Category Archives: Cloud Computing
Microsoft Betting on Something Much Bigger than Cloud Computing, Google Still Client-Hunting – 1redDrop
It has been barely four years since Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the companys Mobile First, Cloud First strategy. Instead of basking in the glory of new-found success in Cloud, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has now announced that the time has to come to move on from a Mobile First, Cloud First strategy towards a more cloud-focused Intelligent Cloud, Intelligent Edge strategy.
During his keynote address at Build 2017, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said this (starts at 13:10 on the video):
And here comes the best part: he added that the entire conference is about talking about this massive shift thats going to play out in the years to come and then he went on to define the three fundamental characteristics of this new application pattern.
But the real crux here is how Microsoft has changed its course in its cloud journey, from just focusing on Infrastructure and Software as a Service, towards Edge Computing.
Thats a massiveparadigm shift, because current cloud infrastructure services are the polar opposite of what Edge Computing entails.
Infrastructure services, as currently offered by all the lead cloud providers, is a centralized system. Microsoft and all the big cloud players have poured billions of dollars towards building data centers where all the data flows in, gets computedand then flows back to the end user. But Edge Computing is a completely distributed model, where most of the computation or at least a significant portion of it is done closer to the place of data generation.
Most of the time, there is very little need for data to flow back and forth to the nearest data center on a continuous basis.Edge Computing will still need these large data centers to operate as its backup and storage points, but not as the backbone of the entire cloud, which is how it is used right now. Thats because most of the heavy lifting will be done within the edge devices that sit close to the point where the data is actually generated.
The entire cloud computing industry is still in its early stages of development, but the growth of IoT and AI is already pushing the industry towards a completely different direction, and it is perfectly understandable
Lets take smart cars to understand the new phenomenon. We all know that every major automaker and tech company is now racing towards autonomous driving. To make that possible, self-driving cars generate huge amounts of data every second, process that and make a decision as quickly as possible.
Ideally, that should all happen within nanoseconds to milliseconds the faster the better. Latency on the cloud, because of varying Internet speeds, congestion and so on, aremajor deterrents to that objective at the moment, even though it might only be slower by sub-second delays. Having near-zero delay, however, is an extremely unreliable feature of the current cloud computing setup, yet almost a prerequisite of autonomous vehicle technology on the scale at which it is being planned.
Now consider another scenario:
What you have is a device that sits in the car, has the ability to use AI to process the humongous amount of data that all the sensors, cameras and data capturedevices in the car generate, processes that information in nanoseconds and delivers the results almost immediately. That device in questionmight even piggy back on cloud data centers once in a while for non-critical tasks that are still resource-intensive.
The end result of that is immediate action on huge amounts of data to the tune of 150 GB per second for each autonomous or connected car, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Now that will really put the autonomous back into autonomous vehicle technology, something thats sorely lacking now.
These devices that are capable of such computational power are called edge devices, because they sit close to the place of data generation and do the heavy lifting right there instead of sending data over a dodgy Internet connection to a cloud data center.
To put it simply, edge devices will multiple the utility of AI many times over, and thats more than enough of a reason for tech companies to embrace this distributed or decentralized form of cloud computing.
Companies like Google and Oracle have just gotten their feet wet in the cloud and are still scrambling for the next big client, whileMicrosoft is already pushing full steam ahead in a completely new direction. In the world of technology, the only thing that you cancount on is change, and rapid change at that.
But, is Microsoft the only company that has recognized this shift? Not necessarily. Every company that is involved in the Internet of Things will deliberately or inadvertently have stumbled upon this same conclusion. Its merely that Microsoft is the first to publicly recognize and embrace this new paradigm in what is stilla nascent industry cloud computing.
Incidentally, we predicted this possible shift in cloud computing focus in an article more than a month ago, before Microsoft revealed its intentions to the world. It was based on something that venture capitalist Peter Levine had said about Edge Computing:
You can read the full article, and watchthe video here:
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Cloud Computing Preakness 2017 updates – WBAL Baltimore
Cloud Computing Preakness 2017 updates
Updated: 1:57 PM EDT May 15, 2017
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May 15 - Klaravich Stables and William Lawrences Cloud Computing, who will become the first Preakness starter for trainer Chad Brown, is scheduled to leave Belmont Park Tuesday around 10 a.m. for the approximately four-hour van ride to Pimlico.
A winner of one race in three starts, Cloud Computing ran most recently in Aqueducts Wood Memorial April 8 and finished third. Unraced as a 2-year-old, the son of Macleans Music won his career debut in impressive fashion in February at Aqueduct over the inner track and subsequently finished second in the Gotham.
I think he deserves a shot, Brown said. Obviously, the Derby winner is really impressive and hes going to be hard to beat. But were just looking to take our chance and hopefully he gets a good trip and it works out for him and he likes the surface at Pimlico.
Brown, who is seeking his first victory in a Triple Crown race, said Cloud Computing has come to hand quickly since making his career debut Feb 11.
He acts like he will [take a step forward], Brown said. Hes a lightly raced horse and that is why we skipped the Derby. We thought he needed a little bit more time. Hes come along fast. We always thought he had a lot of talent. He needs to get to that mile-and-three-sixteenths distance, which Im confident he can. I think the six weeks between races will play into his favor.
Javier Castellano, who won the 2006 Preakness aboard Bernardini, his first mount in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown, will ride Cloud Computing.
May 14 - Trainer Chad Brown reported that everything was all good with Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Cloud Computing Sunday morning.
The son of Macleans Music breezed four furlongs in 48 4/5 seconds over the training track at Belmont Park Saturday morning.
Cloud Computing, who finished third in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in his most recent start, is scheduled to ship to Pimlico Tuesday.
WEBVTT JASON: WELCOME BACK.JOINING US TO TALK MORE ABOUTTHE BIG RACE, THIS IS YOURDISTRICT, AND THE CEO OF THEGROUP THAT OWN AND OPERATE THETRUCK.THANK YOU FOR COMING BY.I WAS HOPING FOR SUNSHINE TODAYAS WE DID THE INTERVIEW.GLOBALLY, COME RACE TIME WE WILLHAVE SOME SUN.THIS IS A GREAT THING FOR THEHUMIDITY.TELL US HOW PROUD THE COMMUNITYIS WHEN THIS DAY COMES AROUND.>> RUNNING OF THE PREAKNESSSTAKES IS ICONIC TO BALTIMORESTREET EDITION.IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BALTIMORE TOHAVE ONE OF THE BIGGEST SPORTINGEVENTS RIGHT HERE IN PARKHEIGHTS, VERY IMPORTANT FOR THECOMMUNITY TO HAVE.IT IS GREAT THAT SO MANY PEOPLECOME OUT YEAR AFTER YEAR TO THISFACILITY.JASON: YOU BRING A BIG CROWD.WHAT IS IT LIKE WHEN YOU CROSSTHAT FOOTBRIDGE ACROSS THE TRACKAND SEE THEM MOUNTING?THEY'LL COME TO THIS ONE AREAFOR THE ONE-DAY142 YEARS IN THE RUNNING.IT IS AMAZING.ONE OF THE OLDEST SPORTINGEVENTS IN AMERICA.IT IS WELL BEFORE BASEBALL ANDFOOTBALL AND EVERY THING ELSE.WE ARE PROUD TO BE PART OF ITAND BE THE CARETAKERS.JASO IT IS A GOODCOLLABORATION.IN ORDER FOR IT TO HAPPEN, THESETWO ENTITIES HAVE TO COMETOGETHER, YEAH?>> YES, THERE HAS TO BE A LOT OFWORK BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY ANDTHE CITY AND THE STATE ANDEVERYBODY INVOLVED.THIS IS A GREAT EVENT THATEVERYBODY WANTS TO BE PROUD OF,SO WE TRY TO DO THE BEST WE CANWITH THE FACILITY THAT WE HAVE,IN AGING FACILITY, TO TRY TOHAVE SOMETHING GREAT FOR THECITY OF BALTIMORE.JASON: I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THENEIGHBORHOOD AS WELL.IT IS A REALLY BRIGHT SPOT.YOU LOOK AT THAT HELICOPTERSHOT.WHEN WE SEE IT, UNFORTUNATELY,IT IS ON THE TELEVISION SHOW ORNEWSPAPER.I THINK IT CAP A PRETTY GOODLIGHT ON YOU.>> IT HAS ITS UPS AND DOWNS IN ANEIGHBORHOOD AROUND HERE.IT IS A GREAT IMMUNITY THAT --COMMUNITY THAT FOR MANY DECADES,UNFORTUNATELY, HAS SEEN ADECLINE IN THE COMMUNITY.SORT OF THE THEME OF THIS YEAR,EVERYONE IS PAYING ATTENTION TOTHE HORSE ALWAYS DREAMING.THAT IS THE THEME OF THE PARKHEIGHTS COMMUNITY.THEY'RE LOOKING TO SEE THISCOMMUNITY BE REVITALIZED AND SEETHE TRACK BE REVITALIZED AND THECOMMUNIIES AROUND IT TO BEREVITALIZED.UNFORTUNATELY, FOR DECADESLEADING UP TO THIS, THEY HAVEN'TGIVEN A LOT OF FALSE PROMISES ASTO WHAT THE CITY THEY AND OTHERS-- THEY HAVE THEN GIVEN A LOT OFFALSE PROMISES AS TO WHAT THECITY AND OTHERS CAN DO.WE HOPE THIS WILL ECHO OUR OTHERANCHORS THAT WE HAVE IN THISGREAT HUMIDITY LIKE LIFE RICHAND SON HOSPITAL.JASON: WE CAN ALL AGREE, ITNEEDS WORK.IT IS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONGTIME.THE MAYOR RECENTLY HAD A MEETINGWITH YOU GUYS AND SAID IT WENTPOSITIVELY.LET'S LISTEN TO THAT FIRST.>> I HAD A CONVERSATION RECENTLYWITH THE STADIUM AUTHORITY.THERE IS A SECOND PART OF THISSTUDY.IT IS SUPPOSED TO SHOW US WHERE-- HOW WE SHOULD BE LOOKING ATFUNDING FOR PIMLI RACETRACK.THE MEETING THAT I HAD WITH THEVICE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANYWAS VERY POSITIVE.I THINK THE INITIAL REPORT WASPOSITIVE IN THE SENSE THAT THEPREAKNESS IS GROWING INBALTIMORE.IT GREW LAST YOUR.I KNOW IT IS GOING TO BEBEAUTIFUL THIS YEAR WITH THEWEATHER THAT IS ANTICIPATED.WE'RE WAITING FOR THE SECONDPART OF THE STUDY TO BECOMPLETED.JASON: THE MAYOR WALKS AWAY FROMTHIS FEELING POSITIVE.THERE IS A LAUNDRY LIST OFTHINGS THAT HAVE TO BE DONE.STRUCTURALLY AND COMMUNITY-WISE.WHERE DO WE GO IN THE FUTURE?TALK SOME BEGINNING STUFF --STEPS.>> THE BEGINNING STUFF HASHAPPENED.EVERYONE IS A TECHNOLOGY THEY'RENOT KICKING THE CAN DOWN THEROAD ANYMORE, THAT WE HAVE AFACILITY THAT DOES NOT LIVE UPTO THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE THATCOULD HAPPEN AS COMPARED TO THEKENTUCKY DERBY AND CHURCHILL ANDSTUFF LIKE THAT.WHAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT ASA COMMUNITY, NOT AS COMMITTED TOAN BUSINESS PEOPLE IN THE LOCALAREA, NOT WITH THE PREAKNESSWILL LOOK LIKE IN ONE OR TWOYEARS, BUT WHENEVER IT 40 YEARS.SUMMIT HAS TO BITE THE BULLETAND MAKE THE COMMITMENT AT THISTIME.NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT A FACILITYTHAT HAS HAD TROUBLE WITH THEBATHROOMS AND THE RESTROOMS,ELECTRICITY AT DIFFERENT TIMES.IT HAS RUN ITS COURSE, AND NOWI'M GLAD THAT EVERYBODY ISTOGETHER.ONE THING WE ALL AGREE ON, WEDEFINITELY NEED A NEWER STADIUM.JASON: A NEW STADIUM?MAYBE IT HAS GOOD BONES HERE.MAYBE SOMETHING RUSTIC.-- DRASTIC.IS THERE HIERARCHY ON WHAT WORKSBEST, AT LEAST IN YOUR EYES?>> LISTEN, WE'RE OPEN TOEVERYTHING.AS OPERATORS, WE HAVE NO PROBLEMOPERATING FACILITY HERE INBALTIMORE AND WE UNDERSTAND THEHISTORICAL COLTER THAT COMESWITH THE EVENT.AT THE SAME TIME, AS BUSINESSPEOPLE, IT IS HARD TO INVESTSERIOUS MONEY INTO TWOFACILITIES WHERE THE YEAR-ROUNDHOUS JUST HAPPENS.TO SAY WE HAVE TO SPEND $500MILLION ON ANOTHER FACILITY HERETHAT IS ONLY 10 OR 12 MILESAPART, DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO USBUSINESS-WISE.JASON: NOT AS PROMISING AS YOUWANTED TO SOUND?>> I AM A BUSINESSMAN AS WELL.YOU'VE YOUR MONEY WHERE YOURPRIORITIES ARE.I THINK THE RUNNING OF THEPREAKNESS STAKES IS A PRIORITYFOR ANY COMPANY THAT WOULD OWNTHIS FACILITY.I THINK THAT INVESTMENT SHOULDHAVE BEEN MADE UNTIL NOW ICONTINUE TO BE MADE MOVINGFORWARD RATHER THAN CONSIDERINGEVEN A MOVE.I AM NOT OPEN TO A CONVERSATIONOF MOVING THE PREAKNESS OUT OFBALTIMORE, AND NEITHER IS REALLYANYBODY ELSE OTHER THAN THEELECTED OFFICIALS AND LAUREL.WE NEED TO TAL ABOUT THE OPTIONOF MOVING.WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT HOW WEMAKE THIS HAPPEN IN BALTIMOREAND CUTTING BACK THE DAYS OFRACING TO 12 DAYS A YEAR ATPIMLICO DOESN'T WORK FOR THEHUMIDITY.WHAT THE HUMIDITY'S WANT TO SEEIS A WORLD-CLASS RESORT HERE ONTHIS FOOTPRINT -- WHAT THECOMMUNITIES WANT TO SEE IS AWORLD-CLASS RESORT HERE ON THISFOOTPRINT.PEOPLE IN THE HUMIDITY EXPRESSTHE ONLY ECONOMIC IMPACT THEYFEEL IS WHEN THEY GET TO SELLTHEIR DRIVEWAYS FOR $20 A DAY ONPREAKNESS DAY.BUT THIS COULD BE A YEAR-ROUNDFACILITY THAT HAS EVEN AND OTHERATTRACTIONS TO IT THAT CAN HAVESMALL EVENTS, BIG EVENTS, BUTCREATES JOBS FOR THE PEOPLEAROUND HERE THAT COULD WALK TOWORK AND BE HERE EVERYTHING WILLDAY OF THE YEAR.JASON: I WISH I COULD BROKERTHAT DEAL.IF I COULD, WHAT WOULD YOU NEED?>> THAT WAS ONE OF OUR FIRSTOPTIONS.THE FIRST THING YOU LOOK AT ISWHICH FACILITY MAKES THE MOSTAMOUNT OF MONEY.PREAKNESS IN BALTIMORE MAKES THEMOST AMOUNT OF MONEY.ANY FORTUNE 500 COMPANY WOULDLOVE TO OWN THE PREAKNESS ANDBASICALLY RUN TWO DAYS A YEARAND MAKE ALL OF THIS MONEY ANDLEAVE.ECONOMIC IMPACT ON T STATE INTHE GREEN SPACE IS BASED ON THEYEAR-ROUND MODEL.THE PROBLEM WAS WHEN WE DID ASTUDY IN THE YEAR-ROUND MODELAND THE FOOTPRINT ITSELF, BEINGONLY 125 ACRES, A NEIGHBORHOODTHAT NEEDS A LOT OF HELP, ANDTHEN TALKING TO THE COMMUNITIES-- A LOT OF MEETINGS WE WENT TOWITH SANDY ROSENBERG ANDEVERYBODY ELSE, THE ONE THING WEGOT WHEN WE LEFT THOSE MEETINGSWAS, WELL, WE DON'T WANT A LOTOF RESTAURANTS OR TRAFFIC, WEDON'T WANT A LOT OF THIS --THESE ISSUES THAT COME WITH THISBUILD OUT FROM ONE SIDE OF THECOMMUNITY.IN THE OTHER SIDE WOULD LIKERENOVATION.THERE IS STILL A LOT OF TALK.OUR DECISION WAS, WE HAVE ATRAIN STATION THAT RUNS THROUGHLAUREL.WE HAVE YEAR-ROUND RACING.WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILDON A CLEAN FOOTPRINT THAT DOESNOT HAVE A LOT OF CITYINFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD HAVETO BE UPGRADED AND FIXED.JASON: IT SOUNDS LIKE PRIORITY,BALTIMORE IS THE PRIORITY, BUTTHE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LAUREL ISTHERE.IN MY CHARACTERIZING IT RIGHT?BALTIMORE IS THE ECONOMICENGINE THAT DRIVES RACING.THE PREAKNESS'S ECONOMIC ENGINETHAT DRIVES RACING.ANYONE WOULD LOVE TO ONLYPREAKNESS AND RUN TWO DAYS AWEEK, BUT THAT DOES NOTACCOMMODATE THE HORSEMAN, THEIRBREEDERS, THE GREEN SPACE.IF YOU'RE INTO DAISY OR AND LEFTTOWN, THEN YOU HAVE A STADIUMTHAT MAKES NOT MUCH SENSE.-- IF YOU ARE IN TWO DAYS ANDTHEN LEAVE TOWN, THEN YOU HAVE ASTADIUM THAT MAKES NOT MUCHSENSE.WE HAVE A RESTAURANTS ANDPRIVATE BUILDINGS AND THIS IS ATRUE BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT.IF SOMEONE IS WILLING TO LOOK ATTHAT, WE'VE ALWAYS HAD, WE AREWILLING TO LOOK AT THAT.EVEN THEN, WE ARE STILL, BECAUSEOF THE SMALL FOOTPRINT, WE AREJAMMED INTO EXACTLY WHAT WE CANDO.WE DON'T HAVE A TRAIN STATIONTHAT DRIVES THROUGH THEPROPERTY.JASON: LET'S TALK HORSES, THETRIPLE CROWN, AND WHAT THIS RACECOULD BE.WE SOUGHT WAS -- WE SAW WHATAMERICAN PHAROAH COULD DO.I'M GUESSING THIS COULD BOOSTHORSE RACING EVEN FURTHER.>> THIS HORSE IS A GREAT HORSE.THE COUNCILMAN SAID, FOR HISCONNECTION, GREAT NAME.ALWAYS CONNECTIONS FULL STOP OFTHE CONNECTIONS, THE OWNER OFTHE FLORIDA PANTHERS, GUYS THATHAVE BEEN IN RACING, TRULYDEDICATED TO THE SPORT, OWNHUNDREDS OF HORSES APIECE ANDCOMING OFF OF TWO YEARS GOINGTRIPLE CROWN WINNER.IN THE MIST WERE WE ARE PROBLEMSIN THE CITY, THIS PLACE ROSE UPAND CAME TOGETHER TO BRINGEVERYBODY OUT OF THAT WAS ANIMPORTANT TIME.I BELIEVE THIS RACE AND ALWAYSDREAMING IS THE PERFECT SCENARIOFOR WHAT WE HAVE COMING UP.JASON: THE FINAL WORD?WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A TRIPLECROWN WIN AND SUCCESS FORBALTIMORE.>> THAT IS MY PRIORITY.THAT IS THE MAYOR'S PRIORITY.THE CONVERSATIONS WE HAVE HAD,HOW IT CAN DELIVER ON THEPROMISES ON THOSE THAT CAMEBEFORE US TO REVITALIZE THEAREA.THAT IS WHY WE ARE HOPING THATTHIS COMPANY OR ANY COMPANY THATIS INTERESTED IN OWNING THISFACILITY AND THIS IMPORTANT RACETHINKS LONG AND HARD ABOUT HOWYOU MAKE IT WORK AND HOW YOU GOFROM NOT JUST RAISING TWO DAYS AYEAR, BUT RACE AT 140 DAISY YEARLIKE THEY HAVEN'T LAUREL.-- 140 DAYS A YEAR LIKE THEYHAVE AT LAUREL.JASON: CAN WE GET THESE TWOGROUPS TOGETHER?>> WE SHOULD.I WOULD LIKE THAT.THE COMMUNITIES AROUND HERE ANDMYSELF AND MY STAFF ATTEND EVERYSINGLE COMMUNITY MEETING THATGOES ON IN THIS ENTIRE AREA.THE CONVERSATION IS THAT THEYWANT TO SEE A REVITALIZATION.THEY WANT TO SEE BUSINESSESHERE.THEY WOULD LOVE TO HAVERESTAURANTS.THERE IS NO SITDOWN RESTAURANTRIGHT NEXT TO THIS LOCATION.THEY WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THAT.THEY WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A MOVIETHEATER AND ENTERTAINMENTYEAR-ROUND.INSTEAD, WHEN WE LOOK AT THEBACKSIDE OF THE RACETRACK, WESEE BOARDED UP BUILDINGS.WE SEE ONE OF THE HIGHEST CRIMESECTIONS.THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THECOMMUNITY OR TO THE CITY.THIS FACILITY HAS THEOPPORTUNITY TO BETRANSFORMATIONAL AND TO REALLYMAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE GRANDSCHEME OF THE ENTIRE PARKHEIGHTS AVENUE DEEP.
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Cloud Computing Preakness 2017 updates - WBAL Baltimore
Evolve your cloud cost management strategy for serverless computing – TechTarget
Serverless computing is one of the most revolutionary technologies to happen to cloud. Not only does a serverless...
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model change how you deploy and manage cloud apps, but it also changes how you craft a cloud cost management strategy.
With serverless computing, you pay each time you execute an application or application component, for the period of its execution. In nearly all cases, the other costs associated with cloud computing, such as charges for traffic in and out of the cloud and for cloud-native web services, like database features, also still apply.
It's easy to see how this can be beneficial. In the traditional public cloud model, applications that sit and wait for user activity incur a CPU or virtual machine cost, even if they do nothing for most of the time. But it is difficult to set boundaries in the serverless model. If you're charged for every fraction of a second an application runs, could a massive load generate massive costs? And how should you budget for that?
In general, serverless reduces costs for applications with limited workloads and increases costs where workloads are heavy.
Efficient cloud cost management for serverless computing demands a systematic, top-down approach. First, carefully review your cloud provider's pricing plan. The serverless cost is only the CPU component of cloud pricing; other cloud costs will likely remain. Nearly all serverless providers base their prices on the number of application activations -- or events -- and the time and resources needed per event. Get a price for each.
Second, plan out your serverless application. Most serverless computing models use a form of functional computing or microservices, which requires new code or adaptations for many applications. Know how many different components you have in your serverless application -- as each is priced separately -- and how much memory each requires. Some of that new application code will use other cloud provider web services as well, such as database or internet of things services. Be sure to know which features your application will use, because providers charge for all them.
CPU usage depends on two factors: how often an application component runs -- providers call these events, requests or activations -- and how long it runs with each activation.
In general, serverless reduces costs for applications with limited workloads and increases costs where workloads are heavy. It's most cost-effective to use serverless when workloads are highly variable and need to run without significant delay. To gauge costs, take measurements from current applications or estimate business activity. This data will tell you how often serverless components will run and help you form a cloud cost management strategy.
It's more difficult to estimate how long it takes an application to process workloads, unless you know how your serverless applications and their components work. Conduct tests to measure the execution time of these components. These early tests will also indicate the resources, such as memory, that each component needs, which should help estimate pricing. A large-scale pilot test is critical for serverless computing.
You can also use a serverless cost calculator for basic cost estimates, but many of these tools are still in their early phases of development or in beta. Some serverless cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), offer other tools to help gauge serverless computing costs. Build a simple spreadsheet to calculate pricing, but factor in any nonserverless web services that your application components use.
Estimates are fine, and essential to set a baseline for serverless computing costs, but they don't account for cost increases due to either unexpected loads or improper application design. Remember that providers charge you for every activation of a serverless function, every microsecond it runs and the memory resources it consumes. Costs can triple if there are too many functions or you neglect to calculate peak loads.
To prevent these issues, craft a solid cloud cost management strategy and monitor carefully. Watch your costs as your load increases, and make sure that curve won't lead to any billing surprises.
Prepare your IT team for serverless computing
Achieve cost efficiency with serverless computing
Evaluate how Azure Functions and AWS Lambda differ
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Evolve your cloud cost management strategy for serverless computing - TechTarget
AWS with ‘stable’ global market share but slower growth than Microsoft and Google – Cloud Tech
The latest analysis of the global cloud infrastructure market from Canalys plays into the trends watchers of the industry have seen for some time: Amazon Web Services (AWS) continues to dominate but is growing more slowly than its nearest rivals.
AWS growth is still at 43% year over year according to Canalys, while Microsoft continues to be the quickest growing of the hypervendors at 93% growth. Google was up 74% year on year, while IBM held 38% growth. The result is that AWS holds a stable market share of 31%.
Competition for enterprise customers is intensifying among leading cloud service providers, which are investing heavily to secure key national and global accounts, said Daniel Liu, Canalys research analyst.
Timing is crucial, as many large accounts are assessing, formulating and executing strategies to move existing workloads and infrastructure to the cloud, and develop new types of workloads as part of digital transformation initiatives.
The findings mirror similar analysis from Synergy Research on cloud infrastructure. Back in August, the company argued that AWS, Microsoft, IBM and Google owned more than half of the cloud infrastructure market between them but they were also growing quicker than the overall market.
Canalys also cites the channel as an opportunity for vendors to grow further and differentiate. Go-to-market strategy, including both customer and channel partner engagement, will ultimately determine vendor success in this segment, added Canalys senior analyst Jordan De Leon. Larger enterprises will adopt a multi-cloud strategy to distribute risk.
Ultimately, to challenge AWS, vendors will need deep financial resources to continue to participate and advance.
Canalys says the overall cloud infrastructure services market hit $11.4 billion in Q117.
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AWS with 'stable' global market share but slower growth than Microsoft and Google - Cloud Tech
How cloud could fix a management issue at BLM – FederalNewsRadio.com
The Bureau of Land Management is concerned with how and what companies mine and drill for underneath federal land. But BLM ought to be up in the clouds.
Or in a cloud, as in cloud computing. Nothing made clearer to me the advantage of cloud computing so much as reading about a major shortcoming in the agencys management. Namely, it doesnt keep records of who asks for exceptions to or waivers from regulations on how they mine and drill, nor on what the decision is.
Such extraction could run according to the most pristine, by-the-books process in all of regulation-dom, or it could operate like the wild, wild west. But you couldnt tell by the records the agency keeps. It doesnt keep records. Thats not me talking. Its auditors at the Government Accountability Office. They just finisheda sample survey of some of BLMs 45 field. They visited four offices where staff are at least capable of knowing how many exceptions they granted. Even then, of the 54 exception decisions over a six year period, only half were well documented, GAO found.
Auditors found everything frompaper forms to criteria used for granting exceptions and waivers vary all over the map. Local flexibility is important. In some places it makes sense to bury unsightly pipes that carry noxious liquids away from drill sites. But in rocky areas hiding pipes would require blasting, possibly causing permanent damage, worse than having exposed lines for a few years. In an example from Frank Rusco, GAOs director of natural and environmental issues, a company could receive a wildlife protection exception if no pairs of mating sapsuckers happened to alightnear the drilling rig during a particular season when they normally do.
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So where does cloud computing come in?
Lets say Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke hopped off his horse and ordered BLM to fix this. In an ideal world, every field office would have the sameprocess, using the same tools and judgment criteria. How then would anyone, much less the secretary, or perhaps acting BLM director Michael Nedd, get a picture?
Simply by hosting their tracking application whether a giant spreadsheet or a real database in a cloud, BLM officials could establish a framework for uniformity and thoroughness. Using the right provider, the virtualized application would have multiple, synchronized instances to help ensure good performance and backup. Classic. Field offices, all using the same app, would record their work in this manner.
From a technology standpoint, cloud hosting would get rid of the variations in data formats and media across the 45 field offices. From a policy standpoint, it would enable the agency to create uniformity of policy adherence. Exceptions and waiver policy was developed a decade ago. Its about time, in GAOs view, headquarters took it seriously.
Youve heard this statement so often, its become cliche: Information technology is an enabler for (fill in the blank.) In this case, it really would provide a tool for tightening up a looseness in mission delivery no agency should tolerate.
Congress finds family life at the root of military personnel issues
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How cloud could fix a management issue at BLM - FederalNewsRadio.com
Cloud Computing, Term of Art Complete Preakness Works – BloodHorse.com (press release) (registration) (blog)
Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Cloud Computing tuned up for his expected run in the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1) with a half-mile breeze in :48.85 over the Belmont Park training track May 13.
Under exercise rider Peter Roman, Cloud Computing beat the worst of the rain by coming out just after thetraining track opened at 5:30 a.m. The son of Maclean's Music posted the second fastest drill of 32 moves at the distance.
"He breezed very well, galloped out super, and came back good so far," said trainer Chad Brown. "That's his last piece of work and if he comes out of it well he'll be on to Baltimore on Tuesday."
Unraced as a juvenile, Cloud Computing has made three starts this season, with his most recent outing being a third-place finish in the April 8 Wood Memorial presented by NYRA Bets (G2). The dark bay colt previously ran second to J Boys Echo in the March 4 Gotham Stakes (G3) after he broke his maiden at first asking going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack Feb. 11.
On the opposite coast, fellow Preakness hopeful Term of Art also completed his last serious work before shipping to Baltimore. He worked six furlongs in 1:13 4/5 at Santa Anita Park Saturday.
Calumet Farm's Term of Art is slated to leave Santa Anita May 16 for the middle leg of the Triple Crown. The Doug O'Neill-trained son of Tiznow was most recently seventh in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) but captured the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3) at Del Mar last November.
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Cloud Computing, Term of Art Complete Preakness Works - BloodHorse.com (press release) (registration) (blog)
IBM Announces The Defense Calculator And A Cloud Computing Service – Forbes
Forbes | IBM Announces The Defense Calculator And A Cloud Computing Service Forbes This week's milestones in the history of technology include the world's first analog computer, experimenting with the Web via TV in pre-Web days, the birth of the ITU, and IBM's first commercially available scientific computer and first computing ... |
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IBM Announces The Defense Calculator And A Cloud Computing Service - Forbes
Trump signs cybersecurity executive order, mandating a move to cloud computing – GeekWire
The White House plan to address cybersecurity is taking shape. (White House / Pho.to / GeekWire Graphic)
President Donald Trump today signed a long-awaited executive order aimed at beefing up cybersecurity at federal government agencies with a shift of computer capabilities to the cloud as a key part of the strategy.
Weve got to move to the cloud and try to protect ourselves instead of fracturing our security posture, Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert told reporters during a White House briefing.
The executive order gives the lead role in managingthe cloud shift to the director of the White Houses newly established American Technology Council, which is due to meet for the first time next month.
Although the councils full roster of members has not yet been announced, the director is said to be Chris Liddell, who formerly served as chief technology officer at Microsoft and General Motors.
Some agencies already have begun shiftingdata resources to cloud computing services, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Carson Sweet, CTO and co-founder of San Francisco-based CloudPassage, said the emphasis on the cloud makes sense and builds on a trend that began during the Obama administration.
The question now will be how well the administration does with identifying and eliminating the obstructions agencies are facing as they consider adopting cloud / shared services, Sweet told GeekWire in an email.
The executive order also calls upon all federal agencies to implement the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, a set of best practices developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the information technology industry. And it calls on Cabinet secretaries to develop plans to protect critical infrastructure, ranging from utilities to the health care system to the financial system.
Bossert said the measures build on the efforts made by the Obama administration. A lot of progress was made in the last administration, but not nearly enough, he said.
As an example of past failures, Bossert pointed to 2015s data breach at the Office of Personnel Management, which exposed millions of sensitive employment records to hackers. He said such records are the crown jewels of the governments dataassetsand require enhanced protection.
Bossertnoted that Trumps budget blueprint sets aside $1.5 billion for cybersecurity.
Back in January, Trump vowed to come up with a major report on hacking defense within 90 days,but some observers said the executive order didnt meet the target.
Drew Mitnick, policy counsel at Access Now, said in a statement that the measures will serve as incremental changes to existing policies, while the Trump administration has otherwise either ignored or undermined pressing digital security threats internet users face.
The action does not touch several critical areas, like the insecurity of Internet of Things devices, data breaches, or vulnerability disclosure, Mitnick said.
During the briefing, one reporter asked whether shifting the federal governments data to the cloud might heighten rather than reduce cybersecurity risks. Bossert said its better to centralize risk, rather thanhaving 190 federal agencies come up with separate measures.
I dont think thats a wise risk, Bossert said.
Another reporter asked whether concerns over Russias online meddling with last years presidential campaign had any effect on the executive order.
The Russians are not our only adversary, Bossert replied. The Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, other nation-states are motivated to use cybersecurity and cyber tools to attack our people and our governments and their data. And thats something we can no longer abide.
He declined to say what type of cyber attack might constitute an act of war, other than to say that if somebody does something to the United States of America that we cant tolerate, we will act.
Trump was reportedly on the verge of signing an executive order on cybersecurity back in January, but held off. Bossert said there was nothing unusual behind the delay. He noted that between then and now, the White House had the chance to lay out a budget blueprint and announced the formation of the technology council two developments that set the stage for the executive order.
Bossert also acknowledged that some tech companies expressed concerns that theyd be compelled to take actions to head off distributed denial-of-service attacks, also known as botnet attacks. He emphasized today that the anti-botnet initiative would be voluntary.
The executive order callson Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to file a preliminary report on the anti-botnet campaign within 240 days.
Bossert declined to confirm a claim that federal computers are hit by tens of thousands of hacking attempts daily, but he acknowledged that attempted data break-ins and successful intrusions are on the rise.
The trend line is going in the wrong direction, he told reporters.
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Trump signs cybersecurity executive order, mandating a move to cloud computing - GeekWire
CLOUD COMPUTING Microsoft Build Developer Expo Focuses on Artificial Intelligence – CIO Today
During the first day of its annual Build developer conference yesterday, Microsoft unveiled a number of new artificial intelligence capabilities that can be integrated into everything from online presentations to business database management. The conference, which is being held in Seattle, is scheduled to run through tomorrow.
During his keynote address, CEO Satya Nadella (pictured above) revealed that the Windows 10 operating system, launched nearly two years ago, is now installed on 500 million devices around the world. Microsoft's Office 365 suite has also reached a milestone: more than 100 million monthly commercial active users.
Other announcements made yesterday included the launch of a public preview of the Cortana Skills Kit, which lets developers create bots using Microsoft's intelligent digital assistant, and the debut of Azure IoT Edge, which helps developers bring machine learning and other advanced capabilities to other devices on the Internet of Things.
AI in 'Every Product and Service'
Microsoft's vision of artificial intelligence is to make those capabilities "available to everyone, from developers and data scientists to tech enthusiasts and students," Harry Shum, executive vice president of Microsoft's AI and research group, said yesterday in a blog post.
Shum said Microsoft now offers 29 different cognitive services to developers, making it possible for them to incorporate AI capabilities in new apps "with just a few lines of code."
Launched at the 2015 Build conference, Microsoft Cognitive Services is today used by more than 568,000 developers around the world, Shum said. Those services include Bing Custom Search, Custom Vision Service, Custom Decision Service and Video Indexer.
Another intelligent service, the Microsoft Bot Framework, lets developers create ways for people to interact with AI in conversational ways. Announced last year, the framework now has more than 130,000 registered developers.
"We are infusing AI into every product and service we offer, from Xbox to Windows, from Bing to Office," Shum noted. For example, one new offering unveiled yesterday, Presentation Translator, will use Microsoft's Translation APIs to enable real-time translations in a variety of languages during PowerPoint presentations.
"Once launched, Presentation Translator embeds live transcriptions of the presenter into a specific language and even generates a unique link that attendees can use to get translations in their own language in real time," Shum said.
New Intelligence for Azure
Microsoft is adding new intelligence capabilities to Azure, its cloud platform for enterprise customers. For instance, Azure Batch AI Training, announced yesterday and currently available in private preview, will allow developers to "train their own deep neural networks," according to Shum.
The company also took the wraps off Azure Cosmos DB, which it's calling "the industry's first globally distributed, multimodel database service" with 99th-percentile uptime and millisecond latency.
"Azure Cosmos DB automatically indexes data so you can perform blazing fast queries without having to deal with complexities of schema and index management or schema migration in a globally distributed setup," Scott Guthrie, executive vice president for Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, wrote yesterday on the Azure blog. "Customers, including Jet.com, are using Azure Cosmos DB to scale to 100 trillion transactions per day and growing, spanning multiple regions. Tapping into Azure Cosmos DB gives them planet scale, so they can keep focused on growing their business."
Other news announced at Build yesterday include new MySQL- and PostgreSQL-managed services for Azure SQL Database, general availability of Visual Studio 2017 for Mac, and new Microsoft Graph APIs to enable developers to access Office 365 data and insights.
Developers will also be able to publish new apps to Microsoft Teams, a chat-based workspace in Office 365. A new "app experience" will also be added soon to Teams that will allow end-users to searh for specific applications.
During Build yesterday, Microsoft also demonstrated how it will integrate a variety of its products and services into a sales platform called Tact, which is expected to be released later this year. Capable of working with Office 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams and other services, Tact will turn "any connected device into an AI-powered virtual sales assistant," Microsoft said.
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CLOUD COMPUTING Microsoft Build Developer Expo Focuses on Artificial Intelligence - CIO Today
Aryaka report reveals 50% of enterprise traffic is composed of cloud and SaaS traffic – Cloud Tech
Global enterprise wide area network (WAN) traffic saw an increase of 200% annually, with almost 50% of enterprise traffic composed of cloud and SaaS traffic, according to the latest study from Aryaka.
Aryaka has collated data of enterprise WAN traffic from over 5000 sites in 63 countries in different industries over the past four years to analyse trends, response times and inconsistencies in application performance, WAN reliability and bandwidth access. The report analyses the threshold of the network inconsistencies to affect mission-critical applications over a medium. It also examines conventional application performance time over the public Internet.
WAN traffic increased 248% in Asia-Pacific in 2016 owing to the increased use of cloud technology, Aryaka added, while the use of 100 Mbps links in China last year increased by 25%.
By industry, WAN traffic increased the most in the manufacturing vertical. Network traffic increased 526% in the software and Internet sector, whereas real estate, energy and utilities, and travel industries saw an increase of 200%. A combined 50% of all WAN traffic can be seen coming from HTTP and HTTPS. Aryaka also added that with improved Internet bandwidths and quality, the hand-off between ISPs over the Internet needs to be improved. Latency, packet loss, and jitters need to be addressed when data is transferred between long distances.
Shawn Farshchi, Aryaka president and CEO, said: With nearly 50% of all global enterprise traffic now comprising cloud and SaaS, and legacy technologies, like MPLS, failing to address this trend, the ability to address the needs of the business translates into better business execution and competitive advantage.
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Aryaka report reveals 50% of enterprise traffic is composed of cloud and SaaS traffic - Cloud Tech