This week had a few notable updates, including one from Rackspace. The cloud hosting provider introduced something called OpenStack Fundamentals, a certification course thats based on material developed for internal use. The material has been around for a year or so, so Rackspace had a lot of time to polish it up before offering it to the community.

OpenStack Fundamentals is available for $2500 per seat, and organizations have the option of setting up an on-premise classroom for up to 18 engineers for a fee. Rackspace is justifying the premium price tag with the very valid claim that enterprises are looking to hire IT personnel with cloud expertise more than ever.

The second update comes from the VMworld Europe conference that was held this week in Spain. One of the clients at the event was a service provider named Colt, which shared its VCE and VMware View case studies on the showroom floor. The firm is leveraging Vblocks, Cisco UCS servers and management software from Atlantis to support 20,000 virtual desktops; it also operates the single largest vCloud 5.1 deployment in Europe.

In turn, Alteryx released version8.0of its analytics software. The main addition is Analytics Gallery, a hosted app marketplace that clients can use to distribute apps and info within their organization. Gallery features 30 different analytical apps and 5 native data visualization tools that allow decision makers to gain faster access to insight.

In the personal cloud space, Springpad rolled out a few new features to its web and Android apps. The productivity tool now has Board, a scrapbook interface that allows you to organize notes pictures via simple drag-n-drop. Springpad has become even more user friendly with the ability to reshuffle notebooks at any given time.

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This Week in the Cloud: OpenStack, Analytics and More

With the wrangle between Dedicated Server and Cloud Hosting changing the landscape of UK business hosting, how are businesses to choose which is right for them? As discussed in Computer Weekly's recent article, where are the confidence killers? UK ISP Veber shares expert opinion from the Veber Knowledge Base on what to consider when making a business hosting decision.

Watford, UK (PRWEB UK) 11 October 2012

The theme of whether a Dedicated Server or Cloud hosting solution is a business best choice is an interesting one not least because many of the technical elements that make up a cloud environment are actually in fact made up of dedicated servers. Vebers Knowledge Base, set up to address just such issues as this, informs that a dedicated server is supplied and installed precisely to the customer's specification with all the power of that piece of equipment dedicated to that customer; with a cloud infrastructure the resources are shared out, but the benefits come with the scalability and features such as high availability (HA) and distributed resource management (Veber use VMWare DRS).

James Robinson is Vebers Operations Manager. He supports the benefits of Cloud hosting by stating that a Cloud hosting infrastructure has many, many benefits to business. Features such as high availability, scalability and snapshots mean that system administrators dont even have to get up from their seats to upgrade systems. Compare this to a traditional dedicated server environment where any hardware changes require a visit to the data centre by an engineer. Such an overview supports the fact that both Dedicated Server and Cloud Hosting environments have technical advantages and disadvantages.

James addresses another interesting question: We get asked why anyone would use dedicated servers nowadays if the cloud is theoretically so much better on so many levels? Just like cloud hosting has its fortes, dedicated servers have theirs. They are what they say they are dedicated which means you get everything that the server can provide. If your dedicated server has 8 GB of RAM, you get it all. Dual 6 core Intel CPUs with hyper threading? You get that too, with no restrictions on usage like you may do with a cloud hosting solution.

The team at Veber also point out that there are scenarios in which certain types of server are preferable. For example, a high performance database in a cloud environment is not ideal because cloud servers use shared storage which is often transmitted over a storage network. This is where the limitations of finite resources and speed come into play and where a Dedicated Server environment with high performance disks would come into its own. On the other hand, a scalable Cloud hosting solution will guarantee uptime for a web application with spikes and troughs of usage.

To conclude, when wanting to make the best business choice between a Dedicated Server and a Cloud Hosting scenario the bottom line is that its really down to the application. Researching information such as that available on Veber's Knowledge Base will provide the starting point of definitions, concerns, benefits and costs of different solutions but ultimately what really matters is achieving the customer's selected business objectives. Entering into a conversation with a hosting provider will reveal answers to concerns such as specification,security, credibility and data ownership. The label given to the potential hosting solution required is perhaps less important.

Veber

Unit 13 Shakespeare Industrial Estate

Watford

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Dedicated Server or Cloud Hosting Solution? Veber Talks About Making the Best Business Choice

MAHWAH, New Jersey, October 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Radware(RDWR), a leading provider of application delivery and application security solutions for virtual and cloud data centers, today announced that global hosting and cloud service provider Brinkster has deployed Radware's Attack Mitigation System (AMS) to help protect Brinkster's customers worldwide against the new generation of sophisticated, multi-vectored cyber attacks.

Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, Brinkster offers dedicated and managed hosting and cloud computing services to over 50,000 customers ranging from small start-ups to large corporations with the majority of its small and midsize customers using its shared hosting services. As Brinkster's business in this segment grew, it looked to Radware for a security solution to protect its infrastructure against not only incoming hacking attempts on its servers, but also attempts from hackers to use its shared servers to launch outbound attacks. What's more, the solution also had to meet Brinkster's rigorous demands for uninterrupted network uptime so it could deliver on its service level agreements (SLAs).

Radware's AMS gave Brinkster an advantage over the security offerings of its incumbent network security provider because of Radware's unique and evolved approach to providing converged perimeter security. Radware's use of behavioral analysis technology in detecting multi-vector cyber attacks set its technology apart from the standard signature-based techniques used by other intrusion prevention system vendors.

Also, because of the growing portion of Brinkster's data traffic that is secured and encrypted by the SSL protocol, Radware's AMS delivered a security solution that can detect and mitigate denial of service (DoS) and distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks that are SSL encrypted. Today's anti-DoS security solutions do not effectively mitigate HTTP-encrypted DoS and DDoS attacks. Through patent-pending technology, Radware's AMS is the first security solution of its kind that can protect against high-rate, SSL-based, Web-encrypted DoS and DDoS attacks.

"Radware is pleased to have been chosen to partner with Brinkster. Our technology is ideally suited to securing cloud and multi-tenant hosting environments, and we believe that with AMS protection, Brinkster can fulfill its network uptime guarantee to its customers, even if its data centers fall prey to attacks," said Amir Peles, Vice President, Technology, Radware. "Small businesses and enterprise customers that depend on Brinkster can rest assured that they are protected by the leading attack mitigation solution available."

With AMS now fully deployed, Brinkster is working with Radware on new business opportunities such as offering premium managed security services.

"Radware's Attack Mitigation System is the leading perimeter protection solution for safeguarding businesses against an increasingly complex landscape of multi-vector availability-based threats, - including zero-day attacks that would defeat traditional intrusion prevention technologies," said Nathaniel Kemberling, Brinkster's CTO. "The Radware system mitigates both known and new forms of attack while allowing legitimate business traffic to be handled as normal, so the business continuity of our hosted cloud customers is preserved even while under attack. Brinkster customers can be assured that their cloud-hosted data and their businesses that depend on it are secure and available."

About Radware AMS

Radware's AMS is a real-time network and application attack mitigation solution that protects the application infrastructure against network and application downtime, application vulnerability exploitation, malware spread, information theft, Web service attacks and Web defacement. It contains a protection layer with security modules including DoS protection, Network Behavioral Analysis (NBA), Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Reputation Engine and Web Application Firewall (WAF) to fully safeguard networks, servers and applications against known and emerging network security threats.

Continued here:
Brinkster Selects Radware's Attack Mitigation System to Protect its Cloud and Hosting Customers Against Cyber Attacks

Secure-24 will showcase its capabilities at SAP TechEd 2012 on October 15-19 and partner with Cisco to host a roundtable discussion and an executive networking event. As an SAP-certified provider of cloud services and an SAP hosting partner, Secure-24 offers comprehensive hosting services for SAP solutions with teams highly experienced with Basis.

Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) October 08, 2012

In booth 515, Secure-24's senior executives, regional managers and technical management team will be available to meet with visitors and demonstrate the company's single-source support for the entire lifecycle of cloud and hosting services for SAP solutions.

On October 17 at noon PDT, Secure-24, will host a collaborative roundtable with Cisco and SAP to discuss the SAP IT Process Automation application by Cisco. Secure-24 and Cisco also will host an Executive Networking Event from 6 to 8 p.m. PDT at the Lavo Nightclub in the Palazzo, just a short walk from the SAP TechEd convention floor.

Secure-24s Director of ERP Applications Len Landale and Enterprise Solution Architect Hercules Bester also will host two Expert Networking Sessions at SAP TechEd. Landale will be discussing the heterogeneous migration of SAP solutions and combined upgrade and Unicode conversion solutions on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 1:30 p.m. PDT. Bester will be speaking later that day at 2:30 p.m. on practical architecture deployment tips for SAP solutions. These sessions are open to all attendees and will take place in the Expert Networking Sessions Lounge, centrally located on the show floor.

Secure-24 offers comprehensive hosting services for SAP solutions with teams highly experienced with Basis. The company is an SAP-certified provider of cloud services and an SAP hosting partner, as well as a Cisco Premier Partner. Secure-24 supports over 150 clients with operations around the globe in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, energy and utilities, government, chemical, financial, and retail.

Through SAP TechEd, SAP aims to teach and raise awareness of the business possibilities with SAP solutions, said Inga Bredehoeft, director, National SAP Alliance, Secure-24. Were here to help those professionals host their SAP applications, run their technical operations, and find creative ways to continually make IT more efficient and cost-effective.

Secure-24 partners with mid-to-large-sized companies that have global operations to deliver cost-effective, cloud-based delivery models for mission-critical SAP applications. The company is supported by strategic partnerships with technology providers such as VMware and EMC.

About Secure-24, Inc. (http://www.secure-24.com)

As an SAP hosting partner and SAP-certified provider of cloud services, Secure-24 provides a full service technical offering in support of SAP applications with proven project methodology and demonstrated successes in hosting, management, upgrades, migrations and support engagements. Secure-24 manages complex IT landscapes for many Fortune 500 companies, with a focus on quality, completeness of service, and delivering real business value to customers. As a result of enterprise customers stringent requirements, Secure-24 is continually audited and maintains a high level of compliance, leveraging SAS 70 / SSAE 16 certified data centers and a long-established history of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) management processes to help customers meet compliance mandates and mitigate risk.

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Secure-24 to Feature Hosting and Cloud Services for SAP® Solutions at SAP TechEd 2012 Las Vegas

REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 4, 2012) -

Summary

Zuora: the Catalyst behind FireHost's International Expansion

Zuora Removes Roadblocks to Growth

Helping FireHost Know Its Business

Commentary

About Zuora, Inc. Zuora is the global leader in Relationship Business Management solutions. Zuora delivers the subscription billing, commerce and finance capabilities that have become the industry standard to help companies transition to the Subscription Economy. Enterprises and emerging companies alike use Zuora's multi-tenant cloud solution to enable growth strategies, to streamline key processes and to provide visibility into the metrics that matter most in the Subscription Economy.Zuora services innovative customers like Informatica, Tata Communications, Box.net, DocuSign, GigaOM, Xplornet, Ustream and Reed Business Information. To learn more about Zuora, please visit http://www.zuora.com.

About FireHost FireHost is a global secure cloud hosting company focused on protecting sensitive data and brand reputation. Customers with compliance or performance requirements use FireHost's PCI, HIPAA or high traffic solutions. Some of the largest eCommerce, SaaS and healthcare IT companies in the world use FireHost's secure hosting services. Recognised as a global company with clients in 35 countries, FireHost has combined the best of dedicated hosting (security, performance and reliability) with the advantages of a usage-based model (scalability, flexibility, and resource accountability) to be the first secure, public cloud hosting platform.

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Zuora Enables FireHost to Triple Revenue, Double Customers, and Expand Internationally