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Cloud Computing

Google Goes for Containers

07 November 2014 Marco Attard Cloud Computing

Google says it is all about containers as it announces the Google Container Engine (GKE) at the Cloud Platform Live conference-- a means for building and running Docker-based containers on the Google Compute Engine (GCE).

Containers are a lightweight alternative to virtual machines, and as the search giant puts it, "GKE lets you move from managing application components running on individual virtual machines to launching portable Docker containers that are scheduled into a managed compute cluster for you."

Behind the GKE is Kubernetes (Greek for "pilot," and the same word "cybernetic" is derived from), the open source Docker container deployment tool Google announced last June. Essentially Kubernetes groups a number of VM instances (aka nodes) into clusters, which run Dockerised versions of applications at scale. The GKE handles all spinning up and down of app instances across the cluster, as well as load balancing and communication between containers.

The Top Cloud Myths According to Gartner

07 November 2014 Marco Attard Cloud Computing

The Top Cloud Myths According to Gartner

Cloud computing is "uniquely susceptible" to myths, Gartner says, due to its nature, confusion and surrounding hype. And this is bad news, as such myths distract from real progress, innovation and outcomes.

"Cloud computing, by its very nature, is uniquely vulnerable to the risks of myths. It is all about capabilities delivered as a service, with a clear boundary between the provider of the service and the consumer," the analyst says. "From a consumer perspective, 'in the cloud' means where the magic happens, where the implementation details are supposed to be hidden. So it should be no surprise that such an environment is rife with myths and misunderstandings."

VMware Acquires Continuent

31 October 2014 Marco Attard Cloud Computing

Vmware buys the assets of database clustering and replication provider Continuent for an undisclosed sum,with plans to integrate the technology into the vCloud Air hybrid cloud service.

The Continuent product offering brings advanced clustering and replication capabilities to MySQL, including high availability, disaster recovery, multi-master operation and real-time data warehouse loading. One such product, Tungsten, provides customers with full transaction processing and analytics via MySQL and data management systems including Hadoop, Oracle and Amazon Redshift.

EMC Expands Further Into Cloud

31 October 2014 Marco Attard Cloud Computing

EMC declares its cloud intentions as it makes a trio of related acquisitions-- cloud solution developers Cloudscaling, Maginatics and Spanning-- before announcing the EMC Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Solution.

The EMC Enterprise Hybrid Cloud Solution combines EMC and VMware hardware, software and services into a single IT-as-a-Service solution promising the agility of a public cloud and the control and security of private infrastructure. It is interoperable with VMware vCoud Air, Microsoft Air, AWS and other EMC-powered public clouds, and built on VCE Vblock Systems and VSOEX reference architecture.

Come next year the solution will be available in Microsoft and OpenStack flavours, EMC adds.

As for the hat-trick of cloud acquisitions, EMC says these will expand its cloud capabilities in 3 areas-- the ability to offer OpenStack-based hybrid cloud solutions, data mobility across multiple clouds and new protection capabilities for "born in the cloud" apps and data.

Microsoft, IBM Team Up in Cloud

24 October 2014 Marco Attard Cloud Computing

IBM and Microsoft announce a partnership where the two companies host their respective enterprise software on Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud, a deal the companies say provides customers, partners and developers more choice in the cloud.

In a few words, IBM middleware such as WebSphere Liberty, MQ and DB2 will be available on Azure, while Windows Server and SQL Server will be offered on IBM Cloud. Meanwhile the IBM Bluemix cloud development platform will host a Microsoft .NET runtime, IBM software running on Windows Server Hyper-V gets expanded support and the IBM Pure Application Service will be available on Azure.

The IBM-owned SoftLayer already provides and supports a range of Microsoft software, including Windows Server, Hyper-V, WebMatrix, Windos Firewall and SQL Server, among others.