Cloud Computing
HP’s Revised Proposal of $33 per Share Values 3PAR at $2.4 billion
Sep 2nd
HP Wins 3Par At $33, Beats Dell
Until this morning, Dell and Hewlett-Packard were mired in a bidding war over 3Par, a leading provider of utility storage solutions for enterprises. With a final bid of $2.4 billion for the company, HP has emerged the winner. Below we highlight the significance of 3Par and how it may impact HP’s storage in the future.
Utility storage primer
Utility storage is a category of data storage systems designed for utility computing, a form of information technology in which storage and computation are delivered as a metered service, rather like a power utility. 3Par’s unique storage technology powers so-called virtual data centers for mid-sized to large enterprises, including financial service firms, government entities, hosted computing providers, and consumer-oriented Internet companies.
3Par’s value proposition is based on the premise that unused storage is wasteful. Conventional data centers typically use just 10% to 25% of allocated disk space. By contrast, 3Par’s technology allocates disk space only when applications need storage capacity, reducing the total cost of storage by up to 50% according to the company.
As more enterprises shut down their in-house data centers and turn to on-demand storage and computing services delivered via the Internet, their storage needs become more variable and less predictable. This makes 3Par a great fit for the cloud computing era, which helps explain why HP and Dell are competing so fiercely to acquire the company’s proprietary technology.
Why were Dell & HP chasing 3Par?
(Source Forbes)
Related posts
Is Cloud an Adopted Brother of Virtualization or Not?
Sep 2nd
Is Cloud an Adopted Brother of Virtualization or Not?
By Nimantha (CloudTweaks)
Cloud computing came into the lime light very recently and became an instant hit among lot of people, especially CTO’s of different enterprises. Virtualization, the close friend of cloud computing was there for a longer period of time, but with the emergence of cloud, it was given the step mothers treatment. Still it didn’t die from our minds because Cloud and Virtualization did stick together most of the time rather than not. So then the argument began, Does Cloud and Virtualization does carry the same concept or is it different? Let’s figure it out.
What is Virtualization ?
The word virtualization defines of allowing multiplicity of access points from a single outlet. As an example, we can simply take interrelated personal computers that can each be accessed from whatever remote location. What it actually implies is that it will be using the internet to carry out activities that were previously done offline. In other words, the management or the CTO has decided that his organization would like to take control of the activities of that activity by going online rather than offline. Virtualization therefore always associates with technological development.
The best part of Virtualization is that the central command unit will be able to supervise the activities of outpost computers. This element is one which delights managers but it also causes some concern from civil liberties groups regarding their privacy.
What is Cloud Computing?
Well, here is the point where everyone gets confused. It is true that cloud computing utilizes the same basic principles as virtualization, but it involves the provision of externally managed IT services via hosted software, which allows IT systems to be managed from very remote locations where data is accessed and manipulated via a server.
As an example, lets say that there is a company in USA which wishes to reduce the budget they allocate for in-house developments, so what they decide to do is to totally outsource their IT developments to a company in India.
Related posts
Amazon AWS Lowers On-Demand and Reserved Prices
Sep 2nd
Amazon AWS Lowers On-Demand and Reserved Prices
Effective immediately, we have lowered the On-Demand and Reserved prices for High Memory Double Extra Large (m2.2xlarge) and Quadruple Extra Large (m2.4xlarge) instances for Linux/UNIX and Windows by up to 19%. If you have existing Reserved Instances, your hourly usage rate starting 
September 1st will be lowered to the new usage rate and your estimated bill will reflect these changes later this month. We continuously strive to be more efficient, and are excited to pass cost savings on to you in the form of lower prices.
Beyond this price reduction, there are several other ways that you can save money when using Amazon EC2. Compared to On-Demand instance pricing, Reserved Instances enable you to reduce the cost of your instances by up to 56%. When using Reserved Instances, you pay a low, one-time fee and in turn receive a significant discount on the hourly usage charge for that instance during a 1 or 3 years period. After the one-time payment for an instance, that instance is reserved for you; you may choose to run that instance for the discounted usage rate for the duration of your term, or when you do not use the instance, you will not pay usage charges on it. Spot Instances also are available, which allow you to bid on unused Amazon EC2 capacity and run your instances for as long as your bid exceeds the current Spot Price. For customers who have flexibility in when they can run their instances, Spot Instances can significantly lower their Amazon EC2 costs.
You can find more detailed information about these options at http://aws.amazon.com/ec2.
Source Amazon
Related posts
Sony Challenges Apple ITunes with New Cloud Based Digital Service.
Sep 2nd
Sony Challenges Apple ITunes with New Cloud Based Digital Service.
Sony has made an announcement at the at the IFA conference in Berlin. They have announced that they will be competing with Apple iTunes by offering an 
unlimited cloud-based music service which will be accessible through the PS3 and other cloud connected mobile devices. This new service will be powered by Qriocity and be available later this year and is the 1st major step by anyone looking to challenge iTunes for the digital music download market.
“We are excited to offer our customers high quality, cloud-based entertainment experiences across many of Sony’s network-enabled devices,” said Kazuo Hirai, President of Networked Products & Services Group, Sony Corporation. “Services ‘powered by Qriocity’ will revolutionize the way that users play, listen, watch, share, communicate, learn, discover and create their digital entertainment content.”
Stay tuned for future developments…
Related posts
Salesforce.com Announces Cloudforce 2010
Sep 1st
Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff to deliver keynote
Global industry leaders from BMC and CA to present at 8th September event
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 01, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Salesforce.com (CRM 116.40, +6.52, +5.93%) , the enterprise cloud computing company, today announced Cloudforce 2010: London, the largest cloud computing event in the UK. This industry, customer and developer event is being held on Wednesday, 8th September, 2010 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre in London.
With the arrival of Salesforce Chatter, this landmark event will showcase Cloud 2 technologies, the next generation of enterprise cloud computing that is social, mobile and real-time. Industry leaders including BMC and CA will participate alongside salesforce.com to deliver their vision of this next-generation of enterprise computing, and attendees will also hear from visionary business leaders on how Chatter is delivering a better way to work in the enterprise. Cloudforce 2010: London will provide the roadmap for cloud computing in the UK by bringing together industry luminaries, more than 35 cloud leaders on the tradeshow floor and 17 expert-led breakout sessions.
Related posts
Save $100 and join CloudTweaks at All About Mobile
Sep 1st
Save $100 and join CloudTweaks at All About Mobile, the ISV conference for mobile business, produced by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and taking place November 16-17, 2010 in San Jose, California.
ISVs large and small have already begun to transition software and cloud-based applications for use on mobile devices. In fact, in today’s marketplace, we ALL need to have a mobile strategy, which is why we are proud to support this unique industry conference and hope to see you there!
To take advantage of our $100 discount, enter promotional code PRMCTWE when you register online here. (Note: this discount is valid off the individual SIIA non-member rate only and does not apply to current attendees.)
You’ll save even more with early-bird rates through October 18.
All About Mobile features a robust conference agenda with keynotes from Microsoft and Sprint. And you’ll network with top executives from ISVs, carriers, platform providers, and infrastructure providers — along with the industry’s leading analysts, venture capitalists and media — all gathering to explore, debate and discuss the mobile movement.
For details, visit www.AllAboutMobile.net
Related posts
SingTel and Optus Selected to Join VMware vCloudTM Datacenter Service Program
Sep 1st
SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – September 1, 2010) – Today at VMworld 2010, Vmware (NYSE: VMW) and SingTel announced that SingTel and its Australian subsidiary, Optus, are the first telecommunications operators in Asia Pacific to be selected to join the VMware vCloud™ Datacenter Service program.
SingTel’s VMware vCloud™ Datacenter Service is designed and certified to be secure, compliant and offer up to 99.999% availability. It is based on VMware infrastructure comprising VMware vSphere™, VMware vCloud™ Director and VMware vShield™. The relationship empowers SingTel and Optus to help customers accelerate their journey to cloud computing more seamlessly, and enjoy the cost and business-transformation benefits of IT as a Service.
Mr. Bill Chang, SingTel’s executive vice president of Business Group, said: “As the leading provider of cloud-based services in Asia Pacific, SingTel is excited to work with VMware to offer world-class cloud computing services. We seek to allow businesses in the region to improve productivity, simplify their operations and significantly reduce their operating costs.
He added: “Through this relationship, SingTel and Optus can enable enterprises to extend their private cloud resources into our trusted, secure hybrid cloud solution. This allows our customers to scale much more effectively for their peak load demands. By providing the benefits of world-class computing resources without the heavy costs and complexities of owning and managing ICT infrastructure, our cloud computing services give our customers a vital competitive edge.”
Andrew Dutton, senior vice president and general manager, VMware Asia Pacific Japan, said: “We are making interoperable, enterprise-class public clouds a reality. VMware is pleased that SingTel is one of the first players globally to come onboard with us and feel confident the public cloud services they launch will offer compelling agility, and economic, security, compliance and quality-of-service benefits that have been significant barriers to broad enterprise adoption of existing public cloud services.”
Related posts
10 Hot Cloud Reseller Partner Programs
Sep 1st
10 Hot Cloud Reseller Partner Programs
Here is a list of 10 Hot Cloud Computing Reseller Programs on the internet. If we missed you don’t worry about it I’m sure we’ll hear from you. You can expect this list to be updated regularly. so if you have a program that you believe is worthy of a mention, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
Google Apps
The Google Apps Authorized Reseller Program offers IT solution providers the ability to take Google Apps – a cloud-based suite of email, calendar, IM, and collaboration tools – to new and existing customers. Watch the Quick Tour video. 
As one of the global leaders in SaaS, Google Apps has experienced accelerating adoption with thousands of businesses signing up daily and over 2 million companies already using this solution to improve their business with better messaging and collaboration tools. Hear why more and more companies are going Google.
SoftLayer Cloud
The SoftLayer Reseller Program provides qualified hosting resellers with exceptional benefits as well as confidence that they are delivering their end customers a service with the highest performance and reliability. With SoftLayer, “value-adding” hosting resellers can better fulfill their end customer’s needs and grow their own services on demand.
The program gives resellers non-exclusive rights to offer standard SoftLayer services as well as products not sold directly under the SoftLayer name brand. Resellers receive generous volume discounts on dedicated server and upgrade purchases, setup fees and more. Resellers also receive preferred services, including a customized customer portal and auto-provisioned server delivery within 2 to 4 hours on components in stock.
RedHat Cloud Partner Program
A Red Hat Certified Cloud Provider offers a trusted destination for Red Hat customers, ISVs, and partners to use Red Hat technologies in public clouds, and meets rigorous testing and certification requirements to ensure the delivery of a safe, scalable, supported, and consistent environment for enterprise cloud deployments.
Through the Certified Cloud Provider Program, Red Hat has established the industry’s first program to certify that vendors have tested the cloud and have support processes in place to quickly resolve problems should they occur.
OpSource Reseller Program
OpSource’s Distribution Partners provide systems integration and outsourced solutions that include cloud or managed hosting. These partners resell OpSource solutions. Distribution Partners, including systems integrators, MSPs and VARs must be generate more revenue from services rather than rely on decreasing margins on hardware and software. Cloud computing represents an opportunity to translate expertise in infrastructure, network and software solutions into cloud hosting services revenue.
Related posts
The Business Cloud Summit promises to be the UK’s premier Cloud event of 2010
Sep 1st
The Business Cloud Summit 2010 – 30 November, London, England
Visit our Event Partner for more information on this great Event.
The Business Cloud Summit 2010 will be Europe’s Cloud Computing event of the year. Unfolding over one day, it will comprise two highly focused streams, exploring current and future Cloud Computing issues in both the public and private sectors. The agenda will build on the success of the 2009 
Summit, delivering a unique mix of focus and leading industry insight, and ensuring that the 2010 Summit will be marked in the diaries of CIOs, CEOs and COOs from across the UK and Europe.
With dedicated content streams covering the key issues in both the public and private sectors, this one-day event will include top-level insight, relevant to all forward-thinking technology professionals, across all industries and all sectors; drilling down into the Cloud issues that affect central and local government, the NHS, education and the third sector.
The Business Cloud Summit is the only UK event of its type to offer specific content aimed at line of business managers in HR, finance, CRM and IT. It’s the only place where professionals from all areas of the Cloud industry will be brought together under one roof; infrastructure providers, buyers, end-users, influencers and decision makers.
The Cloud for 2010
According to IDC, 2009 was the year that Cloud Computing was ‘seeded’. In 2010 Cloud computing is now part of the mainstream. End users are embracing the cost and productivity benefits of the model with enthusiasm. At a time when the world is still emerging carefully from the worst economic downturn in living memory, lower start-up costs and total cost of ownership of Cloud Computing, delivering ROI of over 1000% in some cases, are welcomed with enthusiasm by CIOs, CEOs and CFOs in organisations across every business sector.
2010 is the year of Cloud adoption:
- By 2012, a fifth of all businesses will own no IT assets – Gartner
- The Cloud services market will surge to around $150bn in 2013 – Gartner
- The market for cloud services will account for 10% of all IT spending by 2013 – IDC
For more information see: http://www.businesscloud9.com/summit/2010
Related posts
Cloudtweaks VMWorld 2010 Updates and Agenda Report
Sep 1st
VMWorld 2010 Update By Malick
If you are not connected with the cloud, your individual mind would be a dumb terminal. Welcome to the VMWorld 2010!
VIRTUAL ROADS. ACTUAL CLOUDS: The statement ends as: Together we’ll travel from Virtual Roads to Actual Roads. Come engage. Leave enlightened. A true global event! 85 Countries represented in the audience. 17000 Attendees! And VMware announcing their Hybrid Cloud Computing Data Center! And claiming that already 4000 VMs (Virtual Machines) are created every hour! It is no secret that virtualization is the underlying driver of cloud computing. There is no cloud computing without virtualization! Well, one may say that virtualization is not the only enabler of cloud computing, but still, it is the key enabler. And VMWare is the pioneer in Virtualization. In the evolution of Information Technology, virtualization is a disrupting force.
Way back in 2004 itself, Gartner predicted that virtualisation will be the most disruptive technology in a decade
And this disruptive technology made cloud computing a reality. And cloud computing is promising a better IT environment today.
