Will Cloud Computing Turn Us Into Dinosaurs?
Dispelling the Myth of Cloud Related Job Loss
Among the concerns with cloud computing, most of which we at ReliaCloud are happy to dispel, is the idea that it will lead to the loss of jobs in data centers. At least, that’s the fear spreading throughout IT circles in the UK. This excellent piece from Kelly Fiveash published in The Register UK helps to dispel that myth.
Across The Pond, A Different View of the Cloud
Unlike our colleagues in the UK, IT professionals in the United States see cloud computing as creating more jobs while making prospective job candidates more employable. See the survey results in this article in Business Computing World.
With the 4th of July holiday over, it’s back to work where we can keep our heads in the clouds. Following are cloud news bites you may have missed over the relaxing holiday.
Cloud Computing Taxonomy
From Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) to Software as a Service (SaaS), Forrester visually places cloud providers in its updated Cloud Computing Taxonomy.
The Cloud Could be a Substantial Part of the Way Britain’s National Health Service Will Operate
Britain’s National Health Service predicts that deploying a G-Cloud (Government Cloud) could offer a huge opportunity for very large savings. Imagine 82 million patient records floating in the cloud.
Science Clouds. Have you heard of them?
These informal clouds are making it easy for scientific projects to experiment with IaaS-style cloud computing. Access to a Science Cloud is provided voluntarily. Here are a few links to available science clouds:
Nimbus @ University of Chicago
Stratus @ University of Florida
Wispy @ Purdue University
Kupa @ Masaryk University
One of the many benefits of cloud computing is the inherent flexibility. Cloud servers can be adapted to meet the needs of a wide variety of businesses and a wide range of computing and storage needs. If you’re already on the cloud and you find that you need to expand your computing capability and storage resources, you have multiple options.
First, you can scale your cloud server environment horizontally. This means that you add computing capacity by provisioning additional cloud servers. Each cloud server allows you to run more applications, consume more bandwidth, and utilize more storage resources. You can set up load balancing to evenly distribute traffic among your growing population of cloud servers.
Second, you can scale your cloud server environment vertically by upgrading existing cloud server models. For example, you may have provisioned a cloud server using a small server model that you have since outgrown. You can use the ReliaCloud portal to upgrade the cloud server model to a larger model that contains more CPU, memory, and storage.
Finally, you can scale your cloud server environment by leveraging outside services such as our cloud storage.
Uncovering the newest and most pertinent Cloud Computing news can be a challenge. Let ReliaCloud be that little bird in your ear. We’re monitoring blogs, forums and social media to bring you the best Cloud Computing news and resources each week.
Cloud Computing Mind Map
The Cloud Computing Mind Map from George Reese helps you get your brain around today’s Cloud players.
Serious About the Cloud? Read up on Cloud Thoughts from the Great Minds at Berkeley
Seeking Supernovae in the Clouds: A Performance Study, by Berkeley Lab team, wins best paper award at first Scientific Cloud Computing workshop.
Government Straddling the Line on Cloud Computing
U.S. Government agencies move data to the cloud – Lawmakers Debate the Security.
What Does Infrastructure, Demand, Scalability, Pricing & Accessibility all Have in Common?
Must read: Network World Key Concepts of Cloud Computing.
I’ll be out in Austin, Texas in a couple weeks to exhibit at the sixth annual HostingCon, the premier conference and trade show for the hosted services industry. If you follow the hosting industry, cloud computing or sell services to online companies – you’ll find value in attending. The networking opportunities alone make it worth the trip to Texas!
The show will run from July 19-21 in Austin, Texas. It includes tracks on Sales/Marketing, Technology Operations, Cloud Computing, and Business Development, with nearly 60 presentations in total.
As to be expected, a large focus of the show this year will be placed on cloud computing. Don’t believe me? Check out the schedule and you’ll see what I mean. I’m looking forward to talking to customers, vendors and consultants to get input to shape the next round of cloud products at ReliaCloud. If you make it to the show, stop by booth #419 and say “Hi”.
You can learn more about HostingCon by following their blog.
Register now and use the code ReliaCloud2010 to get a significant discount.
As buzz surrounding cloud computing reaches a fever pitch, it’s important to understand not just how cloud 
computing works, but how cloud computing can work for your company. If you’re considering a move from a dedicated server to a cloud server, consider the following:
A cloud server is a virtualized server that leverages shared computing and storage resources, while a dedicated server is a physical server that is only allocated to one customer. New cloud servers can be provisioned very quickly; in fact, once ReliaCloud customers are registered, they can whip up a server in as little as 60 seconds.
Customers pay for cloud servers based on hourly utilization, and there are no set-up fees. When purchasing dedicated servers, customers sign a long-term contract, pay set-up fees, and typically have to wait days for the server to be installed.
Finally, cloud servers include features such as firewall security, high availability, and load balancing, which are only available to dedicated server customers who buy specialized hardware.
IT managers trust cloud now more than ever, according to coverage of a new survey. The survey, conducted on behalf of IT conference 360, found that the majority of European organizations now believe that cloud computing will result in an improvement in security defenses.
This represents a substantial increase from a similar study conducted in February of this year, and reflects a growing trend among IT managers on both sides of the pond who have increasingly relied on cloud computing as a secure and forward-thinking option.
As more and more businesses place their trust in the cloud, providers like ReliaCloud continue to work hard to maintain that trust. One way that we help ensure optimal security levels is through firewalls. Our cloud servers are located behind a two-layered firewall perimeter. The outer firewall security layer is provided by Cisco ASA hardware firewall devices, and the second security layer is provided by a virtual router running a software packet filter.
That was the sound of small business owners across the country taking a flying leap onto the cloud after reading Byron Acohido’s recent USA Today article. The cloud has appealed to increasingly broader circles over the past year, and now Acohido makes a strong case for the cloud as a tool for small businesses.
“Most small-business owners don’t realize this yet, but a mother lode of technology that can free precious cash and manpower is available to them as in no other time in history,” Acohido writes. “Small firms typically buy basic clerical and accounting software in shrink-wrap boxes and run them on a company computer. The owner, or a harried employee, invariably gets pressed into service as resident tech expert. Today, they can tap into a swelling portfolio of business applications residing in far-off computer servers. These programs come down from the Internet cloud.”
The inherent flexibility of cloud computing is what makes it so applicable and appealing to businesses of all sizes. Find out how the cloud can flex to fit your business!
With the prevalence of Internet exploits, securing your business has come to mean much more than a lock on the door. ReliaCloud Servers are connected to a private cloud network, and this network is by default inaccessible via the Internet. Therefore, a brand-new cloud server is generally not accessible via the Internet because it is produced with these default settings. To allow Internet access to your cloud servers, you need to explicitly set up port following rules.
ReliaCloud recommends applying security patches to your cloud server soon after provisioning the new server. We apply security patches to our software templates at least once every three months, and we also make updates any time a major security patch is released.
For more information on the security of cloud servers, visit the ReliaCloud Knowledge Base. Click on “Browse by Category” and select “Security” from the drop-down menu.
Accessibility is a fundamental component of cloud computing, and remote access enables you to take full advantage of your cloud server. You can remotely access cloud servers in multiple ways:
One option is to use a virtual console located in the cloud portal website. The virtual console is like having a keyboard, monitor, and mouse connected to the cloud server. You can use the virtual console to make configuration changes on the server regardless of the server network settings. You should be aware that this virtual console is not designed for high performance, and you may experience more lag using this option than you would when managing servers via traditional management protocols.
Another option for remotely accessing your cloud server is to use SSH (Linux/Unix) and remote desktop (Windows) protocols. Before initiating this type of remote access, you need to configure network settings on the servers and cloud network accordingly. SSH and remote desktop protocols offer better performance when managing cloud servers remotely.
To learn more about managing your cloud server, contact us or tap into the wealth of knowledge at ReliaCloud’s Knowledge Base.
