Is multi-cloud architecture just a fad? [Q&A]
Enterprises often find themselves working with more than one cloud provider. This multi-cloud approach is a lot like hybrid cloud, yet many companies today may not consider this type of environment. If they have, they are more than likely wondering how to manage and govern the data held in separate clouds. They want to know how to find the best use of different architectures in a multi-cloud world.
We spoke to Lief Morin, CEO of infrastructure solutions and managed services company Key Information Systems, to discuss what he's hearing from his clients on multi-cloud strategies and when organizations should skip this type of approach altogether.
Do cloud providers want a 'lock and key' security mechanism?
Public cloud providers have ultimate control over our data, applications, and data flows on their platforms. This capability is the main cause of anxiety and a top reason for many companies to shy away from public cloud.
One of the possible solutions to the problem is to implement a "lock and key" mechanism for public clouds. This would allow re-balancing of data control. The question is whether cloud providers want that.
The cloud computing tidal wave
The title above is a play on the famous Bill Gates memo, The Internet Tidal Wave, written in May, 1995. Gates, on one of his reading weeks, realized that the Internet was the future of IT and Microsoft, through Gates’s own miscalculation, was then barely part of that future. So he wrote the memo, turned the company around, built Internet Explorer, and changed the course of business history.
That’s how people tend to read the memo, as a snapshot of technical brilliance and ambition. But the inspiration for the Gates memo was another document, The Final Days of Autodesk, written in 1991 by Autodesk CEO John Walker. Walker’s memo was not about how the future could be saved, but about how seemingly invincible market advantages could be quickly lost. If Autodesk, the Computer Aided Design pioneer, was ever going to die, this was how Walker figured it would happen. And Gates believed him. Now it’s about to happen again. Amazon Web Services -- the first and still largest public computing cloud -- is 11 years old, which is old enough for there not only to be some clear cloud computing winners (AWS, Microsoft Azure and a bunch of startups) but some obvious losers, too. This rising tide is not raising all ships. That’s why it’s time for the Cloud Computing Tidal Wave.
Microsoft patents technology to block pirate material from cloud storage
A new patent from Microsoft could enable the company to not only identify and block pirate material from being shared via cloud services, but also to identify repeat offenders and take action against them.
The patent specifically refers to the ability to identify and block the sharing of "prohibited content," and this could be used to mean copyrighted material, or files that a company simply does not want to be shared. The technology relies on a fingerprinting technique which makes it possible to identify files rather than having to worry about trying to track down and delete files to prevent further sharing.
Your clouds don't need to clash
Increasingly, two models for cloud are emerging -- the public or shared cloud and private cloud. While the definitions of these models might still be fluid, that has not stopped the rise of loud, passionate defenders of each who are willing to fight to the death to defend the idea that their cloud model will ultimately reign supreme. Needless to say, this "clash of clouds" can be intimidating for many enterprise IT professionals seeking to develop a cloud strategy where it might seem the wrong choice could result in the end of their business (or at least their careers).
Relax.
What's next for the IBM mainframe?
The IBM mainframe has been a stalwart platform for enterprise computing for the last 50 years. There are not many technologies you can point to that have survived that long and remain a key component of many companies’ IT infrastructure. Its survival should be lauded, but the question remains: "Is it the only game in town for enterprise computing?"
That answer is a resounding "No." The mainframe is a combination of hardware and software that is arguably unique to all other computing offerings available in the marketplace today. That doesn’t make it a bad platform, but it does limit its opportunities for growth. It is a proprietary platform, only available from a single vendor -- IBM.
Verizon sells 29 data centers to Equinix for $3.6bn
Global data center company Equinix has bought 29 data centers, along with their operations, from Verizon Communications. Approximately 250 Verizon employees will also become Equinix employees in the process.
The deal, worth $3.6 billion, will be completed in all cash. It includes more than 1,000 customers, 600 of which are net new. Verizon will now, consequently, become a substantially larger customer. It also includes roughly a million square meters of data center space.
New platform simplifies securing cloud workloads
The cloud is a dynamic environment and the threats it faces are equally fluid, whether they're sophisticated cyber attacks or insider threats.
Cloud security company Lacework is launching a new tool called Polygraph that detects breaches, manages insider threats, delivers insights into workloads, and offers graphical investigation tools for public, private and hybrid cloud workloads.
Malware backdoors still the biggest threat to enterprises
New data from cloud security specialist Netskope shows that companies are still struggling to prevent network breaches and protect themselves at all points of entry.
Backdoors made up the bulk of cloud malware detections, at 37.1 percent, down from 43.2 percent last quarter but still the biggest single threat.
Enterprises replacing data centers with hybrid clouds
Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, summed up on the concept of cloud computing very succinctly. "All it is, is a computer attached to a network." Ellison and Oracle have gone on to embrace both open source and cloud technologies including OpenStack, but the basic premise that it starts with a physical server and a network still holds true.
The server industry is going through massive change, driven in the main part by advances in open source software, networking and automation. The days of monolithic on-site server rooms filled with rack-space, and blinking lights and buzzing air-con, are gone. However, the alluring simplicity of this concept is not quite how it works in the real world.
New edge platform delivers faster digital experiences
A great deal of today's data is generated by users at the edge of corporate networks. It therefore makes sense to process and serve this information closer to where it originates.
San Francisco-based Fastly is unveiling its new edge cloud platform, which allows popular businesses to deliver consistently secure, fast and personalized digital experiences as close to end users as possible.
Over 70 percent of companies using AWS have serious security misconfigurations
A high percentage of companies using AWS cloud services have at least one critical security misconfiguration according to a new survey.
Cloud security company Threat Stack has analyzed more than 200 companies using AWS and found a number of well-documented security misconfigurations.
8 things businesses can do to lower cyber attack risks
Hardly a day goes by without some media coverage that is focused on cyber. Whether is it sensationalist headlines announcing the most recent cyber-attack that has left some unfortunate company red faced and bereft, the outcome of yet another survey generally conducted by an entity selling cyber related goods or services, or the announcement of new regulation and legislation. A front page headline of CITY AM screams CYBER CRIME WIPES £42BN OFF SHARES -- surely there cannot be a board director left who can deny awareness that cyber-crime poses a threat to his or her business.
Having engaged in the cyber debate for more than a decade, it seems we can at last all agree that the foundation stone is now well in place with widespread, if not universal, acceptance that cyber-crime and cyber risk are real and now an ever present challenge to businesses.
Solving the puzzle of hybrid cloud [Q&A]
Many enterprises are moving towards hybrid cloud environments, but they face a challenge when it comes to working out how to control their cloud use effectively.
If they fail to do this and govern their cloud use properly, then any gains in agility they achieve will come with high costs and operational risks. We spoke to Andrew Hillier, CTO of Cirba, the company behind the Densify.com SaaS hybrid capacity analytics software, to find out how enterprises can bridge the gap between cloud hype and reality.
Cloud adoption and increasing threats drive enterprise encryption usage
Enterprises are accelerating their use of encryption and the strategy is being driven by business units rather than IT teams.
This is among the findings of a study into encryption habits by cyber security company Thales, based on research carried out by the Ponemon Institute. It finds that 41 percent of enterprises now have an encryption strategy in place.
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