Is the Cloud Falling From the Sky?

An article on ZDnet outlined an incident that affects anyone who puts information up on the aforementioned “cloud”..
First of all what is a cloud?
Cloud computing describes computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. Parallels to this concept can be drawn with the electricity grid where end-users consume power resources without any necessary understanding of the component devices in the grid required to provide the service.
The blogosphere was buzzing Monday with news of Google’s Gmail outage. ZDNet’s Larry Dignan outlined backup options, while young Zack Whittaker could barely contain his glee that Microsoft wasn’t alone in hosing a major webmail product. And yet, despite the inconvenience, the sky simply isn’t falling. The cloud is alive and well and Gmail remains one heck of a safe place to store your email (and everything else for that matter).
The outage referred to an incident last week when Google lost 38,00 users email account information. Basically for these affected users, their Gmail homepage looked like it did the first day they singed up for the service. This called into question obvious concerns regarding the safety of the cloud as a storage hub for individuals information.
As Christopher Dawson explains, Every time something like this happens, cloud naysayers take the opportunity to tell us why it’s a bad idea to store valuable information out in this mythical, mystical cloud. Those naysayers are usually no fans of Google, since the web giant has so much riding on cloud strategies and would just love for all of us to join them in embracing the unseen, distributed web. It’s not like Google has a competing desktop product for what it does. The Chrome OS only solidifies the idea that computers need merely be portals to the web with anything of value stored and synced across Google’s servers.
Therefore we are all left with our fingers crossed, and are eyes turned up toward the Google gods, hoping that every time we punch in our UN’s and PW’s that we see our electronic correspondence safe and sound up on the cloud.

Cisco "Mozy's" up with A Backup Solution

This blog is a reprint of Lucas Mearian’s article on ITnews.com

Cisco Systems today unveiled a cloud storage feature for its series of entry-level desktop NSS 300 Series Smart Storage storage arrays.

The Mozy hosted backup service, which has been added to the array's management software, is designed to let users set up automatic cloud-based backups, said David Tucker, vice president of Cisco's small business technology group.

"The Mozy feature allows you to specify the files you want backed up to the cloud on a daily basis, so it can be very painless for the customer," Tucker said. "Let's say I've got files critical for my business and want to make sure I go one step further than on-site backup. This allows you to do that."

Cisco launched the NSS 300 Series Smart Storage arrays, its first desktop storage offering, last year. The arrays consist of two-bay, four-bay and six-bay desktop network storage boxes with up to 12TB of capacity based on 2TB SATA drives.

The NSS 300 line supports file sharing and backup for Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms. It can be set up in a variety of RAID configurations including RAID 0, 1, 5 and 6 (dual-disk drive failure resiliency).

Retail pricing of the arrays, which can be configured as network-attached storage (NAS) or as iSCSI target devices, ranges from $913 to $5,625, depending on capacity and functionality.

Mozy online backup service plans start at $145 for 25GB for one year.

Joe Carretta

The TNS Group

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What is worth $960 Million?

Dell agreed to buy data storage company Compellent Technologies for about $960 million in cash, to expand beyond PCs and catch up with rivals Hewlett-Packard and IBM in technologies like cloud computing according to an article on CNBC.com

Shares of Dell were lower Monday after it announced that it would offer $27.75 a share for Compellent, a price that is about a 3 percent discount to Compellent's closing price on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Monday's deal was widely expected after Dell and Compellent announced last week that they were holding "advanced discussions." At that time, Dell said it would bid $27.50 a share.

In an attempt to position themselves for an economic recovery and become "one stop shops" for corporate clients' technology needs, Dell, HP, and International Business Machines have chased deals in the past year. Three months ago Dell lost out to HP in a bidding war for another storage firm, 3Par.

Dell sees the Compellent deal, expected to close in early 2011, adding to its adjusted earnings in fiscal year 2012, it said on Monday.

Data storage plays a crucial role in cloud computing, the accessing of remote computing power and data over the Internet. Dell entered this market in 2008 with its purchase of EqualLogic.

Compellent specializes in storage and recovery of data for small and medium-sized businesses, compared to the high end business targeted by 3Par. Dell said it plans to keep Compellent's existing operations in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

While some analysts have said Dell did well to settle for the more affordable option, others have said Compellent, unlike 3Par, is not capable of addressing the needs of customers with large data centers.

Some analysts and bankers say NetApp could also be a target, but at a market capitalization of nearly $20 billion, they say it could be too big and the major technology companies have already bought storage technologies.

Joe Carretta

Printin' All Over The World

Although it may come as a surprise, printing is one of the most cost intensive areas of IT services. Think about it. How many times a day do you print? How many printers does your office own? Do you find yourself throwing out unnecessary pages? Have you ever thought of how much ink you were using by re-printing that colorful presentation?

Technological innovators such as Google and HP are coming up with ways to ease the troubled responses to these questions. Once again, the answer lies in the cloud. Cloud printing allows users to print on any application, on any device, to any printer in the world. This technology will change the game now that more and more businesses are relying on various devices (tablets, desktops, laptops) and working on a global scale with mobile applications. In other words, an executive can now print a document from his iPad to a printer in his office, all while sitting in an Amtrak train en route to a meeting.

Although cloud printing is not yet mainstream, companies should keep a lookout for it because it offers many advantages. Aside from saving on the cost to maintain several printers, cloud printing is the most "on demand" form of printing for increasingly mobile employees. Cloud printing is also secure because users can print documents to a specified printer without having to save it on the device, which is beneficial for maintaining the security of data storage.

Keep an eye out for new software such as ThinPrint and HubCast to transform the game of printing, and remember to check back here at The TNS Group blog or our website for the latest information on how to keep your company up to date in the fast-pace world of IT.

Our Heads Are in the Clouds

There is much discussion in the technology world about the topic of virtualization and, specifically, cloud computing. But what exactly does this mean?

Cloud computing is Internet based computing which allows the sharing of resources, information, and software among multiple computers. It originally developed due to the ease of accessibility provided by Internet-based resources. It is known as "cloud" computing because the cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, as abstract depictions in diagrams of the Internet are often drawn as clouds.

Some of the key features of cloud computing are:

- Improves the speed of technological infrastructures
- Reduces costs
- Allows users to access systems via the Internet, no matter where they are or what device they are using (compatible with PCs as well as mobile devices)
- Enables sharing of resources across a large range of users
- Extremely reliable, allowing for business continuity and disaster recovery
- Improved security
- Easier maintenance of applications

Hopefully, this explanation has helped to clear up any confusion you may have had about cloud computing. If your business is interested in improving your infrastructure with virtualization, contact The TNS Group and ask us about our Total Care Solution.