Posts tagged storage service
Amazon Web Services CTO out to Prove Enterprise Chops
Mar 2nd
There is still a misconception that Amazon Web Services exists to sell the company’s excess server capacity, but that is not the case, CTO Werner Vogels said during a keynote at Cebit.
“There is a myth out there that when Christmas comes, suddenly, all of the foundations under your building will be gone … that is obviously not the case,” said Vogels, referring to Amazon’s high-volume sales during the holidays.
During his speech, he showcased the customers that are using Amazon Web Services, with the aim of persuading skeptics that his company offers a viable option.
For example, also at Cebit Software AG announced ARISalign, which offers business process management as a service using Amazon Web services’ cloud computing. Time-to-market and tight control over costs were among the reasons Software AG picked Amazon, Vogels said.
Also, the growth of Amazon’s cloud can be seen in the number of objects stored on S3 (Simple Storage Service). The number grew from 54 billion at this time last year to more than 100 billion, according to Vogels.
Bigger scale lets Amazon Web Services offer lower prices than competitors, according to Vogels. The latest price cut was Feb. 1 for outbound data transfer.
Lower cost for both infrastructure and operations is the first attraction when companies start looking at moving systems into the cloud, but the ability to add or decrease computing capacity as needed soon takes over as the biggest advantage, Vogels said.
Some enterprises are more enthusiastic about cloud services than others — Web site and application hosting companies, as well as media distribution companies are jumping right in, he said. Other applications that make sense to move to the cloud are testing and development, backup, disaster recovery and large-scale data analysis, according to Vogels.
However, there are companies that take a more long-term approach to cloud services and start by making all new IT systems ready for the cloud, he said.
Vogels also took the opportunity to push Amazon’s VPC (virtual private cloud), which integrates a company’s existing IT infrastructure and the cloud, which makes it particularly attractive to enterprise customers, according to Vogels. Companies can build a walled garden in the cloud using VPC and connect it to the data center using an encrypted VPN (virtual private network), he said.
VPC was announced almost six months ago and is still only available in beta, according to Amazon Web Services’ site. Vogels didn’t provide any details on when VPC would exit the testing stage.
He assured the audience that Amazon Web Services is focused on security, which is another big issue when it comes to cloud computing.
“We would not be in business if we did not consider security our top priority,” said Vogels.
Related posts
What are the different types of cloud computing?
Feb 9th
What are the different types of cloud computing?
Web-based email services from Google and Yahoo, backup services from Carbonite or MozyHome, customer-resource management applications like Salesforce.com, instant messaging and voice-over-IP services from AOL, Google, Skype, Vonage and others are all cloud-computing services, hidden behind yet another layer of abstraction to make them seem even simpler to end users who want the kind of power sophisticated computing can give them, but don’t want to know how it’s done.
There are three basic types of cloud computing:
• Infrastructure as a Service — provides grids or clusters or virtualized servers, networks, storage and systems software designed to augment or replace the functions of an entire data center. The highest-profile example is Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud [EC2] and Simple Storage Service, but IBM and other traditional IT vendors are also offering services, as is telecom-and-more provider Verizon Business.
• Platform as a Service — Provides virtualized servers on which users can run existing applications or develop new ones without having to worry about maintaining the operating systems, server hardware, load balancing or computing capacity. Highest-profile examples include Microsoft’s Azure and Salesforce’s Force.com.
• Software as a Service — The most widely known and widely used form of cloud computing, SaaS provides all the functions of a sophisticated traditional application, but through a Web browser, not a locally-installed application. SaaS eliminates worries about app servers, storage, application development and related, common concerns of IT. Highest-profile examples are Salesforce.com, Google’s Gmail and Apps, instant messaging from AOL, Yahoo and Google, and VoIP from Vonage and Skype.
Source: Kevin Fogarty from CIO.com
Related posts
‘Cloud Computing’: What Exactly Is It, Anyway?
Feb 8th
For a lot of small-business owners, “cloud computing” is the latest IT buzzword to leave them scratching their heads. To demystify things, here’s a primer for companies looking to wade into cloud services for the first time.
What are cloud services?
The Journal Report
See the complete Small Business report .
Broadly speaking, any service or program sent over an Internet connection can be considered a cloud service. An outside vendor runs the servers and software, so the buyer doesn’t have to worry about the technical issues in-house—and can focus on its own business.
The services come in a number of forms. Many businesses are already familiar with one aspect of cloud computing: software delivered over the Web. Along with email services like Google Inc.’s Gmail, there are programs that help salespeople keep track of customer information, such as Salesforce.com Inc.’s software, and backup data-storage services from providers such as Amazon.com Inc.
Some businesses don’t just use software services, they buy computing power from vendors such as Verizon Communications Inc.—much like buying power from a utility. Let’s say a retailer expects lots of additional business during the holidays, and its in-house servers can’t handle the load of customer orders. The company might pay a vendor for the use of its servers, to shoulder part of the computing work as the need arises.
Other companies, meanwhile, might buy computing power on a regular basis. They might drop one or more in-house servers entirely—or not buy the hardware in the first place—and let a vendor run their vital programs on its machines. Once again, the buyer would pay a fee based on how much computing power it used.
How much will they cost?
Unlike traditional applications, which require hardware such as servers and IT staff for maintenance, cloud services don’t carry many upfront costs.
A Cloudy Outlook
- About 3.2% of U.S. small businesses, or about 230,000 businesses, use cloud services.
- Another 3.6%, or 260,000, plan to add cloud services in the next 12 months.
- Small-business spending on cloud services will increase by 36.2% in 2010 over a year ago, to $2.4 billion from $1.7 billion.
Source: IDC
Consider software. Salesforce.com’s offering for businesses costs between $5 and $25 per user each month. Google offers a host of programs including email, a word processor, video and a hosted Web site for an annual fee of $50 per user. For small businesses that have more-extensive computing needs, such as drug laboratories with extensive software, cloud services could cost more than $1,000 a month.
As for buying computing power, some providers charge for a certain amount of memory and computing configuration. Terremark Worldwide Inc., for example, charges six cents an hour for one gigabyte of RAM and the equivalent of one processor.
One caveat that might bump up costs a bit: If you’re going to rely on the Internet for your services, you will need a solid connection. While some believe a business-class DSL connection is sufficient, many industry observers and consultants recommend getting a faster line, such as a T1.
Continue Reading at WSJ
Cloud Computing List of 85 Cloud Vendor Players
Sep 3rd
Posted by cloudtweaks in Cloud Computing
6 comments
Cloud Computing Vendors
1) Amazon Web Services
Leading cloud pioneer Amazon offers several different in-the-cloud services. The best known is Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, or Amazon EC2, which allows customers to set up and access virtual servers via a simple Web interface. Fees are assessed hourly based on the number and size of virtual machines you have ($.10 -$.80 per hour), with an additional fee for data transfer.
EC2 is designed to work in conjunction with Amazon’s other cloud services, which include Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Simple DB, Cloudfront, Simple Queue Service (SQS), and Elastic MapReduce.
Notable: The Amazon Web Services list of partners is high profile, including the likes of Citrix, Facebook, IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, and others.
2) Google
Yes, they own search – and are working on owning the cloud. With Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Picasa in its lineup, Google offers some of the best known cloud computing services available. They also offer some lesser known cloud services targeted primarily at enterprises, such as Google Sites, Google Gadgets, Google Video, and most notably, the Google Apps Engine. The Apps Engine allows developers to write applications to run on Google’s servers while accessing data that resides in the Google cloud as well as data that resides behind the corporate firewall. While it has been criticized for limited programming language support, the Apps Engine debuted Java and Ajax support in April, which may make it more appealing to developers.
Notable: Google recently revealed its philosophy of cloud computing in this Enterprise Blog post written by senior project manager Rajen Sheth: “As companies weigh private data centers vs. scalable clouds, they should ask a simple question: can I find the same economics, ease of maintenance, and pace of innovation that is inherent in the cloud?”
3) IBM
Although it was somewhat late to the cloud computing party, IBM launched its “Smart Business” lineup of cloud-based products and services in June. For now, the company is focusing on two key areas: software development and testing, and virtual desktops. But the company makes it clear that the cloud model has much wider-reaching implications, noting that “cloud computing represents a true paradigm shift in the way IT and IT-enabled services are delivered and consumed by businesses.” The company has also made noises about partnering with Google – the two companies would be a potent duo in the cloud sector.
Notable: A big part of IBM’s advantage in the cloud is the remarkable reach of its international presence. Early customers of IBM’s cloud computing offerings include South Africa’s Nedbank and China’s Sinochem.
4) Microsoft
It’s a critical question facing the tech industry: Can Microsoft, the king of the traditional world of packaged software, leverage its hulking muscle to grab a similar position in the cloud world? The answer is unclear but Microsoft is certainly trying. The software giant’s ambitious Azure initiative has a solution for every Microsoft constituency, from ISVs to Web developers to enterprise clients to consumers. Formally unveiled in 2008, Azure is still very much a work in progress. If it succeeds as Microsoft hopes, in future years we’ll be talking about “Windows Azure,” a cloud-based OS that offers remote computing power, storage and management services. To make the dream come true, Microsoft is investing a king’s fortune in a network of $500 million, 500,000-square-feet datacenters around the country. The facilities will presumably form the physical backbone of the cloud network. If all goes according to plan, Microsoft will not only control the software but also the physical infrastructure that delivers that software. In other words, the company is attempting to be even bigger than it is now. (No one ever accused Redmond of being modest.) Perhaps the company’s ace in the hole: it understands enterprise management – a critical building block – more than its top competitors.
Notable: In a March 2009 interview with the New York Times, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer jumped up and drew a diagram on a white board of the company’s cloud computing plans. It’s a squiggly, complicated drawing, leading the reporter to ask if the plan wasn’t overly complex. Not at all, Ballmer explained, detailing how current flagship Windows Server will be replaced by Windows Azure. In a quote that suggests that Microsoft is very attuned to the cloud trend, he told the Times: ““Anything that has been a server needs to be a service.”
Read Full Source
Related posts