I have been having a great debate with one of my colleagues about the changing role of the IT operations (aka “I&O”) function in the context of PaaS. Nobody debates that I&O is responsible and accountable for infrastructure operations.
Application developers (with or without the blessing of Enterprise Architecture) select platform components such as application servers, middleware etc. I&O keeps the servers running – probably up to the operating system. The app owners then manage their apps and the platform components. I&O has no SLAs on the platform, etc.
In the PaaS era, I think this needs to change. IT Operations (I&O) needs to have full accountability and responsibility for the OPERATION of the PaaS layer. PaaS is no longer a part of the application, but is now really part of the core platform operated by IT. It’s about 24×7 monitoring, support, etc. and generally this is a task that I&O is ultimately best able to handle.
Archivo mensual: mayo 2012
Cloud Expo Sponsor Rackspace Special Offer Coupon Code ▸ rackspaceVIPgold
As a Platinum Plus Sponsor of Cloud Expo New York, Rackspace Hosting is offering special passes to SYS-CON’s 10th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 11–14, 2012, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
Rackspace Hosting is the service leader in cloud computing, and a founder of OpenStack, an open source cloud operating system. The San Antonio-based company provides Fanatical Support® to its customers and partners, across a portfolio of IT services, including Managed Hosting and Cloud Computing. Rackspace has been recognized by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as a Top 100 Performing Technology Company and was featured on Fortune’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. The company was also positioned in the Leaders Quadrant by Gartner Inc. in the “2010 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service and Web Hosting.”
Six Degrees Group Acquires Datahop
Six Degrees Group has expanded its UK network capabilities with the acquisition of Datahop, an international datacentre interconnection business with 200 customers. Datahop’s network consists of a resilient, high-speed fibre ring that connects 21 points of presence (PoPs) in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris.
Six Degrees Group’s expanded network will bring most of London’s datacentres on-net, including Telecity, Telehouse, Interxion, Level 3 and Iomart facilities. Datahop’s network brings 16 new PoPs onto the Six Degrees core network as well as extending the Group’s footprint into four Western European countries. Six Degrees Group run-rate revenues are now approximately £44m with EBITDA of over £11m.
Following the acquisition, Six Degrees Group will be investing in its network by undertaking a multi-million pound upgrade before launching a next generation VPLS-enabled datacentre interconnect fabric that will enable multi-gigabit port capability for distribution of its converged voice, data and hosting portfolio. The Group’s network now connects European and American financial centres with an unrivalled footprint in London carrier-neutral datacentres, and uniquely positions it with the ability to deliver high-speed network interconnects in London.
Daniel Lowe, managing director of Six Degrees Group’s managed data division, commented: “This announcement marks a significant step-change in the scale, reach and capability of the Six Degrees Group network. Datahop’s technologies will allow us to deliver higher bandwidth, and a broader range of services to our customers. Our ability to link people, places and clouds has been boosted significantly with the flexible service creation capability we now offer to the market.”
To find out more please visit: www.6dg.co.uk
Will People Fully Embrace Cloud Gaming?
In recent years the world of gaming has seen a shift in the way in which games are played and therefore the way they need to be developed. In 2002 Xbox released the Xbox Live system, allowing gamers all around the world to connect via the internet and play games together. Since then all of the other consoles have caught up and now provide the same functionality.
With this revolution in gaming ability, the actual games themselves have become more geared towards being played online, with development companies working on improving the online multiplayer functionality over the solo gaming.
But now it seems this whole idea is going one step further with the increased presence of Cloud Gaming.
What is Cloud Gaming?
Using cloud hosting services, companies such as OnLive and Gaikai can host games on their network and allow users to login via an internet connection and play them …
Sigma Systems Unveils Cloud Service Broker
Sigma Systems on Monday unveiled the Sigma Cloud Service Broker, an integrated SaaS service fulfillment solution for the selection, provisioning and management of SaaS services and applications.
The Sigma Cloud Service Broker platform reduces costs, removes operational silos and reduces overall CapEx and OpEx by providing a single-sourced and deployed architecture for managing all on-network business services, including VoIP and high-speed broadband, as well as cloud-based SaaS services. The Cloud Service Broker enables communication service providers to extend value-added SaaS services to their small and medium business (SMB) customers in a scalable, repeatable and economic manner.
The boss called, “What’s our PUE?”
Do you know your PUE?
PUE stands for Power Usage Effectiveness and it is rapidly becoming the number to know. In the past, datacenter managers were simply asked to provide enough space, power and cooling to support the IT equipment. Now, the same managers are being asked to do it efficiently. PUE can be a helpful benchmark.
Introduced by the Green Grid, PUE is a measure of efficiency. It is defined as: the total facility power consumed divided by the total IT equipment power consumed. The total facility power is measured at the utility meter for datacenters. (For mixed-use facilities like an office building that contains a datacenter, only the power needed for the server/datacenter room should be measured or even estimated.) The facility power includes everything that supports the IT equipment including power, cooling, lighting, etc.
The IT equipment power is the load associated with servers, storage, networking …
China Gives Google-Moto Merger Conditional OK
China’s antitrust regulators gave Google’s $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility the nod Saturday provided Google’s Android operating system remains open and free-of-charge for the next five years.
The “free” stipulation apparently doesn’t apply to applications or services, but it remains to be seen how that works out.
Google will have to report about its compliance with the terms to a Chinese monitor. “At the end of the five years, the Ministry of Commerce will continue to assess the state of the Chinese smartphone operating system market,” the agency said on its web site.
Google’s relationship with China has been tense since it moved its Chinese search operation to Hong Kong complaining of censorship. There’s also the little matter of China reportedly hacking its computers and stealing its secrets.
China was the last approval the giant deal needed so it might close this week. It will make Google a maker of phones, tablets and other devices like set-top boxes.
MMI, needless to say, makes Android devices, raising issues about what Android terms will be for other manufacturers. It has also courted patent infringement suits from Apple and Microsoft and an investigation by the European Commission into its licensing terms for FRAND patents.
In a statement, the Chinese ministry aligned behind Motorola’s FRAND obligations. How China might interpret FRAND is unclear.
Google will now own MMI’s 17,000 patents and 7,500 patent applications, but has already backed Motorola’s unreasonably high prices. Ironically China wants Google not to discriminate on Android.
Chinese phone makers ZTE and Huawei use Android and have to compete against foreign handset makers that also use Android. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Google would abandon its practice of giving early access to new Android code to only one company.
News Round-Up 5/19/12: Google’s Cloud, Future of Data Centers, Cloud IPOs, Cloud Security Myths Busted and More
There have been some exciting announcements and fascinating news articles recently regarding cloud services and service providers. Every week we will round up the most interesting topics from around the globe and consolidate them into a weekly summary.
Hitch a Ride Through Google’s Cloud
Your Gmail box lives somewhere in the jumble of servers, cables, and hard drives known as the «cloud» but it often migrates in search of the ideal location. Find out what happens when you hit send.
The Future of Data Centers: Is 100% Cloud Possible?
Guest blogger Robert Offley explains how the market is shifting today, what barriers remain for total cloud adoption, and if an evolution to 100% cloud is likely to occur.
Big Data is Worth Nothing Without Big Science
As with gold or oil, data has no intrinsic value, writes Webtrends CEO Alex Yoder. Big science, which bridges the gap between knowledge and insight, is where the real value is.
The Hottest IPO You’ve Never Heard Of
With an expected valuation of close to $100 billion, it’s understandable that no one can stop talking about Facebook’s initial public offering this week. But while Facebook basks in the social media spotlight, companies tackling tough business problems are exciting investors, if not consumers. Workday, for example, is expected to be among the largest IPOs this year in the business software market.
Five Busted Myths of Cloud Security
“Cloud” is one of the most over used and least understood words in technology these days, so it’s little surprise that there’s so much confusion about its security. This article busts 5 myths about cloud security.
Also in the news:
- • A Funny Thing Happened on Java’s Way to the Cloud
- • Lessons Learned: The impact on the future of Cloud and Standards
- • Red Hat OpenShift PaaS: Will Cloud Developers Climb Aboard?
- • Pandora Floats on the Cloud
Cloud Expo NY: Predictive Analytics Leads to Successful Recommendations
Businesses today generate billions of events or 100s of TBs of data in a month. These data contain valuable insights into customer behavior, key trends, buying patterns, etc. If these are successfully mined, they can lead to successful decision-making to maximize revenue and traffic for the business. Successfully driving a business is only partly about understanding what happened; the other part lies in knowing what’s going to happen next.
In order to use past data and predict future events, there needs to be sufficient technology that is not merely extrapolating events. Powerful machine learning algorithms in association with combinatorial and graph algorithms are imperative to make accurate predictions about future events based on cross-dimensional correlations within the data, time-event correlations and recognizing patterns that would not be identified or understood using standard statistical, AI or Bayesian techniques. Handling the scale and the complex relationships within the data requires purpose-built algorithms that are specially designed to handle the needs of online businesses.
My Obligatory Facebook Column
The Facebook IPO has no direct relevance to how IT professionals do their jobs. I’m sure everyone will be watching it today, though, and wasting, er, spending a lot of time discussing it.
Thus comes my responsibility as a member of the IT industry’s Fourth Estate to write about it.
I’ve tried to work myself up into a lather about how overvalued Facebook is, how ridiculous (and damaging) these technology bubbles are to the industry and to the global economy, and how unfair life generally is. But I just can’t get too worked up over this. If someone wants to blow their money in Las Vegas or on too many visits to Disney World, let them do it, I say.
It doesn’t matter to me whether someone buys Facebook stock today, either.
Remembering When…
I do think, however, there may be some value in taking a quick peek back at some of the industry’s landmark IPOs. The grandaddy of the modern age would be Netscape, which went public on August 9, 1995. This IPO was a very big deal back then, kids. The stock more than quadrupled in price during its first day on the market, closing at $58.25 and creating a market capitalization of $2.3 billion for Netscape.
What few of us understood at the time was that this was a disastrous day for the company. The stock was offered at $14 a share, which is what the company reaped. Any profits made by investors selling at a higher price than that went to those investors, not to Netscape. The company, in essence, left more than $1.5 billion on the table. This was considered to be a large amount of money in those days.
Yahoo had a similarly splashy, if much smaller, IPO in April of the next year. The stock was offered at $24.50, peaked at $43 during the day, and settled in at $33. This valued the company at less than $1 billion, a seemingly modest amount, but not bad for a company which had less than $2 million in annual revenue at the time.
Yahoo has been losing altitude for a decade now, with the rise of Google’s search algorithm replacing Yahoo’s pioneering index-based approach to finding stuff on the Worldwide Web. Google’s superior approach was the foundation of its IPO success a few years later, in August of 2004.
Determined not to leave money on the table (as had Netscape and so many others in the 90s), Google took a unique variation of the “Dutch Auction” approach, in which investors bid on shares before the offering. This nipped any sort of Tulip Mania in the bud and kept the stock from skyrocketing and gyrating that first day.
Even so, Google was valued at $23 billion at the end of the first day, having sold only about 6.5 percent of its available shares in the public market.
One Hundred Billion Dollars
So now we come to Facebook and its $100 billion valuation. This number is not the biggest ever associated with an IPO, but it does cast a long shadow over Google’s day in the sun some seven-plus years ago. There’s really only one relevant question here: Is it worth it?
As a writer and analyst within the IT industry, I don’t buy technology stocks. My approach has the added benefit of saving me a lot of heartburn over the course of time. I also don’t make recommendations. This policy is a good one, I think, because I really have no idea of whether Facebook will soar or sink today, and soar or sink over time.
I do know that “FB” (Facebook’s official ticker symbol) will be valued north of $100 billion when it hits the public market today. I also know that Google, after 8 years of non-stop success and growth, is worth about $200 billion today.
Think of everything that Google has done right for almost a decade. Then think about Google being valued at only twice that of Facebook. Does this add up for you?