As discussed in our prior installment, while there is no “one-size fits all” path to cloud infrastructure adoption, a roadmap can ease and simplify the transition to cloud while minimizing IT disruption. More importantly, a phased approach (as shown in the figure below) enables organizations to take advantage of on-demand infrastructure sooner than later, leveraging scalability, cost advantages and rapid deployment capabilities of cloud.
Data storage expansion may be one of the easiest ways to leverage cloud infrastructure, which is why we list it as phase 1 of our roadmap. Besides the simple integration path, storage is a foundational building block of a cloud-based IT strategy – once data is in the cloud, more cloud services can be rolled in. Need another reason to begin with storage? Storage is growing rapidly, with the digital universe set to exceed 40,000 exabytes (40 billion terabytes) by 2020. With a data explosion looming, nearly every organization needs to formulate a plan for dealing with storage capacity sprawl.
Parallels supports Cisco researcher assessment: “website operators and administrators must keep systems up-to-date.”
Recently, a Cisco security research analyst used an old Parallels Plesk Panel vulnerability as an example of why it is important to patch servers that may be running old software. His point is valid, and Parallels agrees fully that “the active exploit of this year-old vulnerability serves as an important reminder that website operators and administrators must keep systems up-to-date.”
It turns out the exploit this researcher was referring to was (a) for Parallels Plesk Panel 9.3 and earlier – products from 2009 and earlier that are now at end-of-life, and (b) in the 3rd party Horde webmail component, not in the Parallels Plesk control panel itself. A patch was promptly issued by Parallels in February 2012.
This reported vulnerability – which certainly is not anything new (considering the patch has been out for over a year), was later confused in some subsequent blogs and comments with another vulnerability in Parallels Plesk 10.3 and earlier versions (products from summer 2011 and earlier) also discovered and fixed in February 2012. Though the current version of Parallels Plesk Panel at that time, 10.4, did not have this vulnerability, Parallels immediately issued a security advisory and patches in February 2012 for all prior impacted versions and advised partners about actions to take. Additionally, Parallels created a comprehensive page on securing Parallels Plesk Panel and a Malware Removal Tool, responding quickly and thoroughly to these exploits.
For Parallels partners who install patches and reset passwords, Parallels Plesk Panel is not subject to this vulnerability. Customers running Parallels Plesk Panel 10.4 and 11 never had this vulnerability in the first place.
Parallels agrees that the point of the Cisco researcher is still very valid: “The active exploit of this year-old vulnerability serves as an important reminder that website operators and administrators must keep systems up-to-date. This is especially urgent with vulnerabilities that are remotely detectable. This means not just the operating system, but every program and add-on for those programs also needs to be kept up-to-date. A vulnerability left unpatched in any one of them can lead to total system compromise.”
We strongly encourage our customers to subscribe to our support e-mails by clicking here, subscribe to our RSS feed here and add our KnowledgeBase browser plug-in here.
Parallels Plesk Panel 11 and the upcoming 11.5 are the most secure versions ever, and we strongly encourage our Partners and customers to upgrade to these versions. In Parallels Plesk Panel 11, all Security Updates are clearly reported in the panel. Partners can force Security Updates when they choose. The option to turn on auto-upgrades is also highly recommended for anyone on Parallels Plesk Panel 10 or above. It is the best way to keep you fully secure.
– The Parallels Plesk Panel Team
Protecting and Preserving Our Digital Lives is a Task We Want to Have Already Done
I once read that a favorite writer of mine, when told by people he met at cocktail parties how much they “wanted to write,” would reply, “No, you want to have written.”
Protecting and preserving our digital lives is much the same — we want to have already taken care of it. We don’t actually want to go through the hassle of doing it.
An article by Rick Broida in PC World sums it up thus:
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who have lost critical data, and those who will. In other words, if you use technology long enough and neglect to back up your data, you’re guaranteed to have at least one extremely bad day.
The article goes on to outline “How to build a bulletproof cloud backup system without spending a dime“. There’s a lot to do, it all takes effort, but he’s right. Whether you take all his recommendations or some, it’s a good place to start thinking about the steps you (we) all need to take.
Here’s an idea: Come up with a plan and implement it in pieces until you get to the point where you know you are ready for the digital disaster that is out there waiting for us all.
Global Interoperability Consortium’s Cloud Computing Project
Managing and disseminating the rapidly increasing amount of geospatial data will be a huge challenge for governments and civilians responding to the world’s next big disaster, Eric Vollmecke of the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) told 350 global leaders at the NATO Network Enabled Capability conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, April 23-25.
“From an operational perspective, there is an insatiable appetite for overhead imagery to build situational awareness. Currently, platforms keep growing to collect and disseminate the necessary information. This information is not timely in its response, it’s unwieldy in its deployment and it lacks the flexibility to enable cross-domain interoperability,” said Vollmecke. “Unless we get our arms around all of this, the amount of data will be overwhelming and we will miss precious days trying to get the right information to the right international stakeholders so they can do their work and not sit waiting on the sidelines.”
Eric Vollmecke of the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium reports
the proliferation of geospatial information will pose problems for disaster
responders and describes a project designed to move critical data more
efficiently using an open cloud-based infrastructure
WASHINGTON, April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Managing and
disseminating the rapidly increasing amount of geospatial data will be a
huge challenge for governments and civilians responding to the world’s
next big disaster, Eric Vollmecke of the Network Centric Operations
Industry Consortium (NCOIC) told 350 global leaders at the NATO Network
Enabled Capability conference held in Lisbon, Portugal, April 23-25.
“From an operational perspective, there is an insatiable appetite for
overhead imagery to build situational awareness. Currently, platforms
keep growing to collect and disseminate the necessary information. This
information is not timely in its response, it’s unwieldy in its
deployment and it lacks the flexibility to enable cross-domain
interoperability,” said Vollmecke. “Unless we get our arms around all of
this, the amount of data will be overwhelming and we will miss precious
days trying to get the right information to the right international
stakeholders so they can do their work and not sit waiting on the
sidelines.”
Vollmecke said the use of a cloud computing environment will improve
the ability to quickly share critical information between nations and
non-governmental organizations. He described the Cloud Concept and
Demonstration project that NCOIC is working on for the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
The NGA project is a collaborative effort by NCOIC and its
member-companies to show the interoperability and movement of data in an
open cloud-based infrastructure. NGA is providing unclassified data
that supports a scenario depicting the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. The
project builds on a series of successful lab interoperability
demonstrations based on Haiti that NCOIC conducted in 2010.
“In Haiti, we collected a huge amount of data compared to the
Tasmanian tsunami of 2004. Tomorrow the amount of data could be 100 fold
and one organization alone will not be able to manage the inputs,” said
Vollmecke, who is also a major general in the U.S. Air National Guard
and, while on active duty, commanded two airlift wings during the 2010
Haitian crisis. “With the NGA community cloud project, NCOIC is testing a
collaborative, real-time environment that has both suppliers and
consumers of data at different security levels.”
Information technology solutions provider NJVC is serving as team
leader of the NGA project and participants include Boeing, The Aerospace
Corporation and Open Geospatial Consortium. “NCOIC has assembled a team
you would not normally see on a government-led project,” Vollmecke told
the NATO audience. “Using a consortium is the most rapid and effective
way to facilitate the advancement and deployment of technology. The
parties can set aside their traditional roles and aren’t subject to the
contractual and legal walls that typically are put up between government
and contractors. The exchange of information and ideas is more
free-flowing.”
Vollmecke, who is NCOIC program director, reported that Cycle One of
the NGA project is complete and the cloud infrastructure has been
defined and built, with the team establishing standards and processes,
utilizing best practices, and addressing potential problems such as
ownership, bandwidth, latency, availability, access and security.
In Cycle Two, set to begin in May, NCOIC member-companies will test
out the infrastructure. They will function as “actors” — information
consumers and providers like police, firefighters, rescue workers,
medical personnel, etc. — who plug into the clouds and use the
geospatial data to activate unique, sometimes proprietary, applications
that demonstrate end-user capabilities.
“The key is to have a core or resident capability in the cloud that
can be rapidly expanded on demand, when there is an event or disaster,”
said Vollmecke. “This will free up intelligence analysts to work their
problems, while putting geospatial information into the hands of other
users. Cloud technology can improve everyone’s capability and
effectiveness, while reducing cost, time and risk.”
About NCOIC
The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium’s core capability
is enabling cross-domain interoperability among and between such areas
as aerospace, civil and military operations, air traffic management,
health care and more. NCOIC is a global not-for-profit organization with
more than 60 members representing 12 countries. It has an eight-year
history of developing net-centric skills and tools that help its members
and customers to operate effectively across diverse global market
sectors and domains. For more information, visit www.ncoic.org
SOURCE Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium
/Web site: www.ncoic.org
( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS – © Copyright Kevin L. Jackson 2012)
Stackdriver’s AWS & Rackspace Cloud Monitor Betas
Bain Capital-backed Stackdriver, a public cloud monitoring start-up, pushed its widgetry out into public beta Tuesday.
The SaaS stuff currently works on Amazon Web Services and the Rackspace Cloud.
The year-old company says it’s got close to 100 AWS customers using its eponymous Stackdriver Intelligent Monitoring to reduce the complexity of managing their cloud-powered applications.
Market research done by Stackdriver’s founders Dan Belcher and Izzy Azeri, both veterans of VMware, found the cloud wasn’t delivering all the elasticity, performance and security it’s cracked up to, forcing users to hire DevOps engineers and write their own scripts, especially as their cloud environments grew larger and more complex.
It also found that the tools to hand weren’t designed with the cloud’s dynamic nature in mind.
NETWAYS Becomes First OpenNebula Premium Partner
As OpenNebula Premium Partner, NETWAYS continues years of collaboration with C12G Labs. From sharing a stand at CeBIT to joint training courses and troubleshooting in customer projects, the two companies enjoy a longstanding partnership. Their work together strengthens OpenNebula development and its continued relevance to operations in production environments. As Ignacio Martin Manager of C12G Labs notes:
“Getting feedback from partners like NETWAYS on OpenNebula in production helps us to stay on top of the growing needs of cloud operators and systems integrators.”
Driving Cloud Innovation: SSDs Change Cloud Storage Paradigm
IT has more opportunities than ever before with the growth in users, devices, data and secure cloud services. This creates not only a more enriching experience for users, but more opportunities for businesses. The key to capitalizing on these opportunities is to have the right tools in place to help scale operations. In his Day 3 Keynote at 12th Cloud Expo | Cloud Expo New York [June 10-13, 2013], Intel’s Rob Crooke will describe the range of products that Intel provides to support different usage models faced by IT with a specific emphasis on the advancement in SSDs.
Cloud Expo New York: When APM Meets Big Data
Analyzing Hadoop jobs and speeding them up is often a tedious and time-consuming effort that requires experts.
In his session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Michael Kopp, a technology strategist in the Compuware APM center of excellence, will show you how proven APM techniques can be used to speed up your Hadoop jobs at the core without going through tons of log files, beyond just adding more hardware and within minutes instead of hours or days.
Michael Kopp is a technology strategist in the Compuware APM center of excellence and has more than 10 years of experience as an architect and developer in the Java/JEE space. Additionally, Kopp specializes in architecture and performance of large-scale production deployments with a special focus on virtualization and cloud.
Verizon to Go into the Cloud Storage Biz
Verizon Wireless is going into the cloud storage business for tablets and smartphones up against the likes of Dropbox.
It ultimately expects to let customers transfer information between operating systems.
The Verizon Cloud will roll out the service soon, starting with Android and moving on to iOS and then other operating systems later this year.
Verizon would like to see consumers install the upcoming secure app on all their devices including Windows computers so they can upload content and sync it in the cloud.
The company reasons that the content on the widgets is “more valuable than the device itself” and that it can give folks, for some reason all too careless with their widgets, a place to go to restore this content if they lose the device.
The widgetry will be able to handle text messages, call logs, contacts, music, multimedia and other files up to 125GB of storage.
Achieving the Full Promise of the Cloud
As the cloud market explodes, a distinct chasm has become apparent between the operation of infrastructure and applications. Sharing, isolation and load balancing issues in the network, combined with high density virtualization in compute and storage resources, can adversely impact the performance of applications running across the network, frustrating application developers and end users alike.
Enter application defined networking (ADN), which offers great business value for cloud users. A complement to software defined networking (SDN), ADN enables applications to directly control and adapt their networking for optimal performance across both public and private clouds, without compromising on portability or security. With ADN solutions, developers and administrators can automatically instrument, analyze and reconfigure the virtual network of resources to ensure that their cloud-based applications will perform optimally under highly variable conditions, and that they can quickly respond should outages or problems occur.