Monthly Archives: March 2015

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How To Test Your HDD, SSD or All Flash Array By @StorageIO | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

To some the above (read the full article here) may seem like common sense tips and things everybody should know otoh there are many people who are new to servers storage I/O networking hardware software cloud virtual along with various applications, not to mention different tools.

Thus the above is a refresher for some (e.g. Dejavu) while for others it might be new and revolutionary or simply helpful. Interested in HDD’s, SSD’s as well as other server storage I/O performance along with benchmarking tools, techniques and trends check out the collection of links here (Server and Storage I/O Benchmarking and Performance Resources).

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Using Machine Learning And Wearables To Make Babies | @ThingsExpo [#IoT]

Last week I explored how small data, rather than big data, can be a critical component of the Internet of Things.

To drive the point home I went looking for more examples of companies using both small and big data to improve decision-making.

I stumbled across an innovative startup out of Boston named Ovuline who has built a mobile app for women trying to have children.

The app uses data to predict when they are most likely to conceive. You heard that right. Women provide a variety of personal and heal

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Forget About PaaS By @ActiveState | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

Over the last couple of years I have talked to numerous enterprise customers, analysts, industry pundits, and others interested in cloud technologies, and one thing is abundantly clear – Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) seems to mean different things to different people. But the term PaaS is irrelevant – it’s just noise. What is relevant, and what is important, is what PaaS does: enable applications. That’s what enterprises care about. They want to accelerate application development to get products to market faster and into users’ hands sooner.

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Virtualization, an Implementation Detail By @ActiveState | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

Virtualization is everywhere. Enormous and highly profitable companies have been built on nothing but virtualization. And nowhere has virtualization made more of an impact than in Cloud Computing, the rampant and unprecedented adoption of which has been the direct result of the wide availability of virtualization software and techniques that enabled it. But does the cloud actually require virtualization?

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gadgets, Gizmos, Mobile Apps, Parallels, Parallels Access, Parallels Desktop for Mac, Pinterest, Remote access, Remote Desktop, Remote Desktop App

Where Are the Best Gadgets? On Pinterest!

It’s 2015 and somehow we’re still waiting for widespread hoverboards and affordable smarthomes to permeate the gadget market. What gives? Luckily, at Parallels, we’ve created a Gadgets & Gizmos board on Pinterest to satiate our lust for gadgets while we wait. In other words, we’ve done the work for you when it comes to curating the […]

The post Where Are the Best Gadgets? On Pinterest! appeared first on Parallels Blog.

Featured, IT Management

7 Habits of Highly Effective IT Departments

Guest post from Azmi Jafarey. Azmi was named 2013 CIO of the year by Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech. You can hear more from Azmi on his blog.

IT DepartmentHow many business books do you know that 26 years later can claim to be fully relevant? Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” remains just such a potent landmark. Re-reading it, I was struck by how useful the 7 habits can be for IT Departments.  Here is how to fit the habits into behaviors that lead to success for IT and the business.

 

1. Be Proactive

  • Anticipate what your network and systems may do, and plan for it. This is a broad call to arms – preparing for malware threats, doing back-ups, having an automated system for managing patches, doing capacity planning, knowing your baseline behaviors to detect anomalies, etc.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

  • Don’t just start projects – have targets with timelines and plans to hit them. Work backwards from business deliverables. The vectors of tasks should all add up to the resultant value you are after.

3. Put First Things First

  • Don’t guess – develop plans, use checklists, test. Brush up on your project management and take the time to approach new projects in the right sequence of first getting and understanding the business requirements, then looking at timing needs, available skills sets and dollars, and then commencing with your planning.

4. Think Win-Win

  • Business and IT have to be true partners working jointly towards competitive advantage for the business. This means that IT has to have a deep understanding of business goals and business processes. The business has to be cognizant of IT’s limitations and policy needs such as those around security.

5. Seek First to Understand and Then To Be Understood

  • The role of IT is to enable business outcomes. Thus, the first thing is for IT to understand what the business objectives are for a project, and then to understand the specific business requirements. Technology comes much later – and there the task of IT is to have the business understand exactly what they will be getting, how it will function and what the limitations are. Establish this to-and-fro and you have the basis for fruitful collaboration and results.

6. Synergize

  • Covey is clear about the benefits of positive teamwork – and IT should be, too. What is important is for the team work not only to exist within IT but to extend to the business. Shared ownership, supplemented with collaborative problem solving and clear communications, develops the IT-Business synergy that translates to results and competitive advantage.

7. Sharpen the Saw

  • There is the old adage of the woodcutter who says that he is too busy cutting down trees to sharpen the saw. Stop! Sharpen the saw. We are in an age of technological acceleration. The quality of your decisions is a direct function of how much you know. For IT this means vigilance, reading, training and trying as the pre-requisites for success.

 

Clarity and commitment are what the 7 habits are all about.  Follow them and you have effective IT!

 

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The Cloud Hosting Ecosystem By @AtlanticNet | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

Solid-state disks becomes the norm. In 2014, SSD-based storage was considering a high cost option with many cloud providers, similar to what Bluetooth in cars was several years ago. Expect to see standardization on SSD-based storage solutions that accelerate deployment of applications that need high IOPS (Input/Output Instructions per Second). Because no one wants to go back to traditional disks once they experience SSDs, they will become the default, not an optional upgrade. Backing this trend is the larger capacities, increased write endurance and lower cost of SSDs as the technology matures.

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Cloud computing, Cloud Services

HP: New Server Line For Cloud Computing

Many computer technology companies have already begun to shift their focus to cloud computing, and Hewlett-Packard is among them. HP has recently said that they are creating a server family whose purpose is to build systems for cloud providers.

 

This move is part of a joint venture with Foxconn, which was announced last year, to create cloud-optimized servers. Since the announcement, HP has been making servers with the Taipei based electronics company, and it now has a name: Cloudline. They have also announced several server products.

 

foxconn

 

Cloud based servers are designed for hyper scale environments with thousands of servers. HP’s systems are based on standards-based principles and use rack-scale computing. With this system, functions previously located in the server, such as cooling and power, are now part of the rack. They will likely be used in multi-vendor situations.

 

HP is planning on using Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), which is an open management platform, along with other systems that provide a uniform way to manage hardware. The hyper scale x86 server market has been growing fast, which has led to an increase in numbers of original design manufacturers (ODM).

 

HP’s partnership with Foxconn puts it on the same level as the low-cost providers but HP can also leverage its breadth, reach, and services it can add.

 

The cloud hardware appeals to enterprise clients, like financial firms trying to build out a cloud network, and HP is trying to adapt their services and products to meet this demand.

 

mmmm

 

HP will begin to take orders at the end of the month, after announcing their OpenStack systems at the Open Compute Summit. The systems available use Intel Xeon E5 v3 processors and come in five configurations, including a two-socket (2P) server sled configuration and 1U configurations. No pricing has been announced.

The post HP: New Server Line For Cloud Computing appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

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Standards Needed for Supply Chain Security By @Dana_Gardner | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

A discussion from The Open Group San Diego 2015 examining the both need and outlook for Cybersecurity standards among supply chains.
The latest discussion, examining the both need and outlook for Cybersecurity standards among supply chains, is moderated by Dave Lounsbury, Chief Technology Officer, The Open Group; with guests Mary Ann Davidson, Chief Security Officer, Oracle; Dr. Ron Ross, Fellow of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Jim Hietala, Vice President of Security for The Open Group. Download a copy of the transcript. [Disclosure: The Open Group is a sponsor of BriefingsDirect podcasts.]

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Digital Business Goals with IT-as-a-Service By @DHDeans | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

Senior executive expectations have been raised for traditional IT organizations that broker cloud computing services for their internal business stakeholders. Besides, there’s a belief that the lack of dimension maturity can slow digital service innovation outcomes.
As a result, International Data Corporation (IDC) now predicts that by 2016, 65 percent of global competitive strategies will require real-time IT-as-a-Service (ITaaS) solutions.

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