Many organizations have embraced, or are considering, the benefits of cloud computing – speed, flexibility, increased expertise, shared workload, reduced costs, etc. The benefits are many – but so are the risks. What are the threats to cloud security? Which parties assume responsibility for securing the environment? What about the data? Which type of cloud deployment offers superior security benefits?

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We have just published the first version of our solution guide for Government Cloud Computing (GovCloud) : GovCloud.info Government Cloud Computing (GovCloud) is our comprehensive engagement for public sector organizations looking to embrace Cloud Computing. OASIS International Cloud Symposium Last year we partnered with OASIS to run the first ‘International Cloud Symposium‘ for government cloud, held […]

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This is the second part of the SoftLayer series of articles, documenting features from Gladinet products and services that allow you, as an end user to more easily use SoftLayer Object Storage, without the need to do any programming.
Before we get into the more advanced Team Edition that includes PC client, Mac client, web browser interface, mobile client with file sharing and team collaboration features, this article stays with the stand-alone desktop client use case.
In the last blog, it discussed drive mapping feature. When you have a network drive that is connected to SoftLayer Object Storage, you can do drag and drop and ad-hoc backup and data transfer. Sometimes, you prefer to have a more organized way of backup local folders to the cloud, such as mirroring a local folder into SoftLayer Object Storage or have snapshots taken and store that into the cloud.

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As many of the regular readers know, this time of year is one of my favorite. Sure, kids are out of school, the weather is nice, and that summer vacation is within reach… but the real kicker? The release of the annual Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Forecast – this time for the period between 2011 and 2016.

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A while back, mashups were all the rage. The idea was to compose solutions that provided aggregation and integration across applications and services to make information more available, useful, and personal. Mashups ushered in the era of Web 2.0 in all it’s socially connected goodness. They taught us that to be successful, we needed to add web service APIs to our web applications.

Web and client based mashups met with great success and have evolved even further with the introduction of the internet connected smartphone. Nothing is more available, useful, or personal than our smartphones. The current generation of cloud connected mobile computing mashups allow our mobilized workforces to receive, process, and react to information from disparate sources faster than ever before.

Drivers

• Integration
• Reach
• Time to market

Solution

Here’s a sketch of a prototypical mobile computing solution using Windows Azure:

Ingredients

• Web Role – with the phone running a dedicated client application, the web role is responsible for serving up backend web services that implement the solution’s core connected functionality.
• Database – used to store core operational and workflow data for the solution’s web services.
• Access Control – this service is used to authenticate and manage users identity, roles, and groups, possibly in conjunction with 3rd identity providers such as Windows LiveID, Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook.
• Worker Role – this role is used to handle the orchestration of long-running, complex, asynchronous operations. While much of the integration and interaction with other services can be handled directly by the mobile client application, it’s possible that the backend may need to integrate with 3rd party services as well. Offloading this work to a worker role better distributes computing resources and keeps the web roles focused on direct client interaction.
• Queues – these provide reliable, persistent messaging between applications and processes. They are an absolute necessity once asynchronous processing is involved. Queues facilitate the flow of distributed events and allow a solution to send push notifications back to mobile devices at appropriate times.

Training & Resources

These links point to online Windows Azure training labs and resources where you can learn more about the individual ingredients described above. (Note: The entire Windows Azure Training Kit can also be downloaded for offline use.)

	Windows Azure (16 labs) Windows Azure is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services which can be used individually or together. It gives developers the choice to build web applications; applications running on connected devices, PCs, or servers; or hybrid solutions offering the best of both worlds. New or enhanced applications can be built using existing skills with the Visual Studio development environment and the .NET Framework. With its standards-based and interoperable approach, the services platform supports multiple internet protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, and plain XML
	SQL Azure (7 labs) Microsoft SQL Azure delivers on the Microsoft Data Platform vision of extending the SQL Server capabilities to the cloud as web-based services, enabling you to store structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
	Windows Azure Services (9 labs) As applications collaborate across organizational boundaries, ensuring secure transactions across disparate security domains is crucial but difficult to implement. Windows Azure Services provides hosted authentication and access control using powerful, secure, standards-based infrastructure.
	Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone The Windows Azure Toolkit for Windows Phone is designed to make it easier for you to build mobile applications that leverage cloud services running in Windows Azure. The toolkit includes Visual Studio project templates for Windows Phone and Windows Azure, class libraries optimized for use on the phone, sample applications, and documentation
	Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS The Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS is a toolkit for developers to make it easy to access Windows Azure storage services from native iOS applications. The toolkit can be used for both iPhone and iPad applications, developed using Objective-C and XCode.
	Windows Azure Toolkit for Android The Windows Azure Toolkit for Android is a toolkit for developers to make it easy to work with Windows Azure from native Android applications. The toolkit can be used for native Android applications developed using Eclipse and the Android SDK.

See my Windows Azure Resource Guide for more guidance on how to get started, including links web portals, training kits, samples, and blogs related to Windows Azure.

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Here is today’s federal cybersecurity and information technology news: President Obama ordered to accelerate a campaign of cyberattacks against started by President Bush and code-named Olympic Games including the U.S. and Israeli developed Stuxnet. More here. The Department of Energy missed 500 data centers managed by contractors when it took inventory in July, 2011. More […]

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

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The OpenNebula Sandbox for VMware is the first of a series of Cloud Sandboxes that are being released by C12G Labs to quickly deploy an OpenNebula cloud for testing, development or integration. These will be useful when setting up pilot clouds to quickly test a new feature without having to install and configure an OpenNebula front-end. It is therefore intended for testers, early adopters, developers and also integrators.
This first OpenNebula Sandbox allows the deployment of a complete VMware-based cloud infrastructure under 20 minutes. The appliance is available for download from the new OpenNebula marketplace.

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On the heels of relaunching the Parallels PartnerNet portal, a new whitepaper has just been published and is available for download on the Marketing Best Practices page — you must register for PartnerNet first.

Here is an excerpt: 

As small and medium businesses (SMBs) increase their use of cloud services, providers of shared Web hosting services are asking themselves, “What steps can I take to grow my Web hosting business and maximize my profits from the cloud?” This whitepaper will help you answer that question. It presents four critical factors that affect your profitability as a shared Web hoster and shows how you can use Parallels Plesk Panel to optimize each factor, resulting in business growth and increased profitability.

– Josh Beil
Director of Service Provider Marketing
@joshbeil

Parallels has introduced a new version of the Service Provider Partner Program designed to provide you with:

• * More expertise for targeting SMB opportunities
• * Guidance and best practices for upselling and reselling more services
• * More timely access to product news
• * Tools to use in your go-to-market efforts

Among the new features available through the all-new PartnerNet Portal are:

• * Best practices and guidance – Market and customer needs, product strategy, technical operations, pricing, packaging.
• * Webinars, worksheets, and whitepapers are also available.
• * Go-to-market tools – Email templates, demos and more
• * SMB Knowledge Headquarters
• * Direct product downloads – no form to fill out
• * An expanded self-editable profile which populates a new Partner Locator (Bronze and above)

The Partner Program now includes a new free Member level designed for web hosters, website designers and other service providers who use Parallels solutions and want to develop a relationship with Parallels and gain access to PartnerNet resources but do not need the additional benefits of Bronze and higher levels. Additionally, the Bronze program is now expanded worldwide and includes availability in Europe and North Africa. 

• * You can get more details on the new program elements here.
• * Non-partners can apply for Bronze or higher levels here. 
• * Non-partners can apply for the Member level here.
• * Existing partners who have not already registered for access to the new PartnerNet can do so here.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a purportedly reformed cloud loather beguiled, he claimed, by the charisma of the cloud brand, may reportedly do his very first tweet come June 6 when Oracle floats all its enterprise applications out on the Oracle Cloud.
The event will put it 10 years ahead of SAP, he claimed Wednesday at the star-studded D: All Things Digital conference in California.
“For the first time you’re going to have a complete ERP and complete CRM suite on the cloud,” he said.
The difference between Oracle and other SaaS players will apparently be that Oracle’s cloud-ified apps won’t be multi-tenant. Instead Oracle means to give its clients their own virtual machine and Amazon-like specification control, preserving them from being upgraded at the convenience of the merchant.

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