The Top Five Cloud Computing Myths of 2013

According to this infographic, the top 5 Cloud Computing myths are:

• I’m not worried about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
• Cloud is a Cure-All
• Cloud Providers’ Data Centers Hurt the Environment
• We’ll Lose our Jobs to the Cloud
• Cloud is Just Distributed Computing

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The above list is just the top 5 cloud computing myths. But what about the other myths that are still present this 2013? Rackspace list doesn’t stop at the top 5. There are 8 more myths in Cloud Computing that they identified as still present this 2013. These other 8 Cloud Computing Myths are:

• Cloud Pricing is Too Complicated
• Cloud is More Expensive than On-Premises IT
• Migration is a Headache
• Big Data is not a Big Deal
• I can build my own Cloud
• You can put everything on the Cloud
• “I’m Waiting… Until the Cloud Matures”
• Cloud vendors force you into cookie cutter configurations

Source

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Space Monkey is a device that makes it easier for you to gain access to the cloud while you are at your home. In contrast to a conventional P2P storage or network sharing, files uploaded to the cloud storage network using Space Monkey are duplicated into various encrypted parts and are being stored into several Space Monkey network.

This means that you no longer need to create an additional backup of your backup just to keep your files secure. If one network or data center got destroyed, another data center located in other parts of the world also has a copy of your file, securely.

Believe it or not, Space Monkey will only cost your $10 per month, and that includes 1TB of cloud storage. You get 10x more cloud storage for a much lower price, compared to other Cloud Storage solution.

You can also access your files in Space Monkey whenever and wherever you are. You can access your files anywhere in the world using a laptop, mobile device or a PC as long as you have internet connection.

Will Space Monkey become a hit? It’s up to you users who will decide that. Will you be trying this new technology anytime soon? If you have, you can also give us your feedback in the comment section below.

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Cloud Computing has opened new doors specially for the business sector. Many businesses are still skeptical in using Cloud technology for their business. Why? Because of lack of knowledge. Some doesn’t trust the Cloud because of privacy issues. Well, Public Cloud is not the only type of Cloud there is. There’s the Private Cloud and Hybrid Cloud too. And the type of Cloud you should use really depends on your business itself. To shed you more light about the Cloud, below are top 3 reasons why Cloud Computing is good for your business.

Why Cloud Computing is good for Business (big and small)?

Cost Efficient/Cost Efficient

One important thing when it comes to business is that the business operation should be running at optimal expenses. You spend some money to make more money, and not spend more money to make less money. If you look at the big picture, Cloud Computing offers the most cost effective and cost efficient technology to run your business.

The need to spend on expensive hardware is instantly eliminated since your business doesn’t need one. It also saves more physical space that was intended for the hardware. You will only be needing a few IT people, instead of dozens of them.

Best part of Cloud Computing is that you only pay for what you have used. Consider it as part of your utility bill. It’s like having an On and Off button, you pay when you used the Cloud, and for the amount of resources that you have consumed. Unlike when you are investing on other solutions, you will be charged with fix rate even if the solution you purchased is under-use.

There are still many reasons why Cloud computing is cost efficient and cost effective at the same time. The list could go on and on. But that will probably be on future articles.

Highly Scalable

Another great reason why you should put your business in to the Cloud is that Cloud Computing is highly scalable. Scalability is very important especially for business. Who wouldn’t want their business to grow?

Cloud Computing, aside from being both cost effective and efficient, can help you expand your business instantaneously. Imagine this, if your business is not in the Cloud you will have to buy hardware. Suddenly your business becomes popular and grows instantly. Then you need to expand, and buy additional hardware for your business. This means that you will have to spend more. While in Cloud computing, you don’t have to do this. If your business experience a sudden growth, your Cloud Service Provider can easily scale up the resources that your business needs. It’s like having a volume control for your business.

Less Complicated

Most people think that Cloud Computing is complicated. That’s because they have enough background of the Cloud, or they haven’t experienced the Cloud yet. In fact, Cloud Computing is much easier to setup than Dedicated Servers.

You don’t have to worry about the dirty work, since most of the Cloud Service Providers have the top notch IT team that will handle that for you, remotely.

If you want your business to move into the Cloud, it is best to talk to your potential Cloud Service Provider representative and see how can they help your business. Some of the best Cloud Service Providers out there are FireHost, Connectria and many more. Some Cloud service providers specialize on a particular type of Cloud technology, while some are flexible and diverse.

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According to Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a nonprofit organization that promotes research into best practices for securing cloud computing, there are 9 major threats to Cloud Computing this 2013. CSA has dubbed them as “The Notorious Nine“. And these threats are considered to be the top nine Cloud Computing threats for 2013.

Data Breaches

Cloud Computing usually relies on virtual servers. According to CSA an attacker could use the side-channel timing information to extract private cryptographic keys that are used by other Virtual Machines on the same server. This usually happens on a Public Cloud setup, where different users share a common virtual machine.

A single flaw or loophole in the design of an infrastructure or system could mean serious loses or damage.

Data Loss

The CSA considers Data Loss as the second major threat to cloud computing. In this type of threat, a user experience a sudden loss of their data without any trace on how their data got deleted.

An unreliable Cloud Service provider could carelessly leave your data unsecured and without enough security, making it vulnerable to third party attackers.

Service Traffic Hijacking

CSA also sees that Service Traffic Hijacking is a major threat to the cloud. Although traffic hijacking is not new, hijackers have a new playground in the form of the Cloud. Hijackers can actually eavesdrop on someone’s transactions, activities and can even manipulate data to give you false information.

According to CSA “Organizations should look to prohibit the sharing of account credentials between users and services, and they should leverage strong two-factor authentication techniques where possible”

Insecure Interfaces and APIs

Many IT administrators rely on APIs and Interfaces to gain access to security and other services. According to CSA, a weak interface and untrusted APIs can compromise a companies confidentiality, integrity and accountability.

Denial of Service

You might have heard of this before DoS, sometimes DDoS. It’s not new, even in dedicated servers DoS or Denial-of-Service attack happens. According to CSA, DoS attacks can cost both the customer and service provider a lot of money.

There are some service provider out there that offers specialized service for DoS. Of course it entails additional cost on the part of the company.

Malicious Insider

Malicious Insiders are also considered as major threats. An insider is a physical being in the form of an employee or IT administrator. Since these people have access to the infrastructure inside the company, they can easily expose or make some damage from within.

Cloud Abuse

Cloud Abuse is somewhat similar to DoS or DDoS attack. The attacker uses the cloud service itself to decode an encryption key and uses the Cloud to launch a DDoS attack. Cloud Abuse is hard to deal with, since the pattern of attacks are too complicated compared to others.

Little Knowledge On Cloud Computing

Because Cloud Computing is popular nowadays, many companies blindlessly joined the bandwagon even though they have not fully understand the ins and outs of it.

Having a sound knowledge of Cloud Computing, specially for the IT personnel that a company has, is critical because it can help prevent security attacks, breaches and other threats to the Cloud. Training people to become more knowledgeable, if not an expert, on cloud computing can help save the company.

Shared Technology Vulnerabilities

According to CSA’s report “Whether it’s the underlying components that make up this infrastructure (e.g. CPU caches, GPUs, etc.) that were not designed to offer strong isolation properties for a multi-tenant architecture (IaaS), re-deployable platforms (PaaS), or multi-customer applications (SaaS), the threat of shared vulnerabilities exists in all delivery models,”

CSA recommends that companies must put up a defensive measure that includes intensive security measures to prevent attackers from breaching and hacking into the system. Since attackers will most probably try to attack a company from all sides.

In the end, for you to be safe in the Cloud, you need a reliable and secure cloud hosting provider, that can protect you from these threats. At the same time having enough and proper knowledge about the Cloud is also crucial to the integrity and safety of your company’s data.

source

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Cloud Servers vs Dedicated Servers

Cloud Servers are virtualized servers unlike a dedicated server where you get a physical hardware for yourself. Since it is a virtualized server, it has many advantage over dedicated servers such as KVM for all servers, ability to reimage or take a snapshot of your server anytime, and other things that you can not usually do with a Dedicated Server.

Hardware Used

Cloud Servers usually run on high-end servers that maintains redundancy, network and storage levels at no extra cost. They are usually immune to long failures and outages.

Dedicated Servers, on the other hand, seldom or rarely have redundancy in place. On some service provider, you need to pay an extra cost for the additional hardware, or backup just in case something went wrong.

Ability to Scale Things

Nowadays, scalability is very essential. Cloud servers can easily scale up or down depending on the load or your needs. It can easily scale up from using 4GB of RAM to 16GB of RAM in just a few minutes or less.

However, on a Dedicated Server setup you are provided with a specific hardware with certain or fix specifications. You need to inform the service provider first if ever you need to upgrade your memory. And you also need to pay for the extra money even if it’s only maximized during traffic spikes.

Provisioning is Instant

Instant provisioning is also one great advantage of a Cloud Server. You can instantly scale up because of the large pool of resources available to cloud servers. Plus, the cost is most likely the same regardless of how fast the sever is created.

In a Dedicated Server setup, usually it takes 1 hour or more to fully setup a server. And you can’t always or instantly upgrade it if you need additional resources or processing power.

Ability to take Snapshots

In a Cloud Server setup, the user has the ability to take snapshots and clone the server at anytime without shutting it down. You can also use the cloned or backup servers instantly, just in case something went wrong with the first one.

In a Dedicated Server, you can’t make a snapshot of the system since the operating system is running. You have to shutdown the system for you to do that. Restoring backups is also not as easy and fast in a cloud server.

Pay Only What You Used

Another great advantage of using a Cloud Server is that you will only be charge for the time you used the servers. It’s just like an electric bill. You only pay for what you used, and you get billed at the end of the month.

Dedicated Servers have a fix rate, and usually their starting cost are high. There are cheap dedicated servers available, but you can really rely on those types of servers. Plus, it might not meet the necessary processing power that you need. Dedicated Servers are usually prepaid, meaning pay first before use.

Now, are you able to decide which server is the right server for your site or project?

If you want to know more about Cloud servers, and how it can help your site/project, visit VexxHost – a trusted Cloud service provider powered by OpenStack and high-end Dell Servers. Visit them at http://vexxhost.com

UPDATE: Check out VexxHost’s current Easter Special Offer, where all rates are 50% off.

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Image Source: WikiPedia

Public Cloud

Public Cloud is probably the most common and basic type of cloud computing. And from the word it self, your data or system is being stored on a Public environment. Meaning you are using the same virtual servers with the other companies.

You might be thinking that your data will not be safe, right? Well, this doesn’t mean that when you upload your data on a public cloud, it doesn’t mean that it is not protected. Of course, your cloud service provider is the one who handles the protection of your data.

Public Cloud are usually best for companies who are running SaaS applications, limited budget, needs a place for testing and developing software and other non specialized cases.

Public Cloud are usually pay as you go. You only need to pay for the amount that you used for their servers. It’s like an electric bill.

Private Cloud

Meanwhile, a Private Cloud is the opposite of a public cloud (although they function similarly). There are dedicated server for each company, and they don’t share with other companies. Private cloud offers a greater level of security and control and can be tailored for companies with highly specific requirements.

Private cloud tends to be costly (compared to the cheaper alternative that Public Cloud offers) since you have to pay for a dedicated server. The server can be placed your company’s data center or on a colocation provider.

Private clouds are usually for companies that requires more security, specialized or customized type of infrastructure, companies that requires strict data privacy and has enough IT resource.

Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid Cloud could be the best type of setup for your company as it offers the best of both a Public and a Private Cloud has to offer. Hybrid cloud is not as expensive or costly as a Private cloud, but they can offer the same strict security measure that a private cloud can.

More and more companies as shifting to a Hybrid Cloud setup this 2013, since it provides the flexibility that they need at the same time being cost-effective. Data are being stored privately on this type of cloud computing, but the company can easily utilize the resources of a Public cloud when they need to.

Hybrid Cloud are great for companies that experience traffic spikes and need burst resources on demand, wants a more secure environment for their SaaS applications, and needs the features of both a Public and a Private cloud has to offer.

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EVault, in line with its second annual survey, has released an infographic showing how the demand for data grows as companies fight to keep up. According to the infographic, companies store more and more data that is why 70% expect the amount of data they manage will continue to climb.

It also shows that Hybrid Cloud is the environment of choice. Around 30% utilize a hybrid backup environment, which is the most common strategy. However 60% of the companies from the survey are not using a hybrid solution, but they are planning to use one. See more details at the infographic below.

via

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Among the types of Cloud Computing, Public Cloud has the largest issue, since it is public, your files or data can be accessed by anyone. Even though there are securities installed, there is still a possibility of data breach and your data being stolen.

To learn more about Cloud Security Adoption and to give us some statistics, CA Technologies has published an infographic called “Who’s Minding Your Cloud“.

Source CA Technologies via

Check out two of the most trusted Cloud Service Providers when it comes to Cloud Security: Firehost and Connectria

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If you are wondering how did BSA ranked the nations, they based it on the country’s support for data privacy, cybercrime prevention, security, free trade, intellectual property rights, information technology readiness, broadband deployments, and industry-led standards.

Top 10 Best Countries for Cloud Computing

1. Japan
2. Australia
3. United States
4. Germany
5. Singapore
6. France
7. United Kingdom
8. South Korea
9. Canada
10. Italy

Singapore adopted a new privacy law that basically recognizes people’s right to protect their personal information and companies’ need to use data for reasonable purposes. Because of this, Singapore’s ranking rose up from 10th place last 2012, to 5th place this year, according to BSA.

Meanwhile the USA got 3rd place because of the useful advances in standards development for cloud computing and infrastructure improvements rather than major policy improvements within the US. This pushed the Germany to 4th place. Other countries like India, Russia and Canada also moved up rankings by implementing international IP agreements.

According to BSA, “trade agreements are an important component of a nation’s cloud competitiveness and should encourage the free movement of data and applications across borders”. Further they added that the “Governments must work to establish a framework that is rigorous enough to meet individual countries’ privacy concerns but flexible enough to ensure the free flow of cross-border data transfers. To ensure the growth of cloud computing, the obligations in forward-looking trade agreements should: explicitly prohibit restrictions on the provision of cross-border data services; prohibit requiring the use of local computing infrastructure, such as servers, as a condition for providing, or investing in the provision of, cloud services in the country; prohibit the use of standards and licensing requirements in ways that restrict trade; and cover purchase by private businesses and consumers and government procurement, including by state-owned enterprises.”

There were no explanation or citation provided as to why Japan is considered the number 1 best country for Cloud Computing.

source

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According to the Infographic State of SaaS, global revenue will double starting from $10 billion on 2012 up to $21.3 billion this coming 2015. Also, according to their data, the top 10 SaaS companies are salesforce, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Workday, Intuit, Zuora, Pardot, NetSuite and Marketo. Saleforce is thought of as “The Founder” of SaaS industry and it’s still number 1.

For more details about The State of SaaS, check out the infographic below.

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