On the cusp of launching its Azure cloud computing service, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is also making a savvy bid to lock up a patent for one of the main worries--vendor lock-in--of cloud users. (The other big concern is security.) The folks from Redmond have filed a patent application for migrating data to a new cloud, which is what you'd have to do when leave your first vendor.
The patent has a number of unusual angles, so bear with me while I deconstruct it.
The application is number 20080080526, filed by Microsoft this past April, and entitled "Migrating Data To New Cloud." (The current application appears to be a refile of a doc originally submitted in Sept. 2006. Such resubmittals are common practice, by the way.)
Two things immediately jump out at the reader. First off is the fact that this patent proposal addresses data migration not so much from a vendor lock-in perspective (as in, you have to migrate your data because you want to bag your provider and go get a better deal) but rather as an auto fail-over data protection mechanism. (I'll get to the second thing, which is that this is constituted as an automated migration process, later on.)
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/11/microsoft_seeks_1.html;jsessionid=Y1LXRKWZ3YPHTQE1GHPCKH4ATMY32JVN
Monday, November 30, 2009
Cloud Computing: A Security Analysis
A More Detailed Look at Cloud Computing Security Risks
Start-up companies, small businesses, mid-size and even large enterprises are interested in cloud computing. As a result, all of these potential users should be extremely interested in cloud computing security. A good starting point for assessing the risks in cloud computing is identifying all of the existing risks that cloud users from individuals to the largest companies and even governments encounter. Specific threats to security include:
1.Failures in Provider Security
In a cloud environment, all security depends on the security of the cloud provider. They control the hardware and the hypervisors on which data is stored and applications are run. Cloud provider security must be top-of-the-line.
2.Attacks by Other Customers
The cloud environment is shared among customers. If the barriers between customers break down, one customer can access another customer's data or interfere with their applications.
3.Availability and Reliability Issues
Cloud data centers are generally as reliable as enterprise data centers or more so. However, outages do occur. Also, the cloud is only usable through the Internet so Internet reliability and availability is essential.
Read Full Article Here:
http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1203943
Start-up companies, small businesses, mid-size and even large enterprises are interested in cloud computing. As a result, all of these potential users should be extremely interested in cloud computing security. A good starting point for assessing the risks in cloud computing is identifying all of the existing risks that cloud users from individuals to the largest companies and even governments encounter. Specific threats to security include:
1.Failures in Provider Security
In a cloud environment, all security depends on the security of the cloud provider. They control the hardware and the hypervisors on which data is stored and applications are run. Cloud provider security must be top-of-the-line.
2.Attacks by Other Customers
The cloud environment is shared among customers. If the barriers between customers break down, one customer can access another customer's data or interfere with their applications.
3.Availability and Reliability Issues
Cloud data centers are generally as reliable as enterprise data centers or more so. However, outages do occur. Also, the cloud is only usable through the Internet so Internet reliability and availability is essential.
Read Full Article Here:
http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1203943
Microsoft begins paving path for IT, cloud integration
LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft last week launched its first serious effort to build IT into its cloud plans by introducing technologies that help connect existing corporate networks and cloud services to make them look like a single infrastructure.
Global Small Enterprises Make the Move to Unified Communications: Download nowThe concept began to come together at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference. The company is attempting to show that it wants to move beyond the first wave of the cloud trend, which is defined by the availability of raw computing power supplied by Microsoft and competitors such as Amazon and Google. Microsoft's goal is to supply tools, middleware and services so users can run applications that span corporate and cloud networks, especially those built with Microsoft's Azure cloud operating system.
"Azure is looking at the second wave," says Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner. "That wave is what happens after raw infrastructure. When companies start moving real systems to the cloud and those systems are hybrid and they have to connect back in significant ways to legacy environments. It's a big challenge and a big opportunity for Microsoft."
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/112309-microsoft-it-cloud-integration.html?hpg1=bn
Global Small Enterprises Make the Move to Unified Communications: Download nowThe concept began to come together at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference. The company is attempting to show that it wants to move beyond the first wave of the cloud trend, which is defined by the availability of raw computing power supplied by Microsoft and competitors such as Amazon and Google. Microsoft's goal is to supply tools, middleware and services so users can run applications that span corporate and cloud networks, especially those built with Microsoft's Azure cloud operating system.
"Azure is looking at the second wave," says Ray Valdes, an analyst with Gartner. "That wave is what happens after raw infrastructure. When companies start moving real systems to the cloud and those systems are hybrid and they have to connect back in significant ways to legacy environments. It's a big challenge and a big opportunity for Microsoft."
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/112309-microsoft-it-cloud-integration.html?hpg1=bn
How Cloud Computing Changes IT Organizations
With Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN)'s EC2, Google (NSDQ: GOOG)'s AppEngine, and now Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)'s Azure, cloud computing looks a lot less like some catch-all concept in the distance and more like a very real architecture that your data center has a good chance of being connected to in the near future.
If that happens, more than the technology must change. The IT organization, and how IT works with business units, must adapt as well, or companies won't get all they want from cloud computing. Putting part of the IT workload into the cloud will require some different management approaches, and different IT skills, from what's grown up in the traditional data center.
These include strategy questions, such as deciding which workloads should be exported to the cloud, which set of standards you want followed for your cloud computing, and how you'll resolve the knotty issues of privacy and security as things move out to the cloud. And there's a big question of how, and how quickly, business units get new IT resources. Should they help themselves, or should IT remain a gatekeeper?
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901198&cid=IW_nl_week_2009-11-30_h
If that happens, more than the technology must change. The IT organization, and how IT works with business units, must adapt as well, or companies won't get all they want from cloud computing. Putting part of the IT workload into the cloud will require some different management approaches, and different IT skills, from what's grown up in the traditional data center.
These include strategy questions, such as deciding which workloads should be exported to the cloud, which set of standards you want followed for your cloud computing, and how you'll resolve the knotty issues of privacy and security as things move out to the cloud. And there's a big question of how, and how quickly, business units get new IT resources. Should they help themselves, or should IT remain a gatekeeper?
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901198&cid=IW_nl_week_2009-11-30_h
Rackspace Beats Google, Microsoft At Hosted Storage
Rackspace has very quietly outflanked giants Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) and Google (NSDQ:GOOG) in online storage and backup, giving the hosting and cloud computing upstart bragging rights as the market races toward the new IT model in 2010 and beyond.
Unveiled last week, Rackspace's Cloud Drive provides a quick, easy-to-deploy solution for "cloud-based" storage and file backup. Here are the basics: At a price of $4 per month, per user, Rackspace will offer a company or workgroup 10 GB of file storage per user. Using the interface of the Jungle Disk Workgroup Activity Manager (Jungle Disk is a Rackspace subsidiary), files can be managed and backups can be scheduled and tailored to a specific need. From a desktop or server, the files are copied onto Rackspace's storage infrastructure where they can be managed or retrieved.
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.crn.com/storage/221901135;jsessionid=FWOU51050D1QLQE1GHRSKHWATMY32JVN?cid=nl_tech
Unveiled last week, Rackspace's Cloud Drive provides a quick, easy-to-deploy solution for "cloud-based" storage and file backup. Here are the basics: At a price of $4 per month, per user, Rackspace will offer a company or workgroup 10 GB of file storage per user. Using the interface of the Jungle Disk Workgroup Activity Manager (Jungle Disk is a Rackspace subsidiary), files can be managed and backups can be scheduled and tailored to a specific need. From a desktop or server, the files are copied onto Rackspace's storage infrastructure where they can be managed or retrieved.
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.crn.com/storage/221901135;jsessionid=FWOU51050D1QLQE1GHRSKHWATMY32JVN?cid=nl_tech
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Microsoft begins paving path for IT, cloud integration
LOS ANGELES -- Microsoft last week launched its first serious effort to build IT into its cloud plans by introducing technologies that help connect existing corporate networks and cloud services to make them look like a single infrastructure.
The Compelling Case for Video Telephony in UC: Download nowThe concept began to come together at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference. The company is attempting to show that it wants to move beyond the first wave of the cloud trend, which is defined by the availability of raw computing power supplied by Microsoft and competitors such as Amazon and Google. Microsoft's goal is to supply tools, middleware and services so users can run applications that span corporate and cloud networks, especially those built with Microsoft's Azure cloud operating system.
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/112309-microsoft-it-cloud-integration.html?hpg1=bn
The Compelling Case for Video Telephony in UC: Download nowThe concept began to come together at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference. The company is attempting to show that it wants to move beyond the first wave of the cloud trend, which is defined by the availability of raw computing power supplied by Microsoft and competitors such as Amazon and Google. Microsoft's goal is to supply tools, middleware and services so users can run applications that span corporate and cloud networks, especially those built with Microsoft's Azure cloud operating system.
Read Full Article Here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/112309-microsoft-it-cloud-integration.html?hpg1=bn
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