Cloud computing showdown: Amazon vs. Rackspace (OpenStack) vs. Microsoft vs. Google
It wouldn't be a mischaracterization to equate the cloud computing industry to the wild, wild west.
It wouldn't be a mischaracterization to equate the cloud computing industry to the wild, wild west.
When you go to a Gartner conference one of he main things you'll notice is the sheer volume of data they can generate on just about any IT topic. Last week's Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Fla., was no different. The conference, attended by some 9000 executives focused on the changes security challenges, mobile computing, big data and cloud will be bringing to IT in the near future.
Virtualizing x86 infrastructure isn't just a one-step process -- as servers change, the whole data center must change as well. While server hypervisors such as VMware's ESX, Microsoft's Hyper-V and Xen can make IT more efficient and cost-effective, many of the virtualization advantages can be canceled out when data centers rely on technology and processes that haven't been updated for the virtualization age.
Desktop virtualization has a predicted growth curve that leaves much of the PC and IT services industries smiling: Yet none of the technologies or service providers promising to offer hosted virtual desktops are ready to step into key roles in enterprise IT infrastructures, according the same well-respected analysts who set the server virtualization market on its ear with a similar conclusion last year.
Most <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/010710-cios-tweet.html">CIOs</a> have started considering virtual desktop infrastructure and other types of <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/021909-desktop-virtualization-faq.html">desktop virtualization</a>, but only a minority has reached the deployment stage. (See related story, <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/040110-destop-virtualization-windows7.html">"As Windows 7 gains steam, VDI set to rise"</a>.) Virtual desktops can potentially provide more flexibility for users, make it easier to apply patches and reduce IT help desk calls, but there are still numerous problems that keep desktop pros up at night. Here are five pitfalls to watch out for.
Technologies come and go, but managing networks is still about problem-solving in a changing world, as these IT executives can attest.
How Swedish agribusiness Lantmännen cultivated a more cost-effective infrastructure.
IT vendors tend to hold off major announcements until after Labor Day, when customers, presumably, will be paying more attention to work than summer vacation planning. The end-of-August scheduling of VMworld in San Francisco will push that deadline as VMware announces tweaks to its own products and ISVs try to jump-start their marketing to take advantage of what analysts are calling a fundamental IT shift toward cloud computing and virtualization. Here's a look at what to expect from VMware and others at next week's event.
The talk of CloudWorld this week was VMware's acquisition of SpringSource. The top-of-mind chatter focused on the price: US$400 million plus, a very large sum for a company doing perhaps US$25 million in revenues. Certainly there was a good bit of envy in this type of conversation. And, of course, the fact that SpringSource is an open source company further makes the number even more eye-watering.
Australian engineering, project management and operations company Ausenco has undertaken a major virtualisation and disaster recovery (DR) upgrade as a foundation to developing a private cloud for its core enterprise applications.
Virtualized infrastructures may be "the mainframe for the 21st century," as VMware CTO Stephen Herrod said in April, but the company will move increasingly toward virtualization and management of smaller devices during the next year or two.
Australian companies of all types are cautiously shifting applications out of the data centre and into the cloud. Despite all the hype, cloud computing is proving to be one trend that's more than just hot air.
When putting your systems in the cloud, a few options are available depending on exactly what you want to put there and for how long. Although each vendor offers essentially the same service — a place to move your computing efforts away from your own infrastructure — they break down the pricing in a number of ways. Make sure you take into account your specific needs to find which cloud suits your company best.
Grid vendor Platform Computing has unveiled new private cloud software that aggregates servers, storage, networking tools and hypervisors to create a shared pool of physical and virtual resources.
The current ratio of IT spend on maintaining IT systems against innovation has become unsustainable according to EMC’s Australian president, David Webster.