Friday, January 3rd, 2014

Time	Event
1:00p	Coming in 2014: Cloud Sprawl, Personal Clouds and More What does the road ahead hold for cloud computing in 2014? Bill Kleyman offers his thoughts. Every year around this time, technologists look to the future to see what might be next. There was a lot of innovation in 2013, with many new technologies and solutions emerging to enhance cloud, virtualization and the data center. As organizations continue to evolve and change the way they consume information, the world of IT will have to follow suit. The user is also evolving, taking in vast amounts of data in entirely new ways. So what can we expect in 2014?  The way we compute on a distributed scale will be changing and becoming much better, but there will also be challenges. Let’s take a look. Cloud sprawl. We’ve had all sorts of other sprawling issues. Why not the cloud? Remember, virtualization and cloud computing play very closely together. It’s very easy to have rogue VMs sitting in your own data center. In some cases, it’s just as easy to do so in the cloud. If you don’t manage your resources or your cloud instances, you will encounter serious sprawling problems. Some organizations that are new to the cloud need to understand that this platform comes with costs. In 2014, make sure you have good controls around your cloud environment regardless of the cloud model you adopt. The personal cloud. We spoke about this technology back in September. Now big vendors and technologists are all jumping on the personal cloud bandwagon. Imagine a little piece of you and your personality living in the cloud. This becomes, literally, your “digital self.” This digital you would browse online, buy things, access remote applications, download data, and utilize technology just like you would normally. However, your own personal cloud also learns how you compute and helps completely optimize your experience. Here’s the big piece: your personal cloud will understand anomalies. For example, if your personal cloud sees you buying random gear and shipping it to a different country, it’ll raise a flag on your behalf. Your personal cloud will be your personal guide to the cloud and the future Internet. Evolution of the hybrid cloud model. Already we’re seeing some huge pushes from big companies around hybrid cloud delivery and control. We’ve got management platforms, hypervisor manufacturers, and even providers all offering hybrid cloud solutions. In the future, almost all cloud models will be some type of hybrid platform. With so much interconnected infrastructure spanning private and public zones, many cloud environments will simply be referred to as a hybrid cloud. Identifiers like regions, zones and organizational types would become new ways to differentiate services. Having the capability to expand existing resources into the cloud will grow in popularity as more organizations extend their environments into a hybrid cloud model. New types of security. There’s going to be a lot of innovation around this area. Information is traveling greater distances and becoming much more valuable. Because organizations are presenting themselves on a larger scale, cloud security becomes a big concern. New types of security appliances, services, and virtual security platforms will all make their way into the data center of the future. The modern infrastructure will be interspersed with both physical and virtual security solutions creating contextual identities around users, devices and the data that traverses the organizational cloud. Already we are seeing compliance and regulation rules bend to better support cloud computing. New security methods will help with applications, data and user controls as cloud computing becomes even more prevalent. Better application integration. There is becoming less focus on the operating system and a lot more focus around the application itself. We’ve been able to abstract data, applications and the hardware to create new types of delivery models. Application integration is critical for the growth of cloud computing and the future data center. New APIs will allow for fewer hops between applications and critical resource points. Moving forward, application development will take on new code, new ways to delivery its payload, and optimized way to secure the entire framework. The application of tomorrow will need to be hardware agnostic while still pushing the best possible user experience. True Mobility (data + devices). At first, it was all about BYOD. Now, we’ve become a bit wiser. The true definition of mobility really doesn’t revolve around anything physical. Rather, it’s the user’s ability to access applications and their data as efficiently as possible. This could be from a computer, a phone, or even a tablet. The user is not tied to any piece of hardware. The future will revolve around true mobility in the sense that users will be able to obtain their necessary workloads regardless of the device they are using. The days of the PC are numbered. The “data on-demand” generation is constantly connected and always needs access to their information. Future technologies will revolve around optimizing the user’s ability to be mobility-ready. The new end-point. As we mentioned earlier, the dependence on a physical end-point will be diminishing. Organizations will want their users to be productive regardless of the device they’re using. Having to manage PCs, hardware lifecycles, refreshes, and patches can be very burdensome. This is why many organizations are looking at thin and zero clients as a solution. Plus, mobile-ready devices can help optimize user interaction even more. Some may argue that thin-client technology has been around for a while. Although this is true, the capabilities of the modern data center are more revolutionary. We have more bandwidth, high-density server gear, and the ability to stream virtual images. We’re no longer packing deprecated operating systems on minimalist hardware. We’re now delivering a full user experience via a virtual desktop or application to a truly optimized zero-client.   Robotics and automation. We’ve covered this topic in the past. We’ve received a lot of great feedback and points of debate. We had supporters and we’ve had challengers. The bottom line is that the market-makers are setting their sights on robotics and automation in the data center and the future cloud model. Google is buying up robotics shops, IBM is retro-fitting Roomba robots to gauge data center environmental variables, and entire automation services are being created to help organizations optimize their environments. Manufacturing, automotive, and warehousing all made the robotics and automation leap. The increase in data center reliance means that more infrastructure and even greater amounts of data will be inside of the environment. To maintain optimal data center efficiency, organizations will need to look at automation and robotics as a means to control their environment. We’re not there yet – but 2014 will see a lot of advancements around intelligent robotics. It’s always exciting to look into the future to see what new technologies are around the corner. Over the past few years, it really feels like someone pressed the fast-forward button on technology. We’ve seen entirely new compute methods emerge, new types of distributed networks, and truly advanced ways to control traffic. The data center is becoming increasingly intelligent and the modern organization is pretty much completely reliant on their IT infrastructure. Over the course of the next few years, nearly every organization will be in the cloud in some fashion. Even small organizations will realize that their entire infrastructure is completely cloud-based. The big changes will come around a few key areas: User mobility. Data center efficiency. Technological interconnection. With so many new ways to receive information, organizations will work to optimize delivery methods and create an infrastructure capable of meeting future demands. It’s going to be an interesting few years for a lot of verticals. Everything from manufacturing to healthcare will experience the information technology shift. Whether it’s creating more automation or allowing for HIPAA-compliant cloud-based file collaboration, the future technology model will need to be ever-robust; and ever-ready to take on new challenges. (Comment on this)
1:30p	Don’t Throw Out Dropbox, Not Yet Ronen Kenig is vice president of marketing and product management for Safe-T. RONEN KENIG Safe-T Dropbox’s vast scale — it boasts 200 million users with business users quadrupling in recent years — shows it’s becoming a valuable tool used for collaboration at the workplace. However, previous security breaches are forcing IT managers to proceed with caution. In 2012, Dropbox email addresses were successfully hacked and then used to send Dropbox users spam. In addition, Dropbox can put organizations at risk by not enabling them to comply with HIPAA, FERPA, SAS 70, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, or PCI certifications. As a result, many enterprises are forbidding the use of Dropbox – in fact, Dropbox is the number one banned application by Enterprises, according to a survey by Fiberlink. A more sobering thought is that Dropbox is not the only collaboration solution that can be more easily compromised. Other cloud file sharing solutions such as Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive have similar limitations. What Are The Risks? The reason why Dropbox introduces security risks is that it does not include adequate security controls or monitoring. For example, Dropbox is typically not integrated with an organization’s DLP (data loss prevention) solution that ensures that only authorized users transfer files and that sensitive data, such as credit card numbers and patient data doesn’t leak from the organization. In addition incoming data is not scanned for viruses and malware, putting the receiving organization at risk. Dropbox also does not include a full audit trail of which files were transferred, when and by whom, which is essential for documenting compliance to industry regulations. With the popularity of Dropbox, IT managers can assume that employees are using it even without official approval, and as a result sensitive data is already exposed. This data might remain on the cloud forever without any control or monitoring. Hackers are aware that Dropbox can contain important data and often make breaching Dropbox a high priority target and they will do whatever it takes to access this information. Despite the risk, users are not likely to volunteer to give up using Dropbox on their own. Email systems in most organizations don’t enable the transfer of large files (10MB and over), forcing employees to find other alternatives. When users need file sync and share services to collaborate with business partners, remote users and customers, Dropbox is easy to use and the most accessible solution available. If the organization does not provide its users with an easy to use file sync and share solution, then users will find creative, unofficial ways to share their data, which will most likely include Dropbox. There are other proprietary solutions available as an alternative to Dropbox, but they often add a level of complexity which users resist when they are under pressure to transfer a file. These system include encrypting passwords, requiring recipients to install specialized software, and other additional steps that complicate the process of file transfers and can force users to go back to Dropbox. Making Dropbox Secure Rather than replacing Dropbox, another layer of security can be added that would enable organizations to control which files are uploaded to Dropbox, and who has authority to share these files. An open solution that integrates easily with existing security tools of the organization such as DLP, anti-virus and authentication systems and Dropbox would enable all data shared to undergo authentication, data scanning and data encryption. These additional precautions significantly reduce the chances that data shared using Dropbox will be compromised. Such a system would also include a full audit trail of who transferred which files, enabling compliance in the healthcare, insurance and banking industries and over a dozen regulations including PCI DSS and HIPAA. Providing additional checks and balances can also be used for automated file transfers. This enhances IT productivity and reduces operational costs, by streamlining business processes which were previously done manually using standard file transfer solutions. Perhaps the most significant benefit is that files can be shared easily among partners, suppliers and customers, without requiring additional software or procedures on the receiving end. According to Gartner, by 2015, about 20 percent of current enterprise content management use cases will be fulfilled by cloud file sync and share services rather than traditional tools. The simpler the solution, the greater the chance that employees will use it. If they are required to change their habits too much there is always the risk that they will be tempted to go back to using Dropbox unprotected. By using security systems with add functionality to Dropbox to make it more secure, employees can do their work with the least amount of disruption, giving IT managers peace of mind knowing that their sensitive corporate data is well protected. Industry Perspectives is a content channel at Data Center Knowledge highlighting thought leadership in the data center arena. See our guidelines and submission process for information on participating. View previously published Industry Perspectives in our Knowledge Library. (Comment on this)
1:58p	Best of the Data Center Blogs for Jan. 3rd Here are some of the notable items we came across in this week’s surfing of the data center blogs: Telecom and Infrastructure M&A Predictions for 2014 - Over at Telecom Ramblings, Rob Powell offers some M&A predictions, including the possibility that NTT could buy Limelight Networks: “After buying RagingWire and Virtela, the one piece missing from NTT’s US enterprise cloud presence could be the fully scaled CDN and optimization capabilities that Limelight brings to the table. With EdgeCast in Verizon’s hands, I think that NTT will follow up with its own move.” Got New Year Resolutions? Get ‘Appy’ To Keep Yourself On Track - At the SunGard blog, Seema Sheth-Voss looks at New Year’s resolutions and the power of apps: “What is it about Runkeeper or Fitbit that spurs such a profound change in behavior, and can the similar attributes of these apps apply to work – specifically, to my world of enterprise software, business continuity, and risk management? Yes, I think they can.” Bigfoot’s Footprint Gets Bigger - Equinix had a series of year-end blog posts, including one reviewing its expansion: “In 2013, Bigfoot’s footprint got bigger as Equinix extended its global reach by opening eight new International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers. Highlights include IBX debuts in two countries, continued expansion into the Asia-Pacific region and a totally new way to do data centers with Equinix in Rio.” SDN Adoption Challenges: My Wrap Up For 2013 – At the Cisco Data Center Blog, Stephen Speirs takes a closer look at SDN:  ”I thought it would be a good idea to wrap up the year with a summary of my 2013 journey into the SDN world, and in particular the adoption challenges I learned about along the way.” (Comment on this)
3:30p	Friday Funny: Robots in the Data Center Happy New Year! It’s the first Friday of 2014, and that means it’s time for some fun before we get the weekend rolling. Diane Alber, the Arizona artist who created Kip and Gary, has a new cartoon for Data Center Knowledge’s cartoon caption contest. We challenge our readers to submit a humorous and clever caption that fits the comedic situation. Please add your entry in the comments below. Then, next week, our readers will vote for the best submission. Here’s Diane’s thoughts on this week’s cartoon, “I was inspired by this comic when I saw the title of an article written by Bill Kleyman, ‘An Interview with a Robotics Professional.’” Hearty congratulations to Jim Leach for submitting last week’s winning caption, “I said ‘airside economization’ not ‘outside economization!’” for our Natural Cooling cartoon. New to the caption contest? Here’s how it works: We provide the cartoon and you, our readers, submit the captions. We then choose finalists and the readers vote for their favorite funniest suggestion. The winner receives a hard copy print, with his or her caption included in the cartoon! For the previous cartoons on DCK, see our Humor Channel. (Comment on this)
4:00p	T5 Plans Expansion Into Northeast in 2014 A look at the Dallas data center operated by T5 Data Centers. (Photo: T5 Data Centers) T5 Data Centers plans to expand into the Northeast in 2014, according to President and CEO Pete Marin, who shared his outlook on the company and the industry in a year-end blog post. Marin offered no details on which markets T5 might consider, but noted that the company raised $193 million in capital in 2013, and is positioned to pursue “focused M&A activity” to support the company’s strategy if the right opportunities arise. “While 2013 had some interesting ups and downs, we believe that 2014 will continue to show more growth in the data center industry. Demand continues to outpace supply; outsourcing still has not taken hold in the wholesale area, however, we will see more of this in the coming 12 months; corporations will continue to hone their approach and the Intelligent Data Center Strategy (the right combination of Hybrid, Cloud, and Primary data centers) will dominate the thinking in the senior IT offices in 2014.” T5 currently offers wholesale data center space in business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Kings Mountain, North Carolina, with new projects announced in Portland and Colorado Springs. You can review Marin’s full post at the T5 Data Centers blog. (Comment on this)

<< Previous Day

2014/01/03 [Calendar]

Next Day >>