Human body is the most complex machine ever created! With a complex network of interconnected organs, millions of cells and the most advanced processor, human body is the most automated system in this planet. In this article, we will draw comparisons between working of a human body to that of a data center. We will draw parallels between human body automation to data center automation and explain different levels of automation we need to drive in data centers. This article is divided into 4 parts covering each of body main functions and drawing parallels on automation. This is 3rd article in the human body series, please go to http://ashishnanjiani.ulitzer.com or http://ashishnanjiani.com
Archivo mensual: julio 2017
Public cloud infrastructure spending continues to rise, says IDC
Public cloud services will be the fastest growing market segment for IT deployment in 2017, according to the latest note from IDC.
Spending on traditional data centres, which ranked at more than 60% of the market in 2016, will dip to less than half by 2021, the analyst firm argues, with public cloud taking the majority of the slack.
Total spending on IT infrastructure for deployment in cloud environments – server, enterprise storage and Ethernet switches – will reach $40 billion (£31.1bn) in 2017, at an increase of 12.4% year over year. Public cloud will grow at the fastest rate, of 13.8%, with off-premises private cloud environments at 11.9% growth and on-prem private clouds growing 9.6% year on year.
For cloud IT environments, Ethernet switches will represent the fastest growing segment, with 25.8% year on year growth in 2017, with spending on enterprise storage at 12.0% and servers 9.1%.
IDC had previously examined the numbers by vendor, finding Dell and HPE just ahead of the faster-growing Cisco, and saying global cloud IT infrastructure revenues hitting $8 billion in the first quarter of 2017.
Natalya Yezhkova, IDC enterprise storage research director, said spending will continue on 2016 trends in general, not counting differences in specific technology segments.
“Enterprise adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud IT strategies and the proliferation of cloud-native applications and areas such as the Internet of Things, which embrace a cloud-first approach to supporting IT resources, will fuel further increases in end-user spending on services-based IT.
“In turn, this move will be reflected in a shift of the overall spending on IT infrastructure from on-premises to off-premises deployments and from traditional IT to cloud IT,” Yezhkova added.
10 ways to protect your data on the AWS platform
One of the worst data breaches in US history recently made the headlines, and it’s a powerful reminder of the importance of protecting data on platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The personal details of nearly four out of every five adult Americans, including virtually every registered voter, were recently exposed online thanks to sloppy security practices. The data not only included contact details and birth dates, but also information on the perceived political views of individuals. Media analytics company Deep Root Analytics had stored the data in an AWS S3 bucket and mistakenly left it exposed for two weeks.
Deep Root Analytics failed to use protected access settings, meaning that the data was accessible to anyone who knew, found, or guessed the six-character subdomain name that Amazon uses to identify an individual bucket.
While in this case it was a very simple user error that was to blame, it’s also a reminder of the wider risks of IaaS platforms such as AWS. Amazon has put a great deal of time and money into AWS’s security, but it’s always possible that either a security misconfiguration by an AWS customer or a particularly powerful attack could create a breach.
Organizations that use AWS also need to take into account the risk of malicious or mistaken activity from their own staff and users along with third parties such as business partners or vendors that require some degree of access to data. The average business faces around 11 threats every month where somebody inside the organization is responsible, whether deliberately trying to compromise security or acting negligently. Meanwhile, third parties with access to data are often to blame for security breaches.
Simply leaving AWS security up to Amazon is neither legally or practically sensible. That’s because AWS uses a shared responsibility system when it comes to security. Amazon itself takes full responsibility for the protection of its cloud systems, including both the software set-up and the physical computers, servers and connections. It’s also in charge of detecting and blocking any intrusions or fraudulent attempts to gain access.
However, the customer is responsible for managing and configuring everything that happens inside AWS. This includes any applications it runs using AWS’s identity and access management system (IAM), along with password protection of the data. The customer organisation is also responsible for protecting its own systems and connections to AWS, including any firewall.
How to use AWS infrastructure safely
This isn’t an all-encompassing list, but it covers the main points and lays a good groundwork for a sensible and effective approach.
Enable CloudTrail everywhere you use AWS: This creates comprehensive logs of all user activities in an AWS service and provides an audit trail for compliance purposes. Remember to do this on all services, including non-geographic services such as CloudFront. You should also switch on multi-region logging as this will pick up any activity in regions you don’t use, a strong sign of a security breach.
Enable multifactor authentication (MFA) on your root user account: This is absolutely key as this account can access all your AWS resources. Use a dedicated device for this MFA rather than have the requests sent to a personal mobile device. That cuts the chances that a lost device or a change in personnel can lead to a breach.
Enforce a strict strong password policy: A good minimum threshold is 14 characters with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol. Set passwords to expire after no more than 90 days and don’t let staff reuse passwords.
Keep CloudTrail log access as tight and narrow as possible: This will reduce the number of staff who could compromise security by falling prey to a phishing attack or being blackmailed.
Make sure multifactor authentication is required to delete CloudTrail buckets: This will reduce the chances of a hacker covering their tracks after getting unauthorized access.
Never use access keys on root accounts: Doing so is simply too big a risk given how much access somebody could gain after compromising an account.
Restrict access for commonly used ports: These can include CIFS, DNS, FTP, MongoDB, MSSQL and SMTP.
Set accounts to automatically expire after 90 days without any use: An inactive account brings you no benefits but increases the number of potential points of entry for somebody trying to breach your setup.
Turn on access logging for your S3 buckets: This compiles the log data from CloudTrail and makes it much easier to track access requests, authorized and otherwise. If the worst happens, these logs can help with breach investigations.
Use restricted access on any EC2 security groups: This cuts out less sophisticated attack tactics such as Denial of Service, man-in-the-middle or brute force. Make sure access is done via IAM roles rather than through individual credentials that can easily be compromised.
As well as taking care of the restrictions and policies of your AWS infrastructure, you should also follow best practice when you use any custom applications deployed in AWS. By following these best practices, enterprises and users alike can safely store their data in the cloud without compromising security, creating a more secure AWS environment.
Read more: Report argues ‘concerning’ lack of understanding over IaaS shared responsibility models
An Interesting Exchange Between Microsoft and Baidu
An interesting exchange took place between two top tech giants – Microsoft and Baidu.
Microsoft offered cloud services to Baidu and in return got an autonomous car!
Yesterday, China’s Baidu announced Microsoft as a partner on its new open-source driving platform that’s called Apollo. Baidu started building this platform using actual data bout autonomous driving from China’s streets, and it expects this car to hit the roads by 2020.
Baidu has been working on this ambitious project for sometime now, as it has opened centers in Singapore and the U.S to collaborate with local partners to build this new platform. According to a spokesperson of the company, Apollo is more an open-source autonomous platform that aims to power the global self-driving industry rather than restrict itself to a small geographic or technological niche.
Microsoft, on the other hand, will be providing the cloud services needed to power this platform. Both companies haven’t said much about the specific services that’ll be used. In fact, a question to Microsoft in this regard was not answered and at this time, it looks like both the companies want to keep the specifics under wraps.
Nevertheless, this move by Microsoft is a smart one, according to analysts. Since autonomous driving is likely to be the future of our roads, it makes sense for Microsoft to get on it at the earliest. Instead of focusing on building its own cars, this company is doing what it knows best, which is to provide the technology that can drive these cars.
Already, Microsoft has partnered with companies like Ford to power thier infotainment system called SYNC. Currently, this is running in about five million cars and over the next few years, it is expected to double. This product uses Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Automotive to create unique in-car experiences for automobile owners and drivers. To take this idea to the next level, Microsoft has entered into this agreement with Baidu.
This is a sensible move on the economic front too because China is a big market for automobiles, and getting a firm foothold in it early can give a big market lead for Microsoft. of course, in China, no foreign company can go alone. Rather, they have to tie up with local Chinese companies to reach the market and that’s exactly what Microsoft has also done.
The good part about this deal is that Baidu started exploring this option only in April of this year, which means, there’s room for a solid partnership and growth for both Microsoft and Baidu. When the self-driving car industry matures, both these companies would be in the driver’s seat to tap into the opportunities and the exploding revenue expected from it.
For all these reasons, it’s a smart move by Microsoft to enter into a deal with Baidu. Let’s hope this translates into a fruitful venture for both these companies and for the eager customers and self-driving industry as a whole.
The post An Interesting Exchange Between Microsoft and Baidu appeared first on Cloud News Daily.
Outstanding opportunity to receive free Parallels Mac Management certification
IT resellers have the opportunity to take part in our free upcoming Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM certification program. What is Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM ? For companies that already use Microsoft® SCCM for managing PCs, Parallels Mac Management allows IT to maximize investments and enables administrators to leverage existing processes by using SCCM […]
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Free Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM Certification
The free online Parallels certification program is designed to boost Parallels partners’ profitability by giving them the resources and knowledge they need to sell, deploy, and support Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM. Please find here the upcoming dates 2017 – Register now for free! EMEA (English) July Thu, 27th 10:00 AM (CEST) Sign up August […]
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[video] Microservices: Choosing the Right Cloud Services | @CloudExpo @IBMCloud #Cloud #DevOps
We all know that end users experience the internet primarily with mobile devices. From an app development perspective, we know that successfully responding to the needs of mobile customers depends on rapid DevOps – failing fast, in short, until the right solution evolves in your customers’ relationship to your business. Whether you’re decomposing an SOA monolith, or developing a new application cloud natively, it’s not a question of using microservices – not doing so will be a path to eventual business failure. The real and more difficult question, in developing microservices-based applications, is this: What’s the best combination of cloud services and tools to use to get the right results in the specific business situation in which you need to deliver what your end users’ want. Considering that new streams of IoT data are already raising the stakes on what end users expect in their mobile experiences, the versatility and power of cloud services is going to become the key to innovation that’s meaningful in the market.
Announcing @TMCnet Named “Media Sponsor” of @CloudExpo Silicon Valley | #AI #ML #Cloud #BigData
SYS-CON Events announced today that TMC has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 21st International Cloud Expo and Big Data at Cloud Expo, which will take place on Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Global buyers rely on TMC’s content-driven marketplaces to make purchase decisions and navigate markets. Learn how we can help you reach your marketing goals.
Announcing @TelecomReseller Named “Media Sponsor” of @CloudExpo | #Cloud #RTC #UCaaS #WebRTC
SYS-CON Events announced today that Telecom Reseller has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 21st International Cloud Expo, which will take place on Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Telecom Reseller reports on Unified Communications, UCaaS, BPaaS for enterprise and SMBs. They report extensively on both customer premises based solutions such as IP-PBX as well as cloud based and hosted platforms.
[session] Cloud Literacy for the Enterprise | @CloudExpo @CloudRank #DX #Cloud #DevOps
Digital transformation is about embracing digital technologies into a company’s culture to better connect with its customers, automate processes, create better tools, enter new markets, etc. Such a transformation requires continuous orchestration across teams and an environment based on open collaboration and daily experiments.
In his session at 21st Cloud Expo, Alex Casalboni, Technical (Cloud) Evangelist at Cloud Academy, will explore and discuss the most urgent unsolved challenges to achieve full cloud literacy in the enterprise world.