fourth quarter and 158 per cent for the year, the company’s core business, software sales, is not looking as healthy.
But at least SAP is growing, unlike IBM. Big Blue took a mauling this week – total revenue was pulled down by plunging sales of the hard stuff.
IBM has a toe in the cloud waters, with its Smart Cloud, but it’s not swimming where it needs to be in the really growth-rich waters of hosting.
IBM said it had earned $4.4bn on cloud “solutions” for the whole year – public, private, hybrid and SaaS – growing 64 per cent year on year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
1GB of Google Drive Storage Now Costs Only $0.02 Per Month
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/14/03/13/1834208/1gb-of-google-drive-storage-now-costs-only-002-per-month
“Up until today, I always had the impression that cloud storage was pretty expensive and I’m sure that many will agree with me”
“Google have the same impressions as they now have drastically discounted the monthly storage plans on Google Drive.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Stomps Competition with Huge Price Cuts on Google Drive Cloud Storage
http://techpp.com/2014/03/13/google-drive-cloud-storage-price-cut/
The new monthly storage plans and their previous prices are as follows: $1.99 for 100GB (previously $4.99), $9.99 for 1TB (previously $49.99), and $99.99 for 10TB. Google says that one terabyte is enough for you to “take a selfie twice a day for the next 200 years and still have room left over for”.
The storage will be synchronized and will work across Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos. services. Also, the 15GB plan remains free, just like before.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tech CEOs Warn of Threats to Cloud, Big Data Economy
http://www.cio.com/article/749714/Tech_CEOs_Warn_of_Threats_to_Cloud_Big_Data_Economy
Leaders of some of the nation’s top tech firms say protectionist cloud policies and Internet restrictions could undermine the potential of the data revolution. To that end, they call on policymakers to advocate the free flow of information across national borders — and to pay special attention to nations restricting Internet freedom.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft, Oracle FINALLY get a room: Now they’re ready to take on Amazon cloud
Database, WebLogic, Java slide into Azure
By Jack Clark, 14 Mar 2014
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/14/microsoft_oracle_partnership/
The rise of Amazon Web Services’s hulking infrastructure cloud has turned former rivals Microsoft and Oracle into chums.
Redmond announced on Thursday that Oracle Database, Oracle WebLogic Server, and Java were all now available on the Windows Azure cloud, served up in license-included virtual machine images, just as El Reg told you it would last month.
Pricing for the service starts at about $60 a month for a one-core instance running Java Standard Edition, going all the way up to the toe-curling pricy $9,397 a month ($12.63 per hour) you should expect to pay for an eight-core Oracle Database Enterprise Edition.
Amazon offers Oracle Database on its cloud, but only the Standard Edition for up to $3.14 per hour
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloudera bags $160m from Google Ventures and Mike Dell
Top investors pile in to big data funding round
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/19/cloudera_raises_160m/
“Cloudera will use the funding to further drive the enterprise adoption of and innovation in Hadoop and promote the enterprise data hub (EDH) market, support geographic expansion into Europe and Asia, expand its services and support capabilities and scale the field and engineering organisations,” the firm said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Is What Happens To Your Files When You Stop Paying For A Microsoft Office Subscription
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-when-office-365-expires-2014-3#ixzz2wPdXT0Yo
Tomi Engdahl says:
ALSO Group: expands its cloud services and becomes a cloud enabler
http://www.also.com/ec/cms2/en/4000/content_3/press_4/media_releases/details_39552.jsp
ALSO Holding AG has concluded a purchase contract for the acquisition of Nervogrid Oy, Helsinki, Finland. The company is active in the cloud computing sector and is specialized in the development of Cloud Brokerage Enablement platforms with which the management of private, public, and hybrid cloud transactions can be automated and efficiently processed. In the future, the newly acquired company will trade under the name of ALSO Cloud Oy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco flings $1 BILLION at gov, globocorp-loving Intercloud behemoth
It’s the cloudy corporate internet of EVERYTHING
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/24/cisco_billion_spend_cloud/
Cisco is planning to spend $1bn over the next two years on its very own cloud computing service for corporate customers.
The networking firm wants to get into the cloud market with its very own “global Intercloud” and is going to spend the millions on building data centres to run the service.
Unlike cloudy offerings from companies like Amazon, Cisco is hoping to get big corporations and government agencies to use their services as part of a hybrid cloud, rather than signing up small startups that don’t want to build their own infrastructure.
The firm also plans to sell its version of the cloud to telcos, which can then use it in internet-based services those companies sell to others, and get companies to partner in its “Intercloud initiative”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco Joins Race to Offer Cloud Services
Firm to Spend $1 Billion in Next Two Years to Enter Market
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303949704579457743067494938-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwMzEyNDMyWj
Cisco Systems Inc. plans to begin offering “cloud” computing service to corporate customers, pledging to spend $1 billion over the next two years to enter a market now led by Amazon.com Inc.
Cisco says its spending will go toward building up data centers to help run the new service, called Cisco Cloud Services, which will also rely on computer rooms operated by partners.
“Companies are looking for different ways to get IT done,” said Rob Lloyd, Cisco president of development and sales. “Everybody is realizing the cloud can be a vehicle for achieving better economics [and] lower cost.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to rebrand ‘Windows Azure’ as ‘Microsoft Azure’
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-rebrand-windows-azure-as-microsoft-azure-7000027590/
Summary: Microsoft will rebrand its cloud platform from ‘Windows Azure’ to ‘Microsoft Azure’ as part of the company’s push to emphasize its cross-platform services prowess.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Announces Massive Price Drops For Its Cloud Computing Services And Storage, Introduces Sustained-Use Discounts
http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/25/google-drops-prices-for-compute-and-app-engine-by-over-30-cloud-storage-by-68-introduces-sustained-use-discounts/
At its Cloud Platform event in San Francisco today, Google announced a number of massive price drops for virtually all of its cloud-computing services. The company has also decided to reduce the complexity of its pricing charts by eliminating some charges and consolidating others.
Google Compute Engine is seeing a 32 percent reduction in prices across all regions, sizes and classes. App Engine prices are down 30 percent
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cisco’s Cloud Plan for IoT
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1321627&
Cisco Systems on Monday announced a $1 billion investment in what it calls its Intercloud, a linked chain of datacenters providing services designed to capitalize on the Internet of Things. Cisco has no intention of competing with Amazon Web Services, Google, or Rackspace in supplying general-purpose infrastructure as a set of cloud services. Instead, it has assembled a set of partners to offer a global chain of datacenters linked by a Cisco network to serve as a backbone for the Internet of Things.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Response To Google, Amazon Announces Massive Price Cuts For S3, EC2, ElastiCache, Elastic MapReduce And RDS
http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/26/in-response-to-google-amazon-announces-massive-price-cuts-for-s3-ec2-and-rds/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kim Dotcom: Mega is now ‘a $210M company’
http://www.cnet.com/news/kim-dotcom-to-authorities-mega-is-now-a-210m-company/
Cloud-storage provider Mega aims to list on the New Zealand stock exchange, even as its founder faces possible extradition to the US over online piracy charges.
Kim Dotcom, the famed Internet mogul who made his name with the now-defunct MegaUpload, has upped his rhetoric as he continues to fight a US bid to have him extradited from New Zealand.
Dotcom said via his Twitter feed on Tuesday that his recently formed storage locker Mega will be listed on the New Zealand stock exchange at a NZ$210 million ($179 million) valuation. The tweet was an obvious shot over the bow of international law enforcement agencies who have been trying for years to get him extradited back to the US for copyright infringement charges.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How much data must you have before you need Cleversafe? If you have to ask …
We could tell you who has enough, but then we’d have to kill you
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/31/a_canter_around_cleversafe/
Cleversafe is the leading object storage supplier, according to an IDC marketscape chart
How did it get there?
Existing filer and block array storage technology couldn’t scale up to petabyte-and-beyond levels: “buying three storage systems for protection, and using RAID (parity-based) wasn’t right.”
That was the insight; treat data like a packet-switched network which stores the data after ingest instead of transmitting it across a network. The data persists and has state.
Gladwin wanted many nines of data reliability, telco reliability levels.
Gladwin says that his target customer market overlaps the high-end of object storage competitor Scality’s market but goes on to much higher scale.
Gladwin talks of large customers who cannot be named.
Tomi Engdahl says:
C’mon, Commvault: You have the tech to build VM mutants…
Why not give rivals a fright?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/31/commvaults_vm_transubstantiation_technology/
Commvault, the arch archiver and backup biz, appears to have a virtual machine “mutation” facility, and this has prompted some speculation here at El Reg storage desk.
A quick recap. Simpana 10 can back up physical and virtual servers and virtual machines (VMs) from VMware and Hyper-V. It supports cross-platform data protection from/to VMware vCenter, vCloud Director and Hyper-V.
Simpana’s Virtualise Me technology can automatically create a VM from a backup copy. A CommVault blog notes: “The heart of ‘Virtualize Me’ is the ability to run an automated physical-to-virtual (P2V) conversion starting from a system state backup copy as the source and leveraging any instance VMware vSphere at the DR site.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
More businesses trust the cloud … despite Snowden concerns
http://www.cloudpro.co.uk/cloud-essentials/cloud-security/3951/more-businesses-trust-the-cloud-despite-snowden-concerns
A survey tries to spread fear about the cloud even though more of us trust it. Why all the FUD?
The Edward Snowden ‘NSA snooping’ revelations is a story that just keeps on giving.
The research suggests that “fear of government snooping discourages 33 per cent of IT professionals from the cloud”
“When Lieberman Software undertook the same survey in November, 2012″ it admitted “48 per cent of respondents were discouraged from using the cloud because of fear of government snooping”.
a survey of 1,000+ global business leaders suggests some 90 per cent have changed the way they use the cloud and a third are moving data to locations where they know it will be safe
The Guardian describes what is happening as something of a paradigm shift in IT purchasing, where geography is as important as price and quality.
Tomi Engdahl says:
WD ‘restoring connections’ after WEEK of MyCloud outages
Access denied
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/03/wds_mycloud_outage/
WD’s MyCloud has been up and down all week, with users unable to connect across the internet to their storage devices.
MyCloud refers to a set of ARM-powered, single drive external storage products from WD and a way of accessing then remotely across the Internet.
With capacious MyCloud device storage of up to 4TB, then, MyCloud was an alternative to DropBox and similar services which have smaller free capacity but higher speed data upload facilities.
Remote devices had a link to the MyCloud box setup via a WD server and after that talked direct to their MyCloud box. The product range us divided into Consumer and Expert (NAS) series.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google launches Andromeda, a software defined network underlying its cloud
http://gigaom.com/2014/04/02/google-launches-andromeda-a-software-defined-network-underlying-its-cloud/
The Andromeda virtualized network that underlies some of Google’s services is now available to certain customers of Google’s Compute Engine with more zones coming on in the coming months.
For everyone saying that software-defined networking is a pipe dream, Google is about to prove you wrong. The search engine giant and cloud provider said it has made its Andromeda software-defined network platform available in two of its Compute Engine zones, with the rest of its zones transitioning to Andromeda in the coming weeks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft announces broad swath of new features for Azure
http://www.geekwire.com/2014/microsoft-announces-swath-new-features-azure/
Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s new head of cloud and enterprise, took the stage in San Francisco today to talk about new features that could help Microsoft’s cloud offering in its competition with Amazon Web Services and Google’s Cloud Platform. Guthrie said that more than 57 percent of the Fortune 500 companies are using Azure, and there are more than 250,000 web sites running on Azure.
Web developers will be able to set up Azure Web Sites that can use Microsoft’s Autoscale and Traffic Manager capabilities to manage the load on their services. In addition, Azure Web Sites users will get one IP-based SSL certificate for free, to help them secure their site right out of the box at no additional cost.
Big data users will be able to build SQL databases on Azure up to 500 GB in size, and Microsoft announced a new 99.95 percent uptime database service. SQL instances running on Azure are going to be protected by Microsoft’s new “self-service recovery” feature
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snowden leaks made us look twice at cloud suppliers – biz bods
Survey: Corporates putting cloud firms under closer scrutiny
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/01/survey_snowden_leaks_impact_business_cloud_computing/
Businesses are conducting more due diligence on cloud suppliers and demanding more localised storage of their data in the wake of reports about US surveillance activities, according to a new survey.
The survey also revealed raised concerns about data protection among businesses.
“Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of ICT decision-makers polled said they would revisit every cloud and hosting arrangement to ensure data protection, if they had the necessary time and resources,” NTT Communications’ report said.
“The Snowden revelations have also made ICT decision-makers more aware of the need to have detailed knowledge of data protection rules. 84 per cent of ICT decision-makers globally believed they need training on data protection laws and security rules in the territories their businesses operate,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
USA opposes ‘Schengen cloud’ Eurocentric routing plan
All routes should transit America, apparently
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/07/keeping_data_away_from_the_us_not_on_ustr/
The US Trade Representative is warning Europe not to proceed with the idea of EU data network services that don’t cross the Atlantic.
The idea of a European “walled garden” emerged in February amid rising anger over revelations that the NSA wants to listen to the whole world – and that its sweeps included snooping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s own BlackBerry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
As a brief update, Amazon revenue is expected to exceed $100B in 2014. AWS alone will account for $6B to $10B this year. Simply jaw dropping numbers. If Amazon says they will boil the ocean, better run to the beach and hop in fast before the water is scalding.
Source: http://www.qwilt.com/blog/2014/04/04/amazon-video-surpasses-hulu-apple/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dropbox unveils Carousel for organizing your photos and videos
http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/9/5594288/dropbox-unveils-carousel-for-organizing-your-photos-and-videos-online
Dropbox today announced Carousel, a product to store and manage your photos and videos. It incorporates features from Snapjoy, a photo startup that Dropbox acquired in December 2012. The launch of Carousel represents a bid for Dropbox to diversify its lineup of products — and potential revenue streams — as it prepares for an expected initial public offering of its stock. The app is available today.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AWS could ‘consider’ ARM CPUs, RISC-as-a-service
CTO Vogels says ‘power management for ARM is considered state of the art’
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/10/aws_could_consider_arm_cpus_riscasaservice/
Amazon Web Services (AWS) chief technology officer Werner Vogels believes the cloudy colossus could, in the future consider using ARM CPUs, or even offering RISC-as-a-service to help those on legacy platforms enjoy cloud elasticity.
AWS, he added, is “always looking for efficiency” and as “power management for ARM is considered state of the art” it makes sense to consider it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Puff on a hybrid – next thing you know, you’re hooked on a public cloud
Cost barriers are falling fast. Go public, it’s inevitable
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/11/building_hybrid_cloud_like_adding_leaks_to_a_dam/
I had a flash of inspiration today. Hybrid public-private cloud systems are becoming a gateway drug to pure public clouds. Why is this an arguable view? Let’s look to the ideas discussed within The Big Switch, written by Nicholas Carr.
A good analogy to this is comparing a corporation operating power stations to businesses having their own generator in the basement.
Hooking public cloud services to a private data centre makes storage and workload migration to the public cloud easier. If you can move workloads reliably and simply between private and public clouds then the risk of things going wrong when moving them to the public cloud is reduced.
The public cloud world consists of more than Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google. Most telcos are implementing and selling some form of cloud IT services, and many are enterprise class. When they offer workload importation and workload operation with SLAs and protection then their price tags can be compared to in-house IT costs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What is cloud cost? “No one really knows”
“No one really knows the company, what is cloud service costs,” Cloud Company’s Chief Operating Officer Calvin Smith says.
It often happens that an employee enter your credit card number, for example, the Amazon service. The American Giant billed each month based on usage. Sometimes, the card goes to the sum which is mulling afterwards. If you are using a number of different cloud services, the situation can be even more confusing.
Pilvi.com service was launched in early April. This is an online store that tries to facilitate the purchase of cloud services and the costs of monitoring. Are involved in the early stages of the Amazon, Google and Finnish Louhi cloud services.
Source: Tietoviikko
http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/mita+pilvi+maksaa+quotkukaan+ei+oikein+tiedaquot/a977802
Tomi Engdahl says:
Red Hat unveils cloudy software bazaar
Linux fiddler keeps on huffing on its OpenShift cloud
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/14/red_hat_marketplace/
Red Hat has created a “software marketplace” to help it cut the steps it takes for admins to layer third-party applications on top of its OpenShift platform-as-a-service.
The marketplace was announced by Red Hat on Monday as the Linux company kicked off its annual Red Hat Summit in San Francisco.
The cloudy marketplace will give Red Hat customers a simple way to access third-party OpenShift add-ons from existing Red Hat partners such as BladeMeter, ClearDB, Iron.io, MongoLab, New Relic, Redis Labs, SendGrid, and Shippable
Julio says:
There’s definately a lot to find out about this issue.
I love all the points you’ve made.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cloud buyers: Why it makes sense to think local
One size of cloud does not fit all, says Trevor Pott
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/04/cloud_buyers_think_local_and_hybrid/
Cloud computing holds the promise of someone else taking care of automating your IT, but just because that gives you a fleet of power tools doesn’t mean you should throw out your hammer, wrench set and screwdrivers.
Idle thoughts
Sadly, in today’s world, the vast majority of the workloads that run in data centres are not set up for this.
What is more, this code represents sunk costs – investments in software that are not likely to be recoded for the cloud. Some applications outright cannot be coded for the way the cloud works.
A large quantity of the world’s IT needs to idle, waiting for something to do. When it senses something to do, it wakes up and does it.
This would seem to be the perfect type of workload for the cloud, except that these sorts of “polling” applications are almost always in the form of a Windows application that must run on a Windows Server instance, which is spectacularly expensive to run idle.
Amazon, Azure, Google Compute and just about every other cloud charges you through the nose for idling virtual machines. With cloud computing, you don’t pay for what you use, you pay for what you provision.
Another thing to consider is that whatever the ability to scale your storage, you don’t get storage for free: you pay for every single gigabyte. Worse: storage doesn’t go away; it accumulates.
The flip side of the coin, however, is that cloud computing is actually quite awesome.
Some 58 per cent of the survey’s respondents believe that it is the complexity of their IT estate that is holding up implementation of cloud computing platforms. Additionally, 64 per cent say that cloud providers assume that existing IT systems are easy to migrate, which is apparently more than a little off-putting.
Interestingly, however, 40 per cent of CIOs agree that cloud computing will unlock their business’s potential, with 49 per cent saying they think it could help them move into new markets.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AWS bins elastic compute units, adopts virtual CPUs
Customers tired of wrapping their heads around odd computing power metric
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/17/aws_bins_elastic_compute_units_adopts_virtual_cpus/
Gartner analyst Kyle Hilgendorf has spotted something very interesting: Amazon Web Services seems to have stopped rating cloud servers based on EC2 compute units (ECUs), its proprietary metric of computing power.
ECUs were an odd metric, as they were based on “… the equivalent CPU capacity of a 1.0-1.2 GHz 2007 Opteron or 2007 Xeon processor … equivalent to an early-2006 1.7 GHz Xeon”.
Elastic Compute Units have been replaced with processor information and clock speed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why file sync and share apps like Box and Dropbox weren’t conceived for the enterprise
http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/opinion/2334334/why-file-sync-and-share-apps-like-box-and-dropbox-weren-t-conceived-for-the-enterprise?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=outbrain&utm_campaign=outbraincollaboristablog
Last week I gave an interview with Computing, in which I argued that Box and other file sync and share applications weren’t designed for enterprise use. The story drew a lot of commentary
The initial design point for these solutions was to satisfy the needs of individuals who wanted to easily store and share files across multiple devices with family and friends. They began by creating an open system that could be used to share and distribute content as widely as possible.
They are trying to pivot and re-invent their technology, business model and support services to meet the demanding requirements of corporate IT and central compliance functions
Sharing is good…but sharing outside the company is DIFFERENT.
Companies need control over the flow of information and content.
They need employees to structure their use of information and to pay close attention to its lifecycle.
protecting that content while sharing it with the right people at the right time is a strategic imperative to aid customers in getting “work done.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ditch the sync, paddle in the Streem: Upstart offers syncless sharing
Upload, delete and carry on sharing afterwards?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/16/streems_syncfree_dream/
Cloudy upstart Streem is reinventing file sync’n’share by getting rid of the sync. Instead of throwing out everything but the kitchen sink, it’s just throwing out the sync – so to speak.
On tethered or mobile smart devices, any files you create can be drag and dropped onto a Streem Drive icon which causes them to be streamed up to a great big multi-tenant Streem Drive in the cloud.
You can then delete your local copy, making the cloud version the master copy, thus freeing up space on your device without needing a central file store in your home or small office.
When you or your friends access the file it’s streamed down to you, using “proprietary adaptive bitrate streaming technology” so that “everyone can instantly access shared content without having to wait for it to download or sync.”
The Streem service is in beta testing at the moment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One bright spot in IBM’s view is its “Cloud” business which, the company says, saw a revenue growth of more than 50 per cent. Its as-a-service cloud products had a first-quarter “annual run rate” of $2.3bn, IBM said, almost eclipsing its troubled hardware division. US Financial regulator the SEC is currently probing IBM for how it recognizes cloud revenue, though, so make of that what you will.
Source: http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2014/04/16/ibm_q1_2014_results/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft to spend $1.1bn to build Iowa data center
Gets tax, infrastructure incentives; promises jobs, $8m in annual property taxes
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/21/microsoft_to_spend_11bn_to_build_iowa_data_center/
Microsoft has been given the go-ahead to build a $1.1bn data center just outside the capital of Iowa, Des Moines – in southeast West Des Moines, to be exact – which when taken together with its existing data center there will raise the company’s investment in the area to a hair below $2bn.
Project Alluvion was originally scheduled to have been on the IEDA’s agenda last month, but was pushed forward to last Friday’s meeting at the last minute.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dedicated Web Server Info 34
http://oenfhfi5.wordpress.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft’s ‘evil open source’ man on life as HP’s top cloud-wrangler
Sweating the assets and building up OpenStack
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/25/bill_hilf_hp_cloud/
Things are different at HP: the computer and server maker has been involved in the open-source and Linux movement for a long time – both have helped it shift servers. Before that, HP was an early mover in open systems by backing Unix.
Hilf is preaching to the converted at HP but admits to challenges building a cloud that’s open – founded on OpenStack – but whose bricks are HP’s not inconsiderable non-open-source assets.
“I very rarely have conversations internally with somebody doesn’t understand the dynamics of working with the [open source] community,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM opens on Monday, IBM Cloud Marketplace, a company that sells a wide range of different products.
Shop Anywhere offers more than one hundred IBM’s application, as well as other services offered by the company such as IaaS, PaaS and SaaS products.
IBM has woken up late with respect to the cloud, at least compared to its competitors Microsoft and Amazon. IBM’s strategy relies heavily on the cloud.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/ibm+yrittaa+uudistua+avaa+kauppapaikan+pilvisovelluksille/a984379
Tomi Engdahl says:
US judge: our digital search warrants apply ANYWHERE
Azure looking less lovely as Microsoft ordered to hand over e-mails held in Dublin
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/us_judge_digital_search_warrants_apply_everywhere/
Microsoft has been told by a US District Court that it must hand over e-mail details to an unnamed law enforcement agency, even though that data is held offshore.
District Court of Southern New York, Judge James Francis has ruled that the tech giant “cannot refuse to turn over customer information and emails stored in other countries when issued a valid search warrant from U.S. law enforcement agencies,” according to Reuters.
The ruling will be a blow to Microsoft’s attempts to assure non-US customers that their cloud data is safe from American spooks’ demands for access.
Microsoft has responded by saying that customer data outside America shouldn’t be subject to search and seizure by US authorities, and is seeking a review of the decision.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM launches Cloud marketplace
http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-launches-cloud-marketplace-7000028798/
Summary: The tech giant said the app exchange is a digital front door that opens up its in-house services portfolio, along with those of its partners, to enterprise clients.
Tomi Engdahl says:
8 ways the cloud is a no-brainer for manufacturers
http://www.controleng.com/single-article/8-ways-the-cloud-is-a-no-brainer-for-manufacturers/366ea5e82616dff083c2f10f0ecf3bc6.html
Cloud computing: Some people still debate the merits of using cloud computing in manufacturing, but there are specific cases when a cloud solution is the obvious choice. Here are eight reasons why cloud computing works for manufacturers. Cloud computing is the quickest, most economical way to make things happen in a hurry.
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM throws open doors of XaaS supermarket
‘Cloud marketplace’ aims to outflank mere cloud convenience from AWS et al
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/29/ibm_throws_open_doors_of_xaas_supermarket/
IBM has thrown open the doors of its “cloud marketplace” a software-and-infrastructure-and-platform-as-a-service supermarket that offers its own and third party products.
The marketplace has three main elements.
The foundation is the familiar SoftLayer infrastructure-as-a-service service, which like rivals from AWS, Google, Microsoft and Rackspace allows customers to spin up cloudy servers and then discard them whenever it suits.
A new piece of the Big Blue cloud is the Bluemix platform-as-a-service play. Bluemix is based on Pivotal’s CloudFoundry
The marketplace itself is a SaaS shopfront blending IBM’s own software and that of its partners.
Combining PaaS, IaaS and SaaS also gives IBM plenty of breadth and depth, again a useful distinction.