Education
Cloud Computing Red Hat Webinar Coming April 8th, 2010
Mar 12th
Cloud computing is transforming business and IT at a rapid pace, and the Telecom industry is uniquely positioned to make it the center of their future compute initiatives and new customer offerings. Companies can rely on Red Hat to provide an extensive ecosystem of cloud technologies and services in order to enable large scale deployments for either private or public clouds.
Cloud computing is more than just technology — it touches all aspects of a business. Only by marrying the technical, business and legal dynamics of cloud computing across a robust ecosystem will Telcos be able to achieve the reduced cost, operational efficiencies and new service offerings at the scale that can be delivered by open source technologies and cloud.
Key issues reviewed in the presentation:
- existing and emerging technologies
- business challenges involved in implementing a cloud
- the importance of bridging the interoperability challenges to integrate on-premise and external clouds
- seamless application orchestration across public and private clouds
- requirements and strategies for building a robust and scalable open cloud ecosystem
- addressing security concerns
Last, we will introduce core Red Hat technologies and projects:
- Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
- Red Hat Cloud Ecosystem and Projects
- Cloud Reference Architecture Initiative
At the end of the session Red Hat cloud experts and architects will be available for Q&A.
Speaker: Jan Mark Holzer
Jan Mark Holzer is a Senior Consulting Engineer and member of Red Hat’s CTO office. In his role as lead for Emerging Technologies he tracks new technologies for Red Hat and their applicability for customers and partners. His team is driving the integration of new capabilities/technologies across the various Red Hat product groups. He is also working with key customers and partners in adapting these new technologies into their IT infrastructure and product offerings.
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Negotiating Cloud Computing Agreements
Mar 11th
Cloud computing has been characterized as a paradigm-shifting phenomenon that will change how we purchase IT resources. Though given different names, cloud computing has been around for some time, and the legal lessons learned from experience with traditional software licensing and outsourcing agreements can and should be applied to cloud agreements, but there are new issues which will need new solutions.
Cloud computing is a loose term that describes a variety of data storage, processing, and application services, normally provided by a third party using equipment not located on the customer’s site. These services include providing raw processing power on demand, special purpose applications on a subscription basis, and remote data storage. An early form of cloud computing was Application Service Provider or ASP services, and another is currently known as software as a service or SaaS. Cloud services are normally provided using internet technology, where the customer uses inexpensive hardware and an internet browser to access the service and/or remotely stored data.
The ease of access and simplicity of using cloud applications are part of its attraction. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the legal issues related to cloud computing. While traditional software licensing and IT outsourcing agreements can be used as a model for cloud computing, there are new risks and business practices not addressed in those older agreements that must be considered.
OUTSOURCING AGREEMENTS AS A MODEL FOR CLOUD AGREEMENTS
Cloud computing agreements are basically services agreements, as are outsourcing agreements. Many of the provisions included in outsourcing agreements have direct applicability in cloud service agreements. For example, the basic warranty that services will be performed in a good and workmanlike manner is a good starting point for warranty language.
Normally, outsourcing agreements will explicitly provide that a customer’s data belongs to the customer, and that the vendor will give the customer a copy of its data at anytime. The customer is normally only charged for media and the vendor’s time spent in providing those copies. Cloud agreements should contain similar provisions, but frequently don’t. In fact, some agreements allow the vendor to hold the customer’s data hostage if there is a dispute. Similarly, outsourcing agreements will frequently prohibit the vendor from suspending or terminating services abruptly. That prohibition prevents the vendor from exercising undue leverage in a dispute with the customer. Finally, outsourcing agreements normally require the vendor to provide termination assistance to the customer when the contract ends. This is normally provided at an hourly rate negotiated before services commence. Cloud customers will want to avoid agreements without similar protections, especially if the vendor is holding sensitive data or providing mission-critical services.
Similarly, outsourcing agreements frequently contain caps on fee increases. This prevents fees from rapidly escalating after a customer has made a long-term contractual or technological commitments to a vendor. Customers will want to include similar price protection clauses in their cloud agreements.
Outsourcing agreements also frequently contain a “litigation cooperation” clause which requires the vendor to preserve data and cooperate with discovery requests if the customer is involved in litigation. Those clauses allow the customer to fulfill its obligations in the event a litigation hold is required or it is served with discovery requests. The same issue arises under cloud agreements. If those cooperation clauses cannot be included in a cloud agreement, the customer should implement appropriate data backup plans to allow it to comply with its document preservation obligations in the event of litigation. Continue Reading at Law.com
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Cloud Computing Developer Workshops
Mar 9th
Monday, March 15
Cloud Computing IT Workshops | Developer Workshops | Developing for Microsoft Windows Azure Platform
Attend developer workshops with experts from the leading cloud computing platforms. It’s the only place where you can, in theory, build three cloud apps on three different clouds, guided by the folks behind that cloud, in a single day. BEST VALUE–Register for a Flex Pass to attend the conference (including developer track) plus pre-conference developer workshops.
| 9:00 AM–12:00 PM |
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 Building on Google App Engine
Google’s App Engine cloud platform differs from many infrastructure-centric cloud technologies in that it is an Application Platform as a Service (APaaS) and thus, requires only code to build and deploy apps onto the cloud. Google App Engine provides a free usage entry path which can accommodate most modest web site/service deployments. Sites requiring more industrial strength scalability and bandwidth can enable billing and pay as needed to handle increased growth. Google App Engine distinguishes itself by offering development in either Python or Java. This workshop will be run in two tracks in both Python and Java with the same programming goals. You Will Learn:
Instructor – Wesley Chun, Developer Advocate, Google
Speaker – Ikai Lan, Developer Advocate, Google
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Cloud Performance Optimization
Cloud environments are shared environments, which means that despite your best efforts, someone else can impact your performance and uptime. What if a cloud neighbor doesn’t play well with others? How can you be sure that your users are getting the availability you’ve promised, and the application performance to keep them happy and productive? You Will Learn:
Instructor – Hooman Beheshti, Vice President of Products, Strangeloop
Instructor – Hon Wong, EVP of Business Development and Marketing, Coradiant
Instructor – Imad Mouline, CTO, Gomez
Speaker – Robert Rounsavall, Director, Product Development, Terremark Worldwide, Inc.
Speaker – Don Green, Senior Vice President of Product Management, OpSource, Inc.
Speaker – Joe Hsy, Vice President of Technology and Advanced Development, Coradiant
Speaker – Bernd Harzog, Analyst – Virtualization Performance Management, The Virtualization Practice
Speaker – Seth Redmore, VP of Products, Lexalytics
Speaker – Steve Shah, Principal, RisingEdge Consulting
Speaker – John Allspaw, VP of Technical Operations, Etsy
Speaker – Hal Kalish, Industry Marketing Director – High Tech, Akamai
Speaker – Ron Warshawsky, Founder and CTO, Enteros
Speaker – JL Valente, CEO and President, Rivermuse
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IBM Cloud Computing CTO to Keynote CloudSlam’10(TM) Conference
Mar 8th
IBM Cloud Computing CTO to Keynote CloudSlam’10(TM) Conference
Company is Named Exclusive Diamond Collaborator for Conference March 23 – March 25 2010
TORONTO, March 8 /PRNewswire/ — CloudSlam’10™, a virtual conference developed to promote collaborative analysis of the latest trends and challenges in the world of Cloud Computing, will commence on March 23. CloudSlam’10™ is organized by leading experts and authorities in the Cloud Computing industry and backed up by the world’s largest Cloud Computing community. Key topics will include Cloud Standards, Security, Transition Strategies, Compliance & Impact of Cloud Computing on the Global Economy. Attendees will hear breaking news, views & opinions which are exclusive to CloudSlam’10™.
CloudSlam’10™ gives industry leaders’ and professionals’ keen insights into published research, unique and evolving ideas and best practices, as well as an opportunity to network with leading experts within the Cloud Computing industry. The conference is designed to be a thought leadership platform for Business, Government and Academia. It’s also an ideal opportunity for corporate leaders to glean information on the latest innovations in Cloud Computing, generate new contacts and develop ideas on how to capitalize on what’s estimated to eventually become a $100 billion dollar market.
The CloudSlam’10™ speaker line-up will highlight new players in the Cloud Computing arena, as well as established players like IBM, who has been selected to be the Exclusive Diamond Collaborator for CloudSlam’10™. Dr. Kristof Kloeckner, CTO Enterprise Initiatives and Vice President Cloud Platforms, IBM Corporation, will present the Day One Headline Keynote address at the CloudSlam’10™ virtual event.
Drawing on experience of working with IBM customers and IBM’s internal cloud deployments, Dr. Kloeckner will review the conditions under which Cloud Computing can deliver its promise of cost reductions, delivery efficiency, flexibility and agility, as well as share insights around customer adoption based on careful selection of workloads and appropriate deployment models.
In addition, IBM senior software engineer Doug Tidwell will discuss the need for and status around cloud computing standards.
IBM Primary Keynote Sessions:
* “Headline Keynote Presentation” – Presented on March 23rd @ 13.30(pm) EDT.
* “Headline panel Discussion” – Presented on March 23rd @ 16.00(pm) EDT.
* “Headline Expert Session” – Presented on March 24th @ 13.30(pm) EDT.
* “Headline Case Study Session” – Presented on March 25th @ 14.45(pm) EDT.
Commenting on the announcement today, CloudSlam’10™ Chairman – Khazret Sapenov said, “We are truly delighted to have IBM join this year’s proceedings as our Headline collaborator for the event. IBM brings a wealth of expertise and know-how which we are certain will educate our event delegates, Cloud Computing group community members, as well as the Global audiences tuning in worldwide.”
CloudSlam’10™ – Produced by Cloudcor, Inc.™, is the premier Cloud Computing event. As an affordable way for industry leaders to exchange ideas and experiences, CloudSlam’10™ opens new horizons of cloud computing and serves as a springboard to success. CloudSlam’10™ will take place March 23-25 2010 -Online. For more information, contact Khazret Sapenov at k.sapenov@cloudslam.org or visit http://cloudslam10.com
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How Google Keeps Your Data Safe in the Cloud?
Mar 5th
In a blog post today, Google essentially reminds its enterprise customers that Google Apps provides an alternative to expensive, complex solutions as far as data disaster recovery goes.
Synchronous replication is a system that Google Apps uses to store customer’s info in two data centers at once, so that if one data center fails, Google says it nearly instantly transfers data over to the other one that’s also been reflecting the actions taken by the customer all along.
On the practical side this means that thanks to the cloud-based storage solution, Google customers won’t lose any data in a data center failure. Just as crucially, they are theoretically back up and running straight away — although the online giant does acknowledge that no backup solution is perfect.
This synchronous replication is applied to the entire Apps suite as well as Gmail (Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Sites), with the sales angle being enterprise-class back-up for all at a much lower cost than if companies were to provide or contract separately for their own data redundancy systems.
Google, ever keen to push its Apps suite to new corporate clients of all sizes, estimates that this kind of backup could cost up to $500 for 25GB of data from other providers, but says it can bundle it in because it’s already running large, fast data centers.
This is essentially Google reminding enterprise customers (and potential customers) about one of the significant benefits of cloud computing over traditional in-house server farm data storage. How does your business handle data backup and redundancy issues? Do you think cloud computing is the ideal solution to hardware failure?
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IBM Announces – Cloud computing for developers April 6-8th
Mar 4th
Solutions for application development, 6-8 April
Join this cloud computing for developers virtual event to learn about technologies that can help solve your business and technical challenges in the cloud. These sessions are ideal for anyone looking to build a cloud infrastructure or develop and deploy cloud-based applications. Topics include: Getting started in the cloud, security, metering and billing, rapid provisioning and mashups.
See real-world examples of specific challenges and solutions, as well as live demonstrations of techniques and products. Finally, get connected to the developerWorks community and find the resources you need.
Audience: Developers, architects, students, partners, ISVs
Prerequisites: General understanding of cloud computing
What are virtual briefings?
Virtual briefings are presented online using Saba Centra. These sessions replicate a typical classroom with a complete set of features for highly interactive, effective group learning – bringing together voice, video, data and graphics in a structured online learning environment. Sessions are instructor-led and end with an opportunity for you to ask questions using either VOIP or Text Chat.
Agenda
April 6: Build a cloud computing infrastructure
| Session | Topic | Time (EST) |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | Introduction to cloud computing for developers | 11:30am-12:00pm |
| Session 1 | Identity management in the cloud: Get the basic principles of trust and identity management, including how to define users, their roles and responsibilities. | 12:00pm-1:00pm |
| Session 2 | Connecting to the cloud – the hybrid model: Learn about the benefits of the hybrid model and how to design a hybrid application. | 1:15pm-2:15pm |
| Session 3 | Metering usage of shared computational resources in cloud-delivered solutions: See a scenario for metering usage of computational resources in a sample multi-tenant banking application. | 2:30pm-3:30pm |
| Register for April 6 sessions. | ||
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Amazon cloud : Amazon EC2 Setup Guide – Easy Educational Tutorial
Mar 3rd
This tutorial guides you how to setup an Amazon EC2 cloud computing account. You may note that in this tutorial we will only be creating an account and set that up for doing the cloud computing tasks. The steps after this stage (like launching an instance, accessing the cloud from your system using command line [...]‘
This tutorial guides you how to setup an Amazon EC2 cloud computing account. You may note that in this tutorial we will only be creating an account and set that up for doing the cloud computing tasks. The steps after this stage (like launching an instance, accessing the cloud from your system using command line etc will be covered in the next tutorial).
Introduction
In cloud computing you don’t need to have your own hardware (except for accessing the cloud) to do the computational tasks. It will be available in the cloud and you can pay as you use the service.
This makes it scalable and robust. Essentially, you will be pulling resources from so many computers in the ‘cloud’ for performing a particular computational task. Hence if you are running an application that requires so much of hardware resources then cloud computing is the right choice.
Amazon
Amazon is a leading service provider in this realm. They actually extended a part of their own network (which supports the amazon.com website) for providing services to third parties. All their services are PAYG (pay as you go) and you will be charged only when you are actually using the service.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers various services as described below:
- Amazon EC2 – Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
- Amazon S3 – Amazon Simple Storage Service
- Amazon CloudFront (it is essentially an S3 to distribute the data)
- Amazon CloudWatch (as the name suggests, it is a monitoring service)
- Amazon SimpleDB (for handling data sets)
In this tutorial we will stick ourself to the first two services provided by Amazon – EC2 (cloud) and S3 (data storage).
Sign Up
Inorder to start using the service you need to go to the following site and register
You can use the same account (Amazon account) that you use to buy books from Amazon.
Once you have done that you see message like this:
Now go to this page and signup for the EC2 service. You may note that you need to signin again during this stage.
If you are using Amazon services already it will not ask you for a credit card. But if you want to use a new card, you can do the same by entering the details in the box provided at the end of the page:
Once you have done that you will asked to verify your identity. You can do the same by providing your phone number and clicking on the button ‘call me now’
Now you can expect a call from Amazon (my ADP1 phone showed the number as ‘unknown’!) and you can enter the PIN displayed in the web page, using the type pad.
Once you have done that correctly, you will be shown this screen:
