Latest News from Open Web

IBM Betas Test & Dev Cloud

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST

It’s called plainly enough IBM Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud and will provide compute and storage as a service with Rational Software Delivery Services, WebSphere middleware and Information Management database thrown in.

Richard Marcello from Unisys Makes the Enterprise Cloud Computing Case

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Marcello will be delivering the Expo's initial keynote address, at 2pm on Monday, delivering his views on why "The Time is Right for Enterprise Cloud Computing."Marcello, who spent many years at another enterprise technology giant, HP, before joining Unisys, outlined his vision and views in an exclusive interview with Jeremy Geelan in the runup to the Expo. During his keynote, he is expected to expound on his views, making the case for enterprise cloud computing in general and the role of Unisys in this market in particular.

First Week Fast Growth

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EDT

So, the first week "on the air" went very well. Not an easy week, but remarkable good. We rapidly increase our midstock and microstock collection of royalty free images and this keeps our hands busy all the time. The infrastructure we choose for www.pixamba.com is extremely versatile and can be adjusted according to the system load and storage capacity. Since both the load and the images collection growth all the time, and fast, we work around the clock ensuring high system uptime and short response time. It seems that we are on the right way: the response time of the system is very good even now and it is going to be even faster soon, when we'll do some more IT & development work.

To Stop the Cloud Storm, You Must See Inside the Running Cloud Application

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EDT

When application performance is not what the cloud customer expected, who’s at fault? The cloud provider’s infrastructure? The application owner’s code? The platform vendor’s deployment tools? The external services the application uses? The database tier? Only by seeing inside the production application as it is running can developers, cloud and platform providers, and IT operations teams find the answers and fix the problems. At the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo, Lewis Cirne will discuss how everyone concerned about application performance will need to monitor, troubleshoot and optimize cloud-based web applications. Visibility into the application layer is critical to successful cloud use.

Create Free Web Player with Moyea PlayerBox

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EDT

When creating and designing your website and blog, do you want to create your own web player to present videos? It's time to get your own player with Moyea PlayerBox, which facilitates player creation and player skinning with new version.

Cloud Expo Keynote Speaker Shelton Shugar to Discuss Yahoo! Cloud Services

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:45:00 EDT

Yahoo! is developing and utilizing Internet-scale cloud computing services to improve Yahoo! consumer experience, speed innovation, simplify operating environments, and reduce costs. Yahoo! Cloud Services are in production today supporting web-serving properties and data processing environments. Keynote Speaker Shelton Shugar will also discuss how Yahoo! Cloud Services store and deliver web content, personalize content for consumers, optimize Ad selection and placement, improve search results, provide scalable virtual computing environments, and process and store enormous amounts of data to improve consumer experiences and drive innovation.

CA to Discuss Cloud Security and Management at Cloud Computing Expo

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:30:00 EDT

CA today announced that two executives will present standalone sessions at the Cloud Computing Conference & Expo about how both service providers and IT organizations can help mitigate risks, such as performance, availability, change and security, in cloud environments. Tim Brown, CA distinguished engineer and chief security architect of CA's Security Management business unit, will present "Securing the Cloud and Establishing a Level Trust" on Wednesday, November 4 at 5:25 p.m. PT. The session will discuss security risks in cloud computing and the need for multiple organizations to establish a level of trust and security within the cloud, to manage and protect personal and business-confidential data and information.

Next-Generation On-Demand

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EDT

The SaaS pioneers have given us a taste of the potential of On-Demand, however, we've only scratched the surface in terms of what's to come and the future model for how the next generation of enterprise software will be delivered. In this session Sal Visca, Chief Technology Officer for SAP's Technology Development business, will walk through his perspective on where the world of Enterprise Software is headed next - putting On-Demand into the context of the enterprise world.

Top Infrastructure Headaches When Managing Applications in the Cloud

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EDT

This session addresses some of the biggest challenges in creating and launching successful web applications with little to no down time. As developers attempt to build the next best consumer-facing app to Twitter, Facebook and Hulu, the demand for scalable and reliable infrastructure will only increase. Chris Richardson, will also discuss how cloud computing has changed the web application landscape and address the missing elements in making sure future web apps are built for the masses.

Key Challenges in Cloud Computing, and How Yahoo! is approaching Them

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT

Cloud Computing is receiving a lot of attention, and a number of companies see it as a key to increased agility and efficiency. At the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo, Raghu Ramakrishnan will talk about the technology which is still at an early stage and many fundamental challenges need to be addressed before the full promise of the paradigm can be realized.

The Cloudy World of Disposable IT

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EDT

The way software is being developed and deployed is changing beyond recognition now: businesses can now mix and match existing premised-based processes run on legacy applications designed entirely on the Cloud without the need to translate business wishes into complex requirement specification documents. Jon Pyke will also talk about how applications can be used on-demand, and businesses can avoid capital expenditures almost entirely and that any operational expenditure exists only as a result of a revenue stream.

Cannibalizing Google App Engine

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EDT

Google App Engine is an integrated web-stack, so it may not be apparent that its computing resources can be dismembered and consumed in isolation. In this session Kevin Noonan will teach you how to use BigTable, the sweetmeat of Google technology, as a scalable database for desktop or remote web applications. Also learn how to run scheduled tasks and work queues to move App Engine beyond a web-stack to a general computing platform.

Law in the Cloud - How Lawyers and Clients Both Benefit from Cloud Computing

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EDT

Lawyers often get a bad rap -¬ just consider all of those ubiquitous lawyer jokes. Why? One reason for the "lawyer stigma" is because of the traditionally high cost of legal services, and that people often only talk to lawyers when things go wrong. Charley Moore will expand upon this because now, thanks to new applications of cloud computing, lawyers are changing the way they do business - so that both lawyers and clients can work together smarter.

Case Study: Disaster Recovery in the Storage Cloud

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:45:00 EDT

Iowa Health System (IHS) will share lessons learned from delivering private cloud storage services to its state-wide constituents including 11 hospitals and 130+ clinics. In particular, Tony Langenstein will share the dramatic story and photos from a catastrophic flood that incapacitated one of the main data centers, which hosted some of the cloud storage components. The discussion will focus around the issue protecting mission-critical data in the cloud.

Does Enterprise-Class Cloud Storage Really Exist?

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:45:00 EDT

As the market for cloud storage continues to heat-up, numerous cloud storage providers have started to emerge. However, Dr. Moe Kermani will discuss that it is not clear if these providers have the required infrastructure components to deliver an enterprise-class service that is supported by service level agreements.

Leveraging Cloud-Based Integration to Increase Customer Loyalty

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:15:00 EDT

In the current economic climate, keeping customers happy and protecting your revenue base is critical to survival and growth. Join customer relationship and integration expert Trisha Gross in this session to learn how to cost-effectively build business integration communities in the cloud to retain customers, grow revenue and beat the competition. Gross will provide real world examples of how companies use cloud-based integration to achieve business process automation with customer-related processes.

Partly Cloudy - The Need for Hybrid Clouds

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:45:00 EDT

Managing petabytes of unstructured data in the cloud brings forth both challenges and great opportunities. However, to fully benefit from cloud computing, we cannot look at it as new technology, but rather as an extension of today's existing IT infrastructure. In this session, Mike Feinberg, will address the key advantages of extending your infrastructure into the cloud in order to cost effectively scale and meet the growing demands of your business.

Cloud Computing as a Strategy: Enabling IT's Evolutionary Change

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:30:00 EDT

This session deconstructs cloud computing into its true value proposition. Traditional IT operations are buckling under the increased demand from business organizations. A significant change is needed. Game-changing strategies for IT organizations will be outlined to address this increase in demand. A "cloud" framework will be detailed that includes SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). At the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo, Tim Crawford will cover specific customer value opportunities and provider market opportunities.

Understanding the Relationship Between Workloads and the Cloud

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:15:00 EDT

The applications that support of an enterprise exhibit a wide range of operational characteristics. That diversity is the key to business success, but it has consequences. In his general session at Cloud Computing Conference & Expo, Tony Bishop, Founder and CEO of Adaptivity, discusses three different perspectives that must be accommodated. He will also discuss how Enterprise Cloud Computing enables IT as a service and is the next phase in data center evolution to solve this spiraling dilemma. How does business successfully operate this expensive investment? The solution lies with understanding workload characteristics fundamentals to tailor (but finite) solutions.

Google Apps: Not as Cheap as They Look

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:00:00 EDT

The city of Los Angeles can’t make up its mind whether to trash its clunky Novell system and go with Google Apps for e-mail and office applications, citing costs and necessity. It was supposed to be a showcase account for Google. The decision will now move from LA’s budget and finance committee to the full city council for a vote next week, according to the LA Times.

Adaptivity & Cloud Computing: Exclusive Q&A with CEO Tony Bishop

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:45:00 EDT

Adaptivity provides integrated solutions that automate IT Delivery optimization across enterprise computing environments. In this exclusive Q&A for Cloud Computing Journal with SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo Conference Chair, Jeremy Geelan, Tony Bishop – CEO of Adaptivity – discusses Adaptivity’s “IT Transformation Factory” and their Cloud Computing strategy.

Twitter Is Worth a Billion – An Analyst's View of Why

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:30:00 EDT

Twitter's $1 Billion valuation has definitely stolen the spotlight over the past few weeks. According to a recently released Twitter users study by Crowd Science among other findings: 11% of Twitter users admitted to accessing social media while driving during the preceding 30 days, compared with [...]

Eric Schmidt: Born to Pay Retail

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT

Google CEO Eric Schmidt hails from a culture born to pay retail. Remember Sun paid $2 billion for Cobalt Networks and might as well have lit cigars with the money, a billion for MySQL and $4.1 billion for StorageTek. So it’s no surprise to read on CNET that he thinks he paid a billion dollars too much for YouTube. CNET knows this because Eric said in a sworn deposition in May that he told his board the 18-month-old revenue-free video site was worth between $600 million and $700 million on a gut hunch yet – spooked that Microsoft or Yahoo would pluck it off the vine – paid $1.65 billion in stock for the thing.

Groundbreaking Agreement Between Verizon and Google

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Integral to this agreement is a commitment by the companies to devote substantial resources to accelerate delivery of leading-edge innovation that will put unique applications in the hands of consumers quickly. The two industry leaders will create, market and distribute products and services, with Verizon Wireless also contributing the breadth of its nationwide distribution channels. Consumers will be able to purchase products resulting from the collaboration in Verizon Wireless retail and online stores.

Ulitzer Aid Campaign for the Typhoon Ondoy Victims

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 09:30:00 EDT

Yesterday morning I checked the Ulitzer home page on my iPhone on my way to the office and I realized two of the top three stories were about the "Typhoon Ondoy" in Philippines. 36 hours later we still have three stories filed from Manila on Ulitzer's home page. Top Ulitzer stories on Ulitzer from around the 25 distinct subject categories it covers are processed every 60 minutes and displayed by an algorithm which we believe is more sophisticated than , say, Google News algorithms.

Cloud Computing By Industry

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:45:00 EDT

As enterprises seek to exploit cloud computing, business leaders are focused on new productivity benefits, on how to make the most of cloud computing for innovative solving of industry-level problems.

Has Virtualization Solved the Data Center Crisis?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT

Over the past several years, many IT departments have committed to virtualization as an antidote to the spiraling costs and inflexibility plaguing corporate data centers everywhere. By running applications on virtual servers and consolidating underutilized hardware, data centers can get maximum value from their equipment. Virtualization also makes IT more responsive to the needs of the business: rather than spending weeks or months to provision a physical server, a virtual server can be launched in minutes.

Cloud Computing & Federal IT - What Does the Future Hold?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:00:00 EDT

In a fast-moving discussion panel to round off an intense day of breakout sessions that is due to kick off with a keynote on Enterprise Cloud Computing by the Deputy CIO of the CIA, this SYS-CON.TV "Power Panel" will seek to match emerging federal cloud computing requirements against emerging capabilities from cloud providers to reveal the likely course of action for Federal decision makers. It will be moderated by Jeremy Geelan, GovIT Expo Conference Chair.

Google’s Out Shopping

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:45:00 EDT

With the worst of the economic downturn abating, Google, which stopped buying up small companies a few months ago ostensibly because prices were too high, is back scouting deals again. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Reuters TV that he expects to close a small acquisition a month. He described the purchase as “in lieu of hiring.”

Swedish Government Bans the Word "Bank" from .SE Domains

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:00:00 EDT

A major uproar has been brewing in Sweden over a recent government ruling banning the word "bank" from any Swedish domains that do not fit the official definition of a financial banking institution. (Basically *bank.se) On Thursday The Pirate Bay pledged it's support joining in the protest against the Swedish Post- and Telecoms Authority (PTS) The list has since started growing by hundreds of names per hour. It is run by the web host Binero to protest against the PTS decision to subject all Swedish se-domain names containing the word “bank” to an inspection prior to registration. This to insures that anyone that might be confused with a bank actually fulfills the legal requirements for one. It is a departure from international standards, where issues are solved, usually by a Uniform Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP) once they arise after registration.

The big concern isn't specifically about the word bank so much as it sets a precedent for other words in the future. Think about if words such as cloud or science or music require official approval by a government agency before you could register the domain.

The Swedish Bankers’ Association have lobbied for restrictions on domain names for a long time, making an interpretation of the Swedish law mandating that anyone using “Bank” as a name in their business must fulfill the requirements of one.

Their arguments is that the banks have not been able to show evidence of fraudulent “bank”-sites, that typosquatting would not be stopped, whereas many Swedes would have a more difficult time registering, that scrutinizing new businesses before domain registration would be injust and, above all, that the approval of name scrutinization prior to registration would spread to many other names; titles protected by law, names of public authorities, brands, racist words etc.

“To diverge from the democratic country norm of problem resolution post rather than pre registration, and to do it for a common word and name like “Bank” is dangerous. It makes it legally and logically plausible for many groups to lobby for scrutinizing an unforeseeable number of other words and names pre registration as well,”said Binero CEO Anders Aleborg, continuing:

“All countries have the same problem and lobby groups like our big banks. There is a big risk that this form of net censorship might spread if Sweden does it.”

--------------------

For more information:

Anders Aleborg, CEO, Binero, +46 768-04 42 00, anders.aleborg@binero.se

Erik Arnberg, Marketing Manager, Binero, +46 70-398 75 34, erik.arnberg@binero.se

Swedish Government IT-advisor Patrik Fältström (Paf) blog: http://stupid.domain.name/node/812#comment

.SE home page re: this: http://www.iis.se/en/domaner/bank-i-domannamn/

PTS English home page: http://www.pts.se/en-gb/

Namnbank.se (Swedish): http://www.namnbank.se

Press pictures, Anders Aleborg, http://blogg.binero.se/press/

Binero AB is a web host and registrar with the ambition of being the friendliest in Sweden; transparency, honesty and friendliness.

Moore’s Law and the Cloud Inflection in IT Staffing

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:00:00 EDT

I was in a meeting last week with Gartner’s Ben Pring and he made an interesting observation that cloud computing at the end is just a result of Moore’s law. The concept is fairly simple and charts a path of increasingly distributed computing from mainframes, to minicomputers, to workstations and PCs (which resulted in client/server), [...]

Why A Neutral Internet Is Crucial

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:30:00 EDT

In the most high-profile case on net neutrality, last year the FCC ruled Comcast illegally placed limits on broadband customers using peer-to-peer services. Comcast is appealing the ruling, but this is exactly what open Internet advocates and the FCC want to prevent. Why ? Because it would adversely impact innovation and impede the potential an open and neutral internet can create.

To illustrate the importance of net neutrality consider this: if you had a choice between a large, established Internet company with deep pockets to pay for faster access; you'd be more likely to use their service over a small start-up that might have a more innovative services but lacked the money to pay for similar speeds. What the major players want is to eliminate competition and use their present advantages to snuff out future competitive threats. Remember when you had to buy your telephone from one supplier - AT&T ? Recall how AT&T fought the FCC over the deregulation of the telecommunicaiton industry ? Well we're here again, but the stakes are higher now.

In 2005, the FCC adopted four principles for net neutrality. These principles say that network operators cannot block users from accessing Internet content that is legal and they can't prevent consumers from attaching devices, like a TiVO or online gaming console, to the Internet. Basically the pipeline cannot govern content and companies with deep pockets cannot use their resources to block innovative competitors.

This week FCC head Genachowski added two new principles. Network providers can't discriminate against certain types of Internet traffic and they have to be transparent in how they manage their networks. Critical pieces to maintain the net as an open platform and despite fortunes being spent on Congressional lobbyist and contributions to candidates.

Even more profound was the decision to extend these rules to wireless networks. With mobile computing and smartphones emerging as one of the most profound innovations of our time, it's essential that these networks be kept open so that this market can continue to flourish and evolve.

The policy announcement was not a surprise given Obama's support for the cause during the campaign. If you believe in the great potential of technology and the Internet and you live in the U.S., contact your congressional representatives and let them know - we need a neutral net.

Open Source Groupware Partner Summit Approaching

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:00:00 EDT

This is an update on the upcoming (and first ever) Open-Xchange Partner Summit. Open-Xchange offers open source collaboration services as both an on-premise solution and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) using exactly the same source code -- enabling SaaS providers and on-premise channel partners to join forces and leverage their respective strengths. System integrators and resellers can partner with service providers to offer hosted Open-Xchange to their customer base without any upfront investments to set up a complex and secure hosting infrastructure. SaaS providers can benefit from resellers' and system integrators' local and regional customer base and in-depth technical and consulting expertise.

Yahoo! Named “Platinum Sponsor” of Cloud Computing Expo

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EDT

SYS-CON Events announced today that Yahoo!, a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide, was named "Platinum Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 4th International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo (www.CloudComputingExpo.com), which will take place on November 2 - 4, 2009, Santa Clara Convention Center, in Santa Clara, California.

Chrome Polish

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:15:00 EDT

Google’s Chrome browser claims a bit under 3% of the market right now, but Chrome engineering director Linus Upson told Reuters that it expects to be at 5% at least in a year and if it’s not at 10% at least in two years, it’ll be “exceptionally disappointed.” It just released Chrome v3 and expects to support the Mac before the end of the year.

GovIT Expo Highlights Cloud Computing

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:15:00 EDT

I happy to announce my appointment by SYS-CON to be the Technical Chair of the 1st Annual Government IT Conference & Expo. This event is a 1-day deep dive into how cloud computing is changing the way that Federal agencies leverage, procure and utilize IT. GovITExpo, which is being held October 6, 2009 in Washington, DC, builds on the success of SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo.

Data Liberation Front Promises Escape from Google

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:30:00 EDT

For the last two years Google, which hasn’t exactly been in a position to lecture anybody about the evils of lock-in, has been harboring a small team of counterculture engineers in Chicago that style themselves the Data Liberation Front quietly working to cut the shackles that condemn captive users to remaining customers of Google services because their data is held hostage.

Don’t Get Stuck in a Cloud

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:15:00 EDT

Cloud computing is in fact a real phenomenon and does create great technological and business value. Simply put, cloud computing allows one to build network applications without having to worry about the network. So far, so good; but what is the catch?

Internet Enabled Industrial Controller: Orchid Technologies

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:06:29 EDT

Hundreds of on-campus laundry facilities nationwide were waiting. Internet-enabled laundry control and monitoring services to thousands of college students might have to wait yet another semester. Orchid was called in to design, build, and test a new controller—in record time! Laundromat control requires the application of low cost, industrial quality electronics with high reliability. Multiple machines in variable configurations and conditions require high pin-count digital and analog interface electronics.

Jailed Satyam Founder Has Heart Attack

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EDT

Founder and former Satyam Computer Services CEO Ramalinga Raju, 54, the admitted bad boy of India who overstated the company's revenues by a billion dollars more or less, suffered a reported heart attack Monday afternoon while in the calaboose awaiting imminent trial. He's in the hospital. He's also got type C hepatitis, common in intravenous drug users from sharing of contaminated needles and also seen in hemophiliacs and people who have had blood transfusions or treatment with blood products. Most of the time the medical establishment has no idea were it comes from. He's looking at life in prison.

The Cloud Computing Announcement of the Year

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EDT

Last night Amazon announced the most significant cloud development of 2009 – the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). The AWS Developer Blog version is here. The importance of VPC cannot be overstated. It will literally change how enterprises think about public cloud providers and the opportunity to gain efficiency and flexibility in datacenter operations. By integrating [...]

Facebook Open Sources FriendFeed Code

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 06:45:00 EDT

Interesting developments today in the scalable real time web front. In a rather unexpected move, Facebook has released a project called Tornado -- an open source version of the scalable, non-blocking web server and and tools that power FriendFeed.

Dumpster Diving vs. The Bit Bucket

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:15:00 EDT

Which is safer – a digital shopping cart or a metal shopping cart? Most (or many...some?) of us take great care to keep our personal Identity information safe. We make sure we send sensitive info over an encrypted tunnel, we use strong passwords for our various digital vaults, and other protective measures when navigating the [...]

Challenger Mobile Joins the Google Android Movement

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EDT

Challenger Mobile, the white label mobile VoIP technology company, has announced the launch during the fall of its ground-breaking platform for Google's Android mobile operating system. Challenger Mobile will allow mobile operators, wireless ISPs and related service providers to now deliver mVoIP services to customers switching to Android-based mobile phones, which utilize the innovative operating system developed by one of the tech world's biggest companies -- Google.

An Internet Computing Definition

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT

I thought I'd try and interesting experiment by preforming a find & replace of the word "Cloud" with the word "Internet" using the Draft NIST Working definition of Cloud Computing. The results sheds some interesting light on some of the key problems facing the term cloud computing and how it's defined. Next time you're reading a cloud article, try replacing the word cloud with Internet and see what happens.
An Internet Computing Definition

Augmented Reality & Geotags

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:00 EDT

GPS co-ordinates, camera angle and range are among the key data points needed for Augmented reality (AR) to work (apart from the ability to 'layer on' content and context in the mobile display - no minor feat either). But it is worth remembering that it

What Server Does SproutCore Run On?

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:45:00 EDT

Ha ha! Trick question! SproutCore is a client-side application framework (unlike, say, Google Web Toolkit).

No part of SproutCore “runs” on the server, and SproutCore contains no “server-side” libraries. A web server (Apache, for example) is only used to deliver plain old HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to the browser. Once those initial files have been served, a SproutCore-based application runs entirely in the browser (and can easily be run “offline”, with no network access at all).

Any server that can receive HTTP requests (which is all of them) can interact with a running SproutCore application, via XHR calls. Here’s some example languages and servers you could use to interact with a SproutCore application at runtime: CGI scripts, Java, .Net, PHP, Perl, Python, Django, Ruby, Rails/Merb/Rack, WebObjects, WebDav and countless others.

During development, SproutCore’s own HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and any custom HTML, JavaScript and CSS you write can be easily served to the browser using a trivial Ruby/Rack-based server included with the SproutCore buildtools and launched with the sc-server command. The sc-server command and SproutCore buildtools are not used once your SproutCore application is deployed to users; they are merely a development aid.

When you are ready to deploy, SproutCore’s buildtools provide an sc-build command—used to generate a static directory of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that you would then upload to a production-quality web server such as Apache or lighttpd. sc-build will combine, pack, and minify the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—and generate cache-friendly URLs. The same directory structure you used with sc-server during development is accepted by sc-build for deployment, making this an easy, one-step process.

Note: SproutCore (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) and SproutCore’s buildtools (Ruby, Rack) are separate projects and can be used independently. For example, this website is built using SproutCore’s buildtools, but not SproutCore itself (it is a website after all, not an application).

Hat tip to Jacob Kaplan-Moss for noticing that we hadn’t moved the docs for this aspect of SproutCore prominently to the new SproutCore 1.0 website.

High-Performance Data Services with Smart Caching

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:30:00 EDT

One of the main concerns among IT architects planning an implementation of an enterprise data virtualization layer in their service-oriented architecture (SOA) or overall information system is the performance of the participating data services. Performance becomes particularly important in real- or near-real-time environments as well as in environments with highly distributed data sources where network latency cannot be controlled.

What if God Texted the Ten Commandments?

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:45:00 EDT

CEOs are known for flawless communication, right? We understand their ideas and can execute on them. Well, maybe...it depends on the communication vehicle they select.

When leaders speak or write, we have the chance to capture the flavor and nuances of their communication: in depth insights. But with Twitter and text messaging, some of that brilliance and subtly can get lost. Corporate mission statements in 140 characters? Hmmm...maybe not a bad idea. But for critical communications, perhaps social media is not the best choice.

In a wonderfully creative post, Jamie Quatro at Mcseeenys posted what a CEO's strategy might look like in text. BTW, the CEO happens to be God.

So how would God communicate his vision and strategy for mankind, i.,e the Ten Commandments, if he had to use text? Here is Jamie's wickedly inventive text version of the Big 10:

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg's
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok - ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf's m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.
M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl. ttyl, JHWH. ps. wwjd?

Note to earthly CEOs: to avoid confusion, maybe you should keep vision and strategy statements off of Twitter!

Amazon's Virtual Private Cloud Is Everything and More

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:30:00 EDT

Well not to say I didn't see this coming over a year ago, Amazon has finally seen the light and rolled out a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). Amazon describes their new Virtual Private Cloud in much the same way we do at Enomaly.

To recap, my original definition of a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is as a method for partitioning a public computing utility such as EC2 into quarantined virtual infrastructure. A VPC may encapsulate multiple local and remote resources to appear as a single homogeneous computing environment bridging the ability to securely utilize remote resources as part of an seamless global compute infrastructure. A core component of a VPC is a virtual private network (VPN) and or a virtual LAN (Vlan) in which some of the links between nodes are encrypted and carried by virtual switches.

According to the new VPC website, the "Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) is a secure and seamless bridge between a company’s existing IT infrastructure and the AWS cloud. Amazon VPC enables enterprises to connect their existing infrastructure to a set of isolated AWS compute resources via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection, and to extend their existing management capabilities such as security services, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems to include their AWS resources. Amazon VPC integrates today with Amazon EC2, and will integrate with other AWS services in the future."

VPC definitions and terminology aside the new service is important for a few reasons.

1. In a sense Amazon now has publicly admitted that private clouds do exist and the core differentiation is isolation (what I call quarantined cloud infrastructure), be it virtual or physical.

2. Greater Hybrid Cloud Interoperability & Standardized Network Security by enabling native VPN capabilities within their cloud infrastructure and command line tools. Amazon's VPC has added a much greater ability to interoperate with existing "standardized" VPN implementations including:

Ability to establish IKE Security Association using Pre-Shared Keys (RFC 2409).
Ability to establish IPSec Security Associations in Tunnel mode (RFC 4301).
Ability to utilize the AES 128-bit encryption function (RFC 3602).
Ability to utilize the SHA-1 hashing function (RFC 2404).
Ability to utilize Diffie-Hellman Perfect Forward Secrecy in “Group 2” mode (RFC 2409).
Ability to establish Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peerings (RFC 4271).
Ability to utilize IPSec Dead Peer Detection (RFC 3706).
Ability to adjust the Maximum Segment Size of TCP packets entering the VPN tunnel (RFC 4459).
Ability to reset the “Don’t Fragment” flag on packets (RFC 791).
Ability to fragment IP packets prior to encryption (RFC 4459).
(Amazon also plans to support Software VPNs in the near future.)

3. Further proof that Amazon is without any doubt going after the enterprise computing market where a VPN capability is arguably one of the most requested features.

4. Lastly greater network partitioning, using Amazon's VPC, your EC2 instances are on your network. They can access or be accessed by other systems on the network as if they were local. As far as you are concerned, the EC2 instances are additional local network resources -- there is no NAT translation. A seemless bridge to the cloud.

In the blog post announcing the new service, I found their hybrid cloud use case particularly interesting; "Imagine the many ways that you can now combine your existing on-premise static resources with dynamic resources from the Amazon VPC. You can expand your corporate network on a permanent or temporary basis. You can get resources for short-term experiments and then leave the instances running if the experiment succeeds. You can establish instances for use as part of a DR (Disaster Recovery) effort. You can even test new applications, systems, and middleware components without disturbing your existing versions."

This was exactly the vision I outlined in my original post describing the VPC concept. I envisioned a VPC in which you are given the ability to virtualize the network giving it particular characteristics & appearance that match the demands as well as requirements of a given application deployed in the cloud regardless of whether it's local or remote. Amazon seems to realize that cloud computing isn't a big switch to cloud computing where suddenly you stop using existing "private" data centers. But instead the true opportunity for enterprise customers is a hybrid model where you use the cloud as needed, when needed, and if needed and not a second longer then needed.

I also can't help wondering how other cloud centric VPN providers such as CohesiveFT will respond to the rather sudden addition of VPN functionality, which in a single move makes third party VPN software obsolete or at very least not nearly as useful. (I feel your pain, remember ElasticDrive?) I am also curious to see how other IaaS providers such as Rackspace respond to the move, it may or may not be in their interest to offer compatible VPC services that allow for a secure interface between cloud service providers. The jury's still out on this one.

Let me also point out that although Amazon's new VPC service does greatly improve network security, it is not a silver bullet and the same core risks in the use of virtualization still remain. If Amazon's hypervisor is exploited, you'd never know it and unless your data never leaves an encrypted state it's at risk at one end point or another.

At Enomaly we have also been working on enhanced VPC functionality for our cloud service provider customers around the globe. For me this move by Amazon is a great endorsement of an idea we as well as others have been pushing for quite awhile.

On a side note, before you ask, Yes, I'm just glad I bought the VirtualPrivateCloud.com./.net/.org domain names when I wrote the original post. And yes, a place holder site and announcement is coming soon ;)