Cloud Computing

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High-Performing Cloud Networks Are Critical to M2M Success

Machine to machine (M2M) communications may not be new, but with the rapid deployment of embedded wireless technology in vehicles, appliances and electronics, it is becoming a force for service providers to reckon with as droves of businesses and consumers seek to reap its benefits. By 2020, the GSM Association (GSMA) predicts that there will be 24 billion connected devices worldwide, while Forrester predicts that mobile machine interactions will exceed the number of mobile human interactions more than 30 times. more

Berkeley Lab: Electricity Consumption in U.S. Data Centers Plateaus

A new report, released today from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is reporting that electricity consumption by data centers nationwide, after rising rapidly for more than a decade, started to plateau in 2010 and has remained steady since, at just under 2 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption. more

GFC Slows Down Cloud Computing Developments

The ongoing Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has also had a significant impact on some of the developments in our industry -- for example, cloud computing. It looks as though the GFC is the key reason that developments in cloud computing have not happened more quickly. Industry evidence suggests that shifting to the cloud saves 20%-50% off current IT deployments, and, according to its advocates, it can be many times more than that. more

Societies Running on Quicksand: A Critical Look at Today’s Networks

The last few weeks have reinforced the importance of modern communication networks to societies. Health care providers, schools, governments, and businesses all rely on networks that enable us to connect and collaborate remotely. Had we encountered a similar pandemic ten years ago, we would not have been able to continue our activities on the level that is possible today. more

Net Neutrality, Slippery Slopes &  High-Tech Mutually Assured Destruction

Ten years ago, Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman lamented the "Business Community's Suicidal Impulse:" the persistent propensity to persecute one's competitors through regulation or the threat thereof. Friedman asked: "Is it really in the self-interest of Silicon Valley to set the government on Microsoft?" After yesterday's FCC vote's to open a formal "Net Neutrality" rule-making, we must ask whether the high-tech industry -- or consumers -- will benefit from inviting government regulation of the Internet under the mantra of "neutrality." more

Survey Indicates 69% of Internet Users Already Making Use of Cloud Computing

According to a recent survey by Pew Research Center's Internet Project, 69% of all Internet users in U.S. have either stored data online or used a web-based software application. "These users are making use of 'cloud computing,' an emerging architecture by which data and applications reside in cyberspace, allowing users to access them through any web-connected device." At the same time, most of these users are still unfamiliar with the term "cloud computing." more

Application Delivery Controller: So Long, Crystal Ball

Do you know how big your web site will be in a year? You probably can guess, or even estimate how much traffic will hit your site in a year. You can also use millennia proven methods such as Crystal Balls, Animal Entrails or even Coffee Stains. But seriously, it is no easy task evaluating site growth in this volatile, ever changing economy. A key element in the scaling of any web site is the Application Delivery Controller (ADC). more

Green Revolving Funds Can Help Fund Costs of Cloud Computing and R&E Networking

There have been some interesting new developments in university Green Revolving Funds (GRF) that I believe could be a significant revenue opportunity for cloud suppliers and R&E networks. In this age of severe financial constraints and cutbacks for universities, new revenue models are needed to sustain advanced cyber-infrastructure in support of research and education. more

Could This Be the Silver Bullet for Cloud Computing

This article on cloud appeared in the Economist.com on April 12th 2001 titled "The Beast of Complexities" Stuart Feldman of IBM, mentions these examples. Quote 'Picture yourself as the product manager of a new hand-held computer whose design team has just sent him the electronic blueprint for the device. You go to your personalized web portal and order the components, book manufacturing capacity and arrange for distribution. With the click of a mouse, you create an instant supply chain that, once the job is done, will dissolve again." unquote. ...In the same article he also lamented that so far, nobody has found a silver bullet to kill the Beast of Complexity. more

People Should Drive Automation - Not Technology

Service providers have traditionally organised their operations around different technology domains. The responsible teams have been staffed with specialists looking after routing, network services, security and various other functional areas. Over time, organizations like this have had the tendency to transform into loosely tied silos with limited interaction between the different teams. more

The Coming of the ADC

In the previous decade and the beginning of this one, Server Load Balancing (SLB) reigned supremely in the web data center. Lately, a new class of products is replacing the older load balancers. These products are known as Application Delivery Controllers (ADC) and in the following paragraphs I will share my thoughts on the reasons for that. more

Which Way Does Your Data Flow?

Data may be moving to the cloud, but understanding the physical geography underlying the cloud is becoming increasingly critical. October's decision by the European Court of Justice, striking down key portions of the Safe Harbor rules that some companies had relied on to legally transfer personal data between Europe and the U.S., was only the latest example of the regulatory uncertainty involved in cross-border data flows. While Internet companies have begun to address challenges at the static geographic points where data is resident, understanding the actual paths that data travels is an important and sometimes overlooked part of the compliance analysis. more

Data, Applications, and the Meaning of the Network

Two things seem to be universally true in the network engineering space right this moment. The first is that network engineers are convinced their jobs will not exist, or there will only be network engineers "in the cloud" within the next five years. The second is a mad scramble to figure out how to add value to the business through the network. These two movements are, of course, mutually exclusive visions of the future. more

Chinese Cloud Vendors Benefitting from Home-Field Advantage While Expanding Globally

China's home grown firms are not only grabbing domestic businesses but also venturing to different countries across the world. On the other hand, foreign players face regulatory walls that make it difficult to tap businesses in China." Saibal Dasgupta reporting today in VOA more

Cloud Marketplaces Help Cut Through Confusing IaaS Pricing

A recent study from 451 Research reveals some interesting facts about the nature and complexity of cloud pricing. In theory, one of the major benefits of using the cloud is that on-demand pricing makes it easy to know exactly how much a company will be spending and avoid large-scale capital expenditure. That's certainly true, but the cloud space has yet to develop into a fully mature market, which means that companies have to tangle with wildly different pricing models and the cost itself can vary between vendors. more

Industry Updates

3 Key Recommendations to Trust the Cloud More by Trusting It Less

As Global Internet Demands Skyrocket, Expert Share Advice on How to Optimize IT Infrastructure to Meet Modern-Day Challenges

Smart City Market Boom: New eco Study Forecasts Over 17 Percent Annual Growth

Looking Into the Latest Microsoft Exchange Server Vulnerability Exploitation

New Study by eco Alliance: Best Practices Show Future Potential for Green IT 2030

Not All VPN Users Are Worth Trusting, a Lesson for Cloud Service Providers

i2Coalition and DNA Merger Creates North America’s Largest Internet Infrastructure Advocacy Group

i2Coalition Launches Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Internet Infrastructure Providers

The Internet Infrastructure Industry Is Protecting Digital Trust and Fighting COVID-19 Related Fraud

Mitigating Phishing Attacks on Cloud/File Storage Services through Domain Reputation API

Moving from the Castle-and-Moat to the Zero-Trust Model

Cloud and IaaS DLP Woes: Is Additional Threat Intelligence a Solution?

Cybercrime Innovation: Tackling Emerging Threats and Vulnerabilities

Your Business In Europe: Understanding GDPR & Privacy Shield

i2Coalition to Host First Ever Smarter Internet Forum