Morphlabs » Blog

Cloud Computing Around the Web – April 25 To May 1

webmaster — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:49:08 +0000

Despite the host of issues, we certainly feel there’s a silver lining at the end of this outage tunnel and as we’ve previously stated, “[l]ast week’s issues at Amazon were not a failure of the “cloud” – but an opportunity to continue public education on cloud complexities and a moment of self-reflection.”

To help you keep up, here is a collection of tweets from our Twitter account last week, organized by topic. We feel that these tweets represent the most interesting and relevant information on cloud computing this week.

Blog

Thoughts on the AWS Outage: Everything in moderation … even a single cloud provider

Cloud Computing Coverage

Final Thoughts on the Five-Day AWS Outage | eWeek
Morphlabs CEO Winston Damarillo on Amazon Outage: “Two things companies need to focus on to get a better understanding of their cloud solutions: diversity & control” | eWeek

Everything in Moderation…Even A Single Cloud Provider

webmaster — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:18:43 +0000

The Amazon EC2 outage has sent ripples and shockwaves through the AP wires and blogosphere, but those of us who have been in the cloud computing trenches for the equivalent of tech eons (at Morphlabs, we’ve been at it for more than 4 years), the news is neither shocking nor a reason to stray from our mission.

While it is tempting to unleash common fears about new technologies when confronted with “proof” of their failings and risks, our years of innovation and adoption tell us that there is a wiser path. Approach with caution, but approach nonetheless. The same is true for the implementation of cloud computing services in your IT organization.

Our approach to software development assumes failure, and we build fault tolerance into all of our cloud computing solutions. In addition, fault tolerance must be evident at both the software and hardware levels. It is imperative to carefully plan for catastrophic software malfunctions – because, regardless of how “big” you are, it will happen. Application components that you might assume wouldn’t affect your uptime can be the root of catastrophe. The Amazon failure was due to EBS (persistent disks) which had been unreliable since its introduction. (see Reddit’s blog post in March for more background on EBS issues.)

A multi-zone model of distributing both storage and computing power is one way to plan for this. AWS allows a user to set up a master/slave database configurations with each component sitting in a separate zone. Availability Zones offer low latency and cheap connectivity in a single region. However, in the case of a catastrophic datacenter failure, your architecture must leverage multiple regions (or cloud providers – better yet cloud providers who allow for multiple regions). This requires portability (with open standards) and transparency (clear SLAs and open communication) from your cloud providers. Your architecture should take its cues from the SLAs – these are the rules of the game and your team should know them clearly.

Last week’s issues at Amazon were not a failure of the “cloud” – but an opportunity to continue public education on cloud complexities and a moment of self-reflection. While the technical community has much more insight than the consumer market, who are far from grasping what it means to migrate “to the cloud!”, we must continue to share best practices which benefit the entire cloud computing ecosystem.
Diversifying your cloud providers and deploying across multiple regions may indeed cost more money, and may require more technical expertise to implement, but it’s all relative – would you rather be facing an extended period of downtime or take the extra time and money to eliminate all points of failure. We know what we would choose and what ultimately is probably cheaper.

After all, what’s more expensive than having your mission critical application down for a day or more?

Cloud Computing Around the Web – April 18 to 24

webmaster — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:16:12 +0000

As you’ve probably understood by now, cloud requires the same care, skills and required management as other areas of IT. And as we move on to getting our cloud understanding right this time around, it pays to remember that organizations will need to focus on diversity and control to help get a better understanding of their cloud solutions and that cloud computing is no “walk in the clouds”!

Blog

Welcome to the New Morphlabs Website

Cloud Computing Coverage

Morphlabs CEO Winston Damarillo on Amazon Outage: “Two things companies need to focus on to get a better understanding of their cloud solutions: diversity & control” | eWeek
15 Recommended Cloud Computing Management Tools For Your Business | CloudTweaks

Cloud Computing Headlines

The Day the Cloud Died | Forbes
Amazon outage and the auto-immune vulnerabilities of resiliency | Gartner Blog
Amazon Resolving Problems on Second Day of Outage | eWeek
Apple Challenging Google, Amazon.com in Cloud-Services Business | eWeek
Two Open-Source Cloud Standards: What It Means to You | PCWorld

Cloud Computing Resources

How to work around Amazon EC2 outages | James Cohen
“Optimizing the operating efficiencies of the cloud should not come at the expense of quality services and support” | Internet Evolution
The Economic Benefits of Cloud Computing | Computing UK
“Who Owns Your Cloud?” | ServiceMesh
Private or Public Cloud: Is Either Right for You? | FT.com

Cloud Computing Industry Numbers

Cloud computing market: $241 billion in 2020 | ZDNet
Report Projects $14.4 Billion Federal Cloud Savings Opportunity | Business Wire
Cloud computing added to many 2011 IT budgets | TechTarget

Cloud Computing Events

Third Annual Cloud Slam 2011 Cloud Computing Conference

Cloud Computing Around the Web – April 11 to 17

webmaster — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:42:46 +0000

Open source has secured it’s place in the technology world but as recent developments show, it may now be more than a niche as some might have dismissed. And unlike Linux to Windows, it’s not playing catch-up. In cloud computing, open source is truly blazing the innovation path.

Blog

Welcome to the New Morphlabs Website

Cloud Computing Coverage

Cloud Computing Headlines

Open Source Exposed: The Sky is Clear | Networkworld
The Business Market Plays Cloud Computing Catch-Up | NYTImes
The 25 Most Influential People Tweeting about Cloud Computing | TheNextWeb
Cloud Illusions and Confusion: The Fog of Wasteful Government IT Spending| Huffington Post
4 Business Benefits of Cloud Management Technology | Forbes

Cloud Computing Resources

Public, Private and Enterprise Cloud: Economy of Scale vs Efficiency of Scale | DataCenter Post
The Real Cloud Imperative Is Greater Simplicity | InformationWeek
8 Guidelines To Move Your Applications to the Cloud | Open Forum
How to strategically leverage cloud computing in a way that’s right for your business | Smart Business
What You’re Missing in Your Cloud ROI Calculations | Infoworld
4 Critical Cloud Computing Considerations for Developers | Internet.com

Cloud Computing Industry Numbers

IBM Forecasts $7B in Cloud Revenue | InformationWeek
Tech Study shows 80% savings by using the cloud | Networkworld
Cost no longer main driver for cloud adoption in UK | PCWorld

Cloud Computing Around the Web – Week of April 4-10

webmaster — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:22:53 +0000

Open cloud and interoperability standards ride alongside a wave of cloud deals in what is being described as a billion-dollar week for the cloud computing industry. Coincidentally, in a subtle way, we launched our new website with greater emphasis on cloud solutions – things that will allow you to extract the most value from the cloud and keep your focus amidst the hype of it all.

Blog

Welcome to the New Morphlabs Website

Cloud Computing Coverage

Cloud Computing Headlines

OpenStack Welcomes Facebook Open Compute Project
Cloud Computing’s Billion-Dollar Week | RCP
Here’s why cloud computing is hot right now! | BusinessInsider
IEEE’s cloud portability project :: A fool’s errand? | Infoworld
How Cloud Computing Reboots the Channel | Gartner Blogs

Cloud Computing Resources

Cloud Computing, Like Open Source, Is Not Just Puff| LInuxInsider
5 Ways MSPs Can Win SMB Cloud Computing Services Deals | CRN

The Cloud MSP | L5Consulting
Cloud CIO : 5 Key Pieces of Rollout Advice | NetworkWorld
Cloud Computing: The Battle for the Enterprise | SysCon

Cloud Computing Industry Numbers

Cloud Computing is No Fad | Forbes
Cloud/ SaaS Market to Near $17B by 2015 | MSPNews

Cloud Computing Around the Web – March 28 to April 3

webmaster — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:12:48 +0000

Like the coming of spring, increasing cloud implementation within data centers is rapidly taking over which in a recent survey says will almost become the norm by 2015. Just one more proof that cloud computing is fast becoming an accepted delivery model for IT resources now and for the future.

Blog

Morphlabs mCloud On-Demand Now Does Windows

Coverage

Headlines

Cloud Computing dominates data center agenda, says survey | ZDNet
Cloud and Efficiency Are Driving Data Center Decisions | GigaOm
Cloud computing is a hot topic right now, but what does it actually mean for your business? | IT Pro
Virtualization Standards to Drive Cloud Computing | CTO Edge
3 More cloud killers | InfoWorld

Resources

The clear role of public authorities in cloud computing | EC Europa
Time to rip out legacy IT in favor of cloud computing | SysCon
Here is why cloud computing is so hot right now! | Business Insider
Amazon Can Do it, Why can’t you | E Commerce Times
Will IT become more strategic through cloud computing? | Fast Forward

Industry Numbers

Forrester Projects 8% Growth In US IT Purchases In 2011, And 10% In 2012 | Forrester

Events

Structure 2011: Must-Attend Cloud Computing Conference

Cloud Computing Around the Web :: March 21 – 27, 2011

webmaster — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:00:00 +0000

For all the talk about cloud computing’s myriad business benefits, it can also be quite a complex and daunting task for those who’d rather stick with the old and familiar ways of doing things. With this in mind, we always put high premium towards overcoming such adoption challenges.

Scroll through the tweets from this week’s roundup from our Twitter account and discover the cloud tools designed to help enterprises focus on building business value instead of managing infrastructure.

Blog
Morphlabs mCloud On-Demand Now Does Windows

Coverage
15 Recommended Cloud Computing Management Tools For Your Business | CloudTweaks

101s :: How to Create a New Cloud using mCloud On-Demand | YouTube

The Morphlabs Daily is out!

Headlines

Open Network Foundation to address cloud computing needs for more intelligent network controls | NYTImes

EU Puts Standardization at Forefront of Cloud Computing | PCWorld

Big Data Could Be Cloud’s Killer App | GigaOm

Growth and Efficiency through Cloud Computing | WHIR

Amazon Cloud Turns Five, Keeps Adding Services | DataCenterKnowledge

Resources

MSPs Must Demonstrate Value of Cloud-Based Offerings to Win Over Customers | MSP News

101s :: Do you know your SaaS from your PaaS? | FT

‘Seven deadly sins’ of cloud computing | Computerworld UK

CIOs Should Know that IT is Infrastructure as a Service | F5

Cloud CIO: 3 Private Cloud Computing Use Case Scenarios | CIO

Industry Numbers

Deloitte Identifies the 10 Most Disruptive and Emerging Technologies for CIOs

Cloud Computing Around the Web | Week of March 14-20

webmaster — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:18:07 +0000

Taking the complexity out of cloud computing is like a mantra for us and we move another step forward to accomplishing that with the release of the new version of the mCloud On-Demand this week. Think Windows-friendly and more free VMs!

Blog

Morphlabs mCloud On-Demand Now Does Windows

Coverage

How to connect to Windows Cloud created using Morphlabs mCloud On-Demand | Youtube
The Morphlabs Daily is out!

Headlines

Is your data safe in the cloud | Blog Forbes
H-P Reveals Its Cloud-Computing Plans, But Questions Remain | WSJ
Moving to Cloud to Gain Agility: 5 Lessons | NetworkWorld
2011 Will Be the Year of Platform as a Service | Gartner
Cloud Computing Driving Global Datacenter Opportunities | SysCon

Resources

Gartner : Risk analysis is essential before adopting cloud computing | OneStopClick
How Not to Build a Private Cloud | Perfcap Blog
Why its time to embrace the cloud now – IDC | eWeek
Cloud Computing: ‘It is a service, not a technology’ | FT
Cloud computing: How to get your business ready | BBC

Industry Numbers

Cloud Computing is no Fad | Forbes
Cloud Computing Market for SMBs in Asia-Pacific (Excl. Japan) to Reach US$11.4B in 2011 | BusinessWire
Report: Mid-sized companies are turning to the cloud | ZDNetUK

Events

Cloud Mixer LAX | 3.17.2011

mCloud On-Demand Now Does Windows

webmaster — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 16:02:41 +0000

We recently released a new version of our mCloud On-Demand product and have two major features to announce:

1. Windows Support

— Users can launch Windows Servers in addition to CentOS Servers and all sizes of Amazon computes are available for both platforms.

2. More free VMs

— The other important feature to announce is that we have expanded the free level of service for mCloud On-Demand which means that users can now launch up to 20 VMs at a time for free (note that you still need to pay for your own Amazon EC2 expenses). We want you to use mCloud On-Demand as your primary cloud computing interface or to use it to quickly experience the power of mCloud technology.

What is mCloud On-Demand?

mCloud On-Demand helps take the complexity out of cloud computing. With mCloud On-Demand, users can easily create and launch virtual servers which can be configured with your choice of operating systems, development environments and packages. These configured servers can be saved as FlexImages which can be re-used to provide you with faster configuration and standardization while streamlining your system administration. We will also offer pre-configured FlexImages or App Stacks to get you started quickly with a cloud computing solution.

Get On the Cloud Today

Since our mCloud On-Demand solution is a cloud services platform that sits on top of the Amazon EC2 infrastructure, you do not need any infrastructure or IT resources to get started. You simply sign up for mCloud On-Demand, provide your Amazon EC2 information and you will begin you experiencing mCloud technology within minutes.

Experience All of mCloud On-Demand Features

From a feature standpoint, mCloud On-Demand has the key components that define a true cloud computing solution including:

Self-service — web-based self-service for provisioning virtual machines (VMs)
Windows or CentOS — you can launch VMs with either a Windows or CentOS operating system
Bundled Flex Images — ability to save and re-use server configurations
Measured service — built-in metering of usage by VM hour and user
Billing — capabilities for internal or external chargebacks or show-backs
Administration — robust administration features for adding and monitoring users

Watch Our mCloud On-Demand Overview Demo

This short demo video provides you with an overview of what you can expect with mCloud On-Demand:

We also recorded four other videos that you can access from our Morphlabs YouTube Page or from the Morphlabs Facebook Fanpage:

Signup for an mCloud On-Demand Account
Create a new cloud with mCloud On-Demand
Connect to an mCloud On-Demand cloud using SSH
Connect to an mCloud On-Demand Windows cloud

What Can You Do With mCloud On-Demand?

With mCloud On-Demand, users can:

Create CentOS or Windows VMs using our Cloud Builder – all sizes from Amazon EC2 are supported
Connect to the servers via SSH or Remote Desktop and configure the servers however you want to with development environments, applications and packages
Bundle configured servers to reduce system admin time and share with others
Launch bundled servers to rapidly deploy standardized images
Manage users and permissions to fine tune management and control
Explore the power of mCloud technology today with no upfront investment in hardware

System Admins Get More Efficient with mCloud On-Demand

– System admins can use mCloud On-Demand to simplify the process for provisioning and setting up virtual servers. In addition, self-service enables users to rapidly increase and decrease capacity as needed with minimal upfront costs.

Software Developers Get More Productive with the mCloud On-Demand

– Software developers gain the ability to rapidly provision and set up environments that they can use for development, testing and deployment. By spending less time on system admin tasks, developers can quickly respond to market needs and drive more innovation into their products.

Business Users Gain Access to Cloud Ready Applications with mCloud On-Demand

– Business users can also benefit from mCloud On-Demand through pre-configured and supported access to software that they need to run their businesses. We are already including Bundled Computes and will be building more App Stacks in the future that can be installed from within mCloud On-Demand to deliver cloud-ready applications. Plus, we will also have plans for mCloud Elastic Apps (eApps) that will be scalable, elastic and fault-tolerant versions of cloud-ready applications.

Cloud Computing Around the Web :: Mar 8 – 13, 2011

webmaster — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:24:03 +0000

One good reminder coming from the two recent events this week – CloudConnect and the Japan earthquake and tsunami: it’s time to focus on the pragmatics of implementing technology including cloud computing and put those theories to the test while we can.

To help you keep up, here is a collection of tweets from our Twitter
account last week, organized by topic. We feel that these tweets
represent the most interesting and relevant information on cloud
computing this week.

Blog
Cloud Computing According To The US Government | Summary of Federal Cloud Computing Strategy

Coverage
Local MSPs May Drive World Economic Forum Cloud Plan | MSPmentor
The Morphlabs Daily

Headlines
Tokyo earthquake, tsunami puts data centers, cloud services at risk | ZDNET
Amazon CTO: Cloud Computing’s Value In Its Ecosystem | InformationWeek
Cloud is the How not the What | F5
Cloud Control Does Not Always Mean ‘Do it yourself’ | SYS-CON
Intel: ‘All your clouds are us inside’ | The Register

Resources
Five Reasons why Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are well-positioned for the cloud | Channelnomics
Data growth drives most reluctant enterprises to the cloud | InfoWorld
On-Premise vs. The Cloud in the Enterprise [Infographic] | Socialcast
Ensuring MSP Relevance in a World Gone Cloud | MSPmentor
Interesting look at the Cloud Computing Landscape [Infographic] | RWW
What to move to the Cloud, and when? | MacquarieTelco

Industry Numbers
Cloud computing is elevating the role of IT | eChannelline

Events
Cloud Connect Debrief: Real Life Cloud Computing Lessons | CIO
Cloud Connect: Opening Keynotes | ElementalCloudComputing
Cloud Connect Q&A | Focus
CloudConnect: Five Massive Cloud Computing Misconceptions | CRN
Cloud Computing Savings From Shutting Down — Cloud Computing | InformationWeek