Category Archives: Cloud Servers
How to enhance the security and productivity of the enterprise cloud – Intelligent CIO
Fabiano Ribeiro, Business Development Manager of Services and Security at IT-One, highlights the importance of companies optimizing the use of the enterprise cloud, taking advantage of aspects such as scalability and continuous evolution as allies of their business.
In the future, when our children and grandchildren study the first decades of the 21st century, they will surely see that this will have been a period of intense revolution.
Considering technology, for example, we are experiencing the emergence of a series of innovations that have undeniably changed and are continuously changing the way we live, produce and consume things on our planet.
In this context, however, it is necessary to emphasize that no other concept, until now, has been as important for this transformation as cloud computing with its unique model of distribution of services and information.
Currently we are all being impacted by cloud applications. From smartphone applications to the machines of the globalized industry connected and controlled through Artificial Intelligence and IoT solutions, everything passes through a sky full of clouds.
However, it does not mean that all companies and markets are already really managing to take advantage of the possibilities opened up by cloud computing to the fullest.
For example, according to a recent survey by IDC, about one third of executive and operational leaders are still unsure about the impact of cloud computing on their business security.
The analysis also indicates that almost 40% of companies continue to rely on mostly local structures, with their own servers and data centers. Therefore, there is nothing better than asking ourselves: How can we expand this market and use the real potential of cloud applications in companies?
The first and most important step in comprehending this issue is understanding that each case requires unique assessments and designs. What works for one company is not necessarily the answer for another.
This is the great attraction of the cloud: although it is undeniable to say that there are no ready-made answers for anyone, it is also true to say that cloud computing is a field full of possibilities with endless ways to apply technologies to maximize operations, according to the real demands of each business.
The point is to evaluate the implementation well. It is necessary, among other things, to understand what information and processes are most critical, what type of availability is required and even what rules and legislation regulate the company data. Therefore, it will be easier to find safer and more efficient ways to harness the cloud potential.
In terms of planning and monitoring actions it is important because we should remember that technology itself wont do anything: The success of an innovation strategy definitely depends on understanding the needs of the company, the critical points that need to be prioritized during a migration project and the observation of which technologies and features are truly suited to the project requirement.
Another important thing is to understand that the cloud and the local structure are not mutually exclusive. It is not a coincidence that companies of all areas are migrating their IT infrastructures to hybrid environments, combining data centers and on-premises services with cloud-based applications.
The IDC survey revealed that more than 40% of companies intend to expand the mix of on-premises and cloud infrastructure solutions, seeking more flexibility and resilience for their business.
The main reason is the agility that the cloud offers. For example, more than 85% of CIOs surveyed by IDC said that investing in cloud-based solutions and services is a priority, because the cloud helps accelerate the implementation of new capabilities that can be quickly provisioned, scaled and put to work.
The cloud is an interesting way to break old innovation cycles, accelerating and streamlining decision making with more collaboration, data analysis and intelligence brought by advances in data and analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Machine Learning that are only gaining ground thanks to the doors opened by cloud computing.
In other words, the gains go far beyond being just a virtual space to store documents and make applications available.
Considering the accelerated dynamics in which we live, cloud computing has proved to be fundamental for us to achieve, in practice, the agility of the go-to-market processes of new products and ideas.
It is not by chance that it is estimated that, in some cases, the use of tools based on cloud environments allow reductions of more than 80% in the time required for the implementation of a new project.
Therefore, it is increasingly important to establish ways to simplify daily routines and maximize attention to IT services. Having specialized partners in each stage of this Digital Transformation adds insights and practical knowledge to make the most complex decisions easier and meet the daily challenges of the business, suggesting options with greater adherence to real needs.
Regardless of the path to be taken, organizations must be able to plan and analyze well the characteristics of each model, preferably counting on the support of those who are daily utilizing this market.
With constant changes, the assertiveness of the teams lies in bringing together trends and needs to design the best data migration strategy or balance between what needs to remain in-house, in data centers and on-premises servers and what can be arranged in a cloud tool. It remains to be seen who is ready to follow this journey, innovating in a safe, sustainable and efficient way.
Facebook Twitter LinkedInEmailWhatsApp
Read the original post:
How to enhance the security and productivity of the enterprise cloud - Intelligent CIO
Benefits of ERP cloud migration need reality check – TechTarget
Moving enterprise systems like ERP to the cloud can ease system management and lower costs, but companies need to be strategic in their approach to reap the benefits.
Moving systems to the cloud as a technical upgrade -- known as lift and shift -- can get companies to the cloud fast, but it fails to take full advantage of what a true cloud migration offers, according to Roan Low, SAP solutions architect at Syntax, a Montreal-based managed cloud services provider for SAP and Oracle systems.
Instead, he advises approaching the project as a true system re-implementation that involves reworking business processes to take advantage of the cloud's infrastructure and advanced technologies.
In this Q&A, Low explains what companies need to consider as they plan an enterprise cloud migration.
What makes migrating on-premises systems to the cloud different from other enterprise system projects?
Roan Low: When you go from one data center to the other, your technology stack and your capabilities essentially remain static. You have the ability to re-architect some things, but you still have the same toolbox to use.
When you go from a data center to the cloud, it's an entirely different world. If you don't understand that, you're going to try to run an old model on a new platform. You're not going to see the benefits that you were either promised or you expected based on [vendor] marketing and the general belief that cloud is agile, cheap and secure. And it is. The reality is that nobody's pulling the wool over anybody's eyes -- the cloud is all those things. But you need to take advantage of it. You can go with the analogy that you can buy a Ferrari, but if you put junk tires on it, it's not going to perform like you expect.
So the whole idea of moving to the cloud is not just to move away from the data center, but also to take advantage of new technologies?
Low: Yes. It just sounds simple and like basic common sense, but it's a lot more challenging in practice, primarily because a lot of our [organizational] knowledge comes from people who are experienced in traditional IT -- running bare-metal servers with storage arrays and the like. Companies need to think about and are starting to think about moving away from that model and are retooling their people [to be more cloud-ready].
Do companies need to think more about the post-cloud environment rather than the cloud migration process itself?
Low: This doesn't have to happen before the migration, but it probably should. This is as much of a change in business paradigm as a technological one. In the past, we've talked about an IT operating model, which essentially defines how technology supports a business. [What companies need to think about] is establishing a cloud operating model not just for IT but also for the business.
They also need to change the way they approach strategic goals and business challenges by leveraging these new technologies, particularly the ones enabled by a cloud migration. You have to look at it from both directions; the IT side has to ask how they can support the business, and the business side has to ask how they can leverage all these fancy new tools -- AI, RPA [robotic process automation], machine learning -- to enable their strategic goals and gain business value.
What are some advantages of a cloud migration for companies that are running S/4HANA on premises or are considering a move to S/4HANA?
Low: One of the advantages of the cloud, which your traditional data center doesn't have, is that it offers various locations around the world. So if you're a global company, you can set up cloud data centers in various locations around the world and bring your NetWeaver Gateway or S/4HANA system much closer to your users.
From a technology perspective, S/4HANA runs on SAP HANA, which is an in-memory database, and there are huge benefits to cloud here. If you are scoping out an on-premises S/4HANA environment, you probably want to buy a machine that will last three to five years. You have to buy a machine that has sufficient memory or can grow to sufficient memory to accommodate that three- to five-year time frame. That means a lot of money. Memory is your most expensive storage medium, and if you predict that your machine is going to grow to 2 or 4 terabytes, you have to buy that 2 or 4 terabyte box up front and carry that cost.
Editor's note: This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Jim O'Donnell is a TechTarget news writer who covers ERP and other enterprise applications for SearchSAP and SearchERP.
View post:
Benefits of ERP cloud migration need reality check - TechTarget
What SMEs should know when moving to the cloud – Raconteur
For several years, Peter Ambrose, MD of The Partnership, contemplated moving the 20 million files held by his business to thecloud.
Every evening, the 80 employees at the property law firms offices in London and Guildford would back up the days conveyancing documents, searches, emails and other correspondence to a huge bank of on-siteservers.
Each case generates about 160 documents, he explains. Every time we created a document, we stored it. We needed to back up our data and keep it safe because it is incredibly sensitive information that includes bank details and identity checks. My number-one concern which literally kept me awake at night for years was whether that data was vulnerable to a ransomware attack.
Finally, after months of research and planning, in November last year, The Partnership migrated all archived and live case data to a cloudservice.
It was scary Ill make no bones about it, Ambrose admits. Although we had done all the tests, until youve actually moved this huge amount of data, you worry about whether its going towork.
The Partnership is one of a growing number of SMEs that have successfully moved their operations to the cloud. Another is Dakota Hotels. The luxury accommodation group needed a cost-effective cloud-based software solution that could be scaled up as the business grew. It also wanted to harness the potential of the cloud to help with the HR challenges that the pandemic had forced upon the hospitality sector. As an additional benefit, the company gained greater insights into its costs and commercial opportunities.
The time savings weve accrued by moving to the cloud have freed people up to focus on innovation, says the companys operations director, Andrew Ovenstone. This has enabled our finance professionals to move away from number-crunching and become valuecreators.
For businesses using simpler cloud applications, the primary driver should be functionality, followed by security, compliance, scalability andcost
All hotels under the Dakota brand compile their own profit-and-loss statements, which meant that a cloud-based solution would be an ideal solution to support multiple data entries. This has granted each hotel the autonomy to input data without compromising consolidation, reporting or intelligence at grouplevel.
For SMEs, there are several key factors to consider when contemplating a move to the cloud. The first of these is the issue of cost versus opportunity.
Cost matters for SMEs, but you also need to think about what moving to the cloud can enable for your business, says Dr Antonio Weiss, senior partner at The PSC, a consultancy that helps providers of public services with their digital transformations.
If you hold data and applications on your premises, you probably run quite a restricted service, says Weiss, whose book, The Practical Guide to Digital Transformation, was published in February. The cloud enables huge possibilities in terms of data processing and analysis. It also offers better security and improved performance for your customers and staff. So, while you should aim to keep costs low in any cloud transition, you need to focus on how it can make your business better and to ensure that you have a plan to capitalise onthis.
The second key factor to consider is flexibility. One of the challenges for The Partnership was to find a cloud provider that would store and register multiple versions of documents rather than providing a static record. This enables employees to return to the material and update it where necessary.
We looked at Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, but found that they wouldnt work for us, Ambrose says. We needed a system that could cope better with changeable data, which is why we partnered withEgnyte.
The third consideration is the level of functionality required in the short, medium and long term. SMEs need to be realistic about what level of service and availability they are going to need, says Mairead OConnor, executive for cloud engineering at ANDDigital.
Public cloud platforms enable SMEs to occupy the same playing field as big, cash-rich corporations, she says. All companies have been granted access to technology such as machine-learning tools. Only recently, functionality of this sort would have been out of reach to all but the most well-funded multinationals.
But firms should not adopt such tech without first considering their strategic direction. Cloud transformations are complex and, unless they are executed properly, they can lead to serious operational inefficiencies and data leakage. Before parting with any money, CIOs and CEOs should take a step back and review their current businessmodel.
Ash Finnegan digital transformation officer at Conga, an enterprise cloud computing and data company, observes that a lot of SMEs have been rushing their digital transformations.
Regardless of their size, organisations need to complete a thorough assessment and understand where they are with regard to their digital maturity today, she says. This involves analysing their current operational model, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and establishing how they can better connect with their customers and servethem.
The fourth key factor to consider is the likely level of service and tech support required. Despite the hurdles involved, migration to the cloud can yield many benefits, as The Partnership and Dakota Hotels have discovered.
Using subscription cloud services eliminates the need to maintain and upgrade technology, which can be costly and time-consuming processes for SMEs. But it is vital to establish exactly how much support you expect from your cloud provider and to be realistic about your own IT abilities.
The provision of adequate tech support is key for smaller firms, stresses Charlie Dawson, marketing and channel director at cloud provider Imscad Global. There will be some SMEs with the resources to support their own cloud migration and provide ongoing support, butthey should ensure that the provider they choose offers a good level of support, including the ability to have issues resolved using in-person communication, hesays.
Security is the fifth major consideration. For Ambrose, his decision to use a cloud service was prompted by the ongoing challenge of protecting The Partnerships in-house servers. Yet price and performance are often the first considerations for many SMEs, even though a loss of data could have catastrophic ramifications.
While factors such as affordability and capacity are clearly fundamental, most cloud providers offer only the most basic security features, especially at the budget end of the spectrum, warns Trevor Morgan, product manager at data security specialist Comforte.
This simply wont be enough if your highly sensitive information on your firms finances, intellectual property and customers is destined for the cloud, hesays.
Concerns about regulatory compliance will come to the fore here, especially for businesses in industries that require very strict risk controls for example, defence, healthcare and financial services.
Each particular market will present different constraints, but companies operating in the same space may still have different appetites for risk, notes Dean Clark, chief technology officer at digital consultancy GFT Group. The ideal balance between security, compliance, cost and functionality will depend on the individual organisation.
SMEs should determine whether the solution they are considering has the right level of security in place. Two-factor authentication (2FA) should be a minimum standard, according to Lee Wrall, director at managed services provider Everything Tech.
Were seeing that some cloud solutions are putting 2FA into their future roadmap, but we believe it should already be there, he says. For more robust infrastructure requirements, wed recommend opting for bigger, more established solutions such as Microsoft or Amazon, as these provide features such as security, compliance and the ability to scale up as standard. For businesses using simpler cloud applications, the primary driver should be functionality, followed by security, compliance, scalability andcost.
Database requirements constitute the sixth and final key consideration. In the cloud, storage capacity is one of the measures that service providers use to charge for their offering. If you do not have significant volumes of data, the cloud may not provide value formoney.
For any company that needs some level of scale and availability, the cloud is usually the best option, says Andrew Oliver, senior director of product marketing at MariaDB, an open-source database provider. For a very small database with merely internal users, hosting in house might be more cost-effective if the company has the time and expertise and a careful plan for off-sitebackup.
Go here to see the original:
What SMEs should know when moving to the cloud - Raconteur
Why the Shifting Nature of Endpoints Requires a New Approach to Security – DARKReading
The hybrid and flexible working models that are now integral to so many organizations have shifted the cybersecurity paradigm and resulted in more emphasis than ever being placed on endpoint security. Devices have more sensitive documents stored on and traversing through them than ever before, while employees could be working from anywhere: at home or at a coffee shop or hotel using public Wi-Fi, with limited to no connectivity back to firewall-protected offices and data centers.
These devices are no longer backhauling traffic via a virtual private network (VPN) to their offices and on-prem data centers. The default is often a direct connection from their devices out to the Internet, where they're now connecting to cloud file servers and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, and they are active at all hours of the day.
This shift requires security teams to adapt. It fundamentally changes the profile and nature of endpoints these devices are doing more than ever before, connecting to new places constantly, and finding new paths to productivity. With more sensitive data on these endpoint devices, it's imperative we recognize they aren't what they used to be and acknowledge that legacy defenses aren't doing enough to keep them secure.
Most organizations have responded to this change by building additional solutions on top of standard antivirus tools. This may include anti-malware, command-and-control (C2) beaconing protections, anti-ransomware on the endpoint (monitoring file encryptions and taking backups as they happen), and URL filtering. More mature organizations have enhanced their endpoint security with endpoint detection and response (EDR) or extended detection and response (XDR) platforms; subscribed to threat intelligence feeds to identify known bad websites; found ways of feeding data into security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms; or some combination thereof.
These enhancements considerably improve an organization's ability to catch known threats. They have a range of different strengths and use cases, but they have one thing in common: Regardless of their level of sophistication, the fundamental philosophy behind their detection mechanisms is the same: In order to stop the next threat, they look for attacks (or patterns and hallmarks in attacks)that have been seen before. Only when they spot something that matches or closely resembles a previously encountered threat will they initiate a block.
But criminals think like entrepreneurs they find creative solutions to achieve their goals. In cybersecurity, this means they have to adopt new tactics, techniques, and procedures to evade these legacy defenses.
As a result, security tools looking at past attacks need to be continuously updated and fine-tuned, creating manual, human-intensive workflows and preventing security teams from focusing on more proactive and strategic work. Meanwhile, "known unknown" or "unknown unknown" attacks that have never been seen before slip through these tools with ease. Ultimately, the complexity of modern attacks and the speed of attacker innovation have rendered this approach unworkable.
Securing the Endpoint Starts With Understanding ItThe question of how to protect against "unknown unknowns" is complex: How do you stop something when you don't know what you're looking for? The answer may be surprisingly simple: It requires a shift from looking in the rearview mirror at past attacks to looking at the organization and learning how it normally behaves.
This shift in approach entails the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to learn the unique behavior and characteristics of each and every endpoint device. This enables the detection of subtle deviations from normal that indicate a cyber threat, as well as a targeted response: stopping malicious activity by enforcing a device's normal behavior.
This marks a significant step forward from the binary decision-making of most endpoint tools that are confined in their actions to "block" or "allow," which can lead to overly aggressive actions that quarantine devices and disrupt legitimate business.
Instead, this approach can specifically target the malicious activity and surgically remove the threat. This allows the technology to work with VPN services: It can quarantine a device and stop it communicating with threat actors, while maintaining VPN access and allowing human security personnel to remotely control an infected device.
Bringing Enterprisewide Context to the Endpoint As endpoint activity becomes more intertwined with activity in cloud applications and email systems, using a single AI engine to gain visibility over multiple parts of your enterprise will result in something greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Take, for example ,a ransomware attack that starts with a single, targeted phishing email. A remote worker clicks on a malicious link, which takes them to a website that initiates a browser download. Their device then gets infected with malware and initiates C2 communication with the attacker's infrastructure, before uploading large amounts of data to a cloud server.
Only with unified coverage across email, endpoint, cloud, and network data can you determine at each stage of this intrusion that something unusual is going on, prioritizing the incident for the human security team or autonomously responding at each stage to stun the attacker in place.
Endpoints Have Changed, and So Should SecurityWe are in an era where data flows more freely between devices, cloud systems, and the Internet; more sensitive data lives directly on devices; and those devices are active for more hours of the day. Meanwhile, attackers continue to innovate with new tools and techniques to access the data on those devices.
Strong endpoint security means maintaining visibility over these devices, but it also entails the ability to illuminate novel threats, regardless of their nature; bring enterprisewide context onto endpoint activity; and respond in a timely and targeted manner, keeping today's dynamic workforce safe while maintaining productivity.
Visit link:
Why the Shifting Nature of Endpoints Requires a New Approach to Security - DARKReading
Russian Invasion Of Ukraine’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Hits Tech Everywhere But Especially Inside The Stricken Country – Forbes
Tens of thousands of engineers, and staff, from Ukraine's once-booming tech industry have joined 500,000 Ukrainians fleeing across the border to safety, while many remain to volunteer, or trapped by martial law.
Tymofii Vlasov, a 33-year-old software engineer, faced a 12-hour drive along winding back roads to avoid a highway blocked with fellow refugees as he fled from the Russian militarys advance on his home Kyiv. Vlasov is just one of the thousands of Ukrainians who help keep the lights on for international tech companies but have now been forced to flee their homes.
Amazon, Lyft, Snap have all turned to Ukraine in recent years to hire engineers such as Vlasov, who tests and debugs code for San Mateo, California-based startup Totango. But the war has upended that, and now many tech companies are chartering buses and planes to get their staff to safety. Shares in EPAM Systems one of Ukraines biggest tech employers plunged 45.6% after the S&P 500 stock pulled its market guidance after warning investors of heightened uncertainties.
We have a significant presence of our engineering talent with around 14,000 people spread from around east to west [Ukraine] and its obvious the current events are impacting [us], says Arkadiy Dobkin, CEO and chairman of EPAM, which has an $11.8 billion market cap after its shares slumped 67% since the start of the year. A lot of people are continuing to work but a lot of people are also sitting in a bomb shelter.
The Newtown, Pennsylvania-based company says it had been evacuating staff away from the frontlines to western Ukraine but it was impossible for now to move some 6,000 staff stuck in Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, which was targeted by shelling on February 28. The two cities have in recent years become bustling tech hubs home to tens of thousands of engineers working for outsourcing companies like EPAM, local startups like face-swapping app Reface, and international tech giants.
EPAM has 14,000 staff in Ukraine and 18,000 more in Belarus and Russia, who build custom software for scores of S&P 500 companies. We will take care of our people as much as we can, says Dobkin, who is originally from Belarus.
EPAM is not the only tech company to have had to pivot from organizing code updates to escape lines for staff. Israeli website builder Wix had offered its 900 Ukrainian staff, along with their families, temporary relocation to Turkey earlier this month as tensions mounted.
About 600 members of the Wix staff were left in Ukraine when Russian forces invaded on February 24. Employees have been moving west with buses we chartered in advance or driving their own cars westwards towards Lviv, and the Polish border, says Nir Zohar, President & COO of Wix.
Zohar says Wix had a team at the Polish border waiting to meet staff before relocating them to Krakow, Poland, where the Nasdaq-listed company has offices. We help them with accommodation, supplies, blankets, baby food, and whatever they need because most of them have been traveling for 48 hours straight, says Zohar, adding volunteers from Wixs offices in Lithuania had driven over 500 miles to help.
The impact of the emergency evacuation of a fifth of Wixs engineering and customer support teams had been softened by contingency plans activated earlier to move key staff outside of Ukraine, says Zohar.
Lyft, Snap, and British startup Hopin are among tech companies that have also offered emergency funds and relocation to staff in Ukraine. The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates around half a million people have now fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since the start of Russias invasion.
Software companies, with data already secured in cloud servers, can move developers and laptops relatively easily even with Ukraines roads, and trains, choked but startups with an industrial component such as alarm and security device maker Ajax Systems face a bigger challenge. The Kyiv-based company has shipped its stock and parts across the border and was now building a new factory in Poland and in Ukraine, according to Aleksandr Konotopskyi, Ajax Systems CEO.
A two-month supply of components and finished products is being transported to the west of Ukraine and Poland right now, says Konotopskyi, adding that Ajax data was on AWS servers outside Ukraine. The priority today is the lives and safety of our employees. We are following the news carefully and relocating our teams to safe regions in Ukraine or Europe.
Not everyone has chosen to leave. Macpaw founder and CEO Oleksandr Kosovan, returned to Kyiv, and his new home in the basement of his office, after taking his family out of the country shortly before flights were suspended. I thought to myself, `How will I look into the eyes of my children if we lose this war if we lose our country? I will not be able to forgive myself, says Kosovan. I will do whatever we can to resist this aggressionIf Russia is a bear, we are like a swarm of bees.
Civilian volunteers have been handed weapons in Kyiv as Russian forces advanced on Ukraine's capital.
Leaving Ukraine has also not been an option for men eligible for military service since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law. Families are being broken apart, says Zohar. The men are not allowed to leave Ukraine so some of our male employees are sending their wives and kids. Female employees are crossing but are leaving husbands behind. Its heartbreaking, and it's our responsibility to help out.
Totango had offered its 15 staff relocation to Israel prior to Russias invasion, but many had chosen to remain in Ukraine, says Amit Bluman, Totango SVP of Engineering. We have been working together for four years and it has been super encouraging to see them handle this situationand some are going far and beyond helping with supplies, or volunteering with the army, or leaving their safe place to go Kharvic to help with first aid, says Bluman, adding that Totango continues to support its staff inside Ukraine. Hearing these things on your daily meetingI was overwhelmed.
After a journey that took twice as long as it should have, Vlasov is now sharing a crowded apartment with his brother, his sister-in-law, and her family, in his hometown of Odessa. The Black Sea port might be safe for now but it appears to be a key objective for Russia and now lies just over 100 miles from the frontline.
One of Vlasovs first tasks on arriving in Odessavolunteering for a local defense force. Vlasov joined long lines at the draft office that for now was only accepting those with active military experience. In Odessa, we have lots of volunteers I think everyone here is ready to fight. I will definitely fight because this is my city, he says.
The Best Crunchyroll VPN [Bypass the Ban and Enjoy Your Anime] – Cloudwards
Anime fans know that Crunchyroll is one of the best streaming platforms to access anime. However, the in-demand platform is only available in certain regions, with the entire library accessible to U.S.-only users. If you want to watch Crunchyroll without those pesky restrictions in the way, its time to go hunting for a Crunchyroll VPN.
Fortunately for you, weve done the digging and finished the hard part of finding a secure virtual private network. With these VPN services, you can access Crunchyroll stream anime from anywhere. Keep reading to find out how you can get your Naruto running and sharingans on with the best Crunchyroll VPNs.
Crunchyroll is not legally allowed to stream certain animes in specific regions. As a result, it attempts to restrict VPNs that get past its geoblocks.
If you dont want to spend money, then yes, but free VPNs arent the most reliable in unblocking Crunchyroll. Youre better off with a paid service like ExpressVPN, or free VPNs like Windscribe or ProtonVPN.
VPNs have a lot of benefits. They hide your IP address and maintain your internet anonymity no matter where youre accessing the internet. VPN apps also encrypt all the traffic going in and out of your device.
Its no trouble to find a VPN service, but hunting for one that can bypass the Crunchyroll VPN ban now thats where the challenge lies. Weve compiled a list of the top VPNs to stream Crunchyroll with below. Heres an at-a-glance view of the best VPN providers out there to get the job done.
When you access Crunchyroll with a reliable VPN, you can hide your actual location and tap into U.S. server locations to unblock Crunchyrolls vast library of anime content.
Its time to make the best of what Crunchyroll offers, no matter where you are in the world. Get past those Crunchyroll bans and start streaming your favorite Crunchyroll shows be it a cultural phenomenon like Gintama or something more philosophical like Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Without further ado, here are the top VPN services that unblock Crunchyroll today, starting with the best VPN for streaming, ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN helps you unblock Crunchyroll with its excellent speed and features.
More Details About ExpressVPN:
Pros:
ExpressVPN is a premium service provider in the VPN market that goes hand-in-hand with unfettered Crunchyroll access. It has unparalleled speeds and offers A-grade security for its users.
The VPN software is also beginner-friendly and can be operated with a simple click of a button. You wont have a hard time bouncing between streaming services or operating the VPN to get HD streaming on Crunchyroll.
ExpressVPN is the best VPN app in the market for watching Crunchyroll anime.
ExpressVPN provides what every VPN should aim for: maximum security. It comes equipped with a kill switch that ensures your location remains secure even if your connection to the VPN server dips. It also offers DNS leak protection and split tunneling, meaning you can be selective about which apps fall under the VPNs protective bubble a great feature for multitaskers.
The only disadvantage is the price. ExpressVPN is on the more expensive end, given its premium service. However, you can give ExpressVPN a try by using its 30-day money-back guarantee. Read our full ExpressVPN review to see why it is our favorite virtual private network.
NordVPN has no problem getting around the Crunchyroll VPN ban.
More Details About NordVPN:
Pros:
Cons:
If youre in the market for a premium VPN provider, but youre not too eager to shell out the big bucks, NordVPN should be your top pick. The VPN provider comes packed with features at a more affordable price than ExpressVPN, and it provides reliable access for unblocking content. It also offers a huge server count in the U.S., with almost 2,000 American VPN servers.
NordVPN also provides consistent speeds. Though not on par with ExpressVPN, it streams HD content without annoying buffering lags interrupting your nail-biting episode of My Hero Academia. You can also use up to six devices simultaneously if youre sharing the account with roommates or siblings.
NordVPNs a great alternative to ExpressVPN if youre looking for something slightly easier on the pocket.
NordVPN also has double-hop servers, which means your connection gets routed through two encrypted locations instead of one. This can protect you from internet providers or agencies going through your data.
NordVPNs monthly plans are on the expensive end, but if you opt for the long-term plans or even the annual one for that matter, youll make killer savings. The VPN also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can give NordVPN a try before making a full commitment to its services. Read our full NordVPN review for more details.
Surfshark makes a great budget VPN service to watch Crunchyroll.
More Details About Surfshark:
Pros:
You wouldnt expect a VPN with a killer price to provide stellar speeds, but Surfshark certainly does the job well enough to have you bingeing your favorite anime. Its stand-out feature is its incredibly affordable price, especially on the two-year plan. It also offers unlimited simultaneous connections meaning you can stream, browse and torrent from as many of your devices as you want.
However, while its speeds are great once youre connected, you may encounter some trouble getting that connection going at the start with some servers.
Surfsharks one of the most reliable budget-friendly options you can go with for streaming anime.
Security-wise, Surfshark has you covered. Its based in the British Virgin Islands, so its out of jurisdiction from some of the U.S. and the U.K.s snooping laws. It also offers the standard no-log policy, kill-switch and DNS leak protection to ensure your IP address remains safe and your internet identity uncompromised.
An extra bonus is that you can also use the VPNs CleanWeb feature to block out ads and keep them from plaguing your sight as you stream your favorite anime.
If you dont want to dive in with Surfshark despite the incredible pricing, the VPN offers a seven-day free trial on mobile devices. You can also check out the 30-day money-back guarantee before going with a long-term plan. Read our full Surfshark review for more details.
Surfshark Plans
Windscribe is our favorite free VPN, but we also love its unique build-a-plan option.
More Details About Windscribe:
Pros:
Cons:
If youre not keen on spending money just yet and want to test the waters with a free VPN for Crunchyroll, you should start with Windscribe. Its the best free VPN in the market, offering 10GB of free data each month. Unfortunately, thatll be crunched up fast, so we recommend you invest in the paid plan if you want the most value from the VPN.
However, Windscribe is also a great low-cost option as you can build your own plan that lets you add a server to your free plan for just $1 each and that includes U.S. servers. The only downside is that Windscribe has a limited number of U.S. servers, so you wont be able to switch around as much to get into the Crunchyroll library if one gets blocked.
As far as free VPNs go, Windscribe is one of the few trustworthy ones.
Another benefit of this VPN is the unlimited simultaneous connections you can share Windscribe across as many devices as you want without it affecting your streaming experience. However, it also has middling speeds, which can disrupt your episode streaming. The lack of split tunneling is a bummer too.
If you want to give Windscribe a shot, you can sign up for the free plan. Alternatively, you can also check out its 30-day money-back guarantee if youre considering their paid or build a plan model. Read our full Windscribe review for more details.
Build a Plan
Pro Plan
ProtonVPNs free plan offers unlimited data, but in only three server locations luckily that includes the U.S.
More Details About ProtonVPN:
Pros:
Cons:
Made by the team behind ProtonMail, the highly encrypted email service, ProtonVPN not only provides you with some of the best privacy features any VPN service can offer, but its also very good for streaming with zero data limits.
ProtonVPN is based in Switzerland, so it is protected by some of the worlds strongest privacy laws. The MIT and CERN scientist team behind this VPN firmly believes in open source, so the codes can be examined by anyone, providing that extra level of confidence for its users.
It also provides you with all the basic features like a no-log policy and a kill switch. ProtonVPN also has an edge over Windscribe as it offers a split tunneling feature.
ProtonVPN is a free VPN alternative to Windscribe with U.S. servers to access Crunchyroll.
ProtonVPNs main disadvantage is its inconsistent speed over the multiple servers provided. The free version of the VPN is also geoblocked in more locations than most other free service providers, but it does at least provide U.S. servers as part of the free plan. The big advantage of the free plan, though, is that your data isnt capped unlike Windscribes 10GB limit.
While ProtonVPNs plans are a bit on the expensive side, the security features and privacy policies it provides are second to none. The VPN also provides you with a 30-day money-back policy, so you can always get a refund if this is not the service for you. The free plan is definitely worth a try. Read our full ProtonVPN review for more details.
CyberGhost offers plenty of U.S. servers to help you watch Crunchyroll.
More Details About CyberGhost:
Pros:
Cons:
If youre on a budget and still need a great overall VPN service, CyberGhost is a good place to start looking. This service is one of the oldest VPN providers in the industry while also being one of the few VPNs to have dedicated servers for streaming although accessing streaming services can be hit or miss sometimes.
CyberGhost is good for security and privacy, as it provides military-grade AES-256 encryption and necessary features like split tunneling and a kill switch while also having a very strict no-log policy.
If youre on a super tight budget, you should check out CyberGhosts affordable plans.
CyberGhost VPN normally provides you with great streaming speeds for Crunchyroll without any buffers, but the consistency of speeds between servers is a little questionable. The streaming service has been geoblocked in China and UAE countries, so keep that in mind if youre traveling to these destinations.
Not only does CyberGhost provide you with incredible streaming with an optimized server for Crunchyroll, the price (if you go for the two-year plan) is an incredible bang for your buck. An added plus is the extended 45-day money-back guarantee if you decide to unsubscribe from the service. Read our full CyberGhost review for more details.
PIA helps you unblock Crunchyroll from outside the U.S.
More Details About Private Internet Access:
Pros:
Cons:
This VPN provider has not only been in the business for more than 10 years but also has some of the best protection for streaming. Since its based in the U.S, PIA provides you with plenty of U.S.-based servers for excellent streaming speed and quality with consistency.
PIA provides a reasonable price with consistent speeds to stream titles like Attack on Titan on Crunchyroll. Its also 100% open source like ProtonVPN, while also ticking all the basic boxes for VPNs like secure protocols, kill switch, split tunneling and even torrenting support.
PIA is a solid VPN but with inconsistent performance with Crunchyroll.
However, for the lower price youll also have to settle for PIA not always getting past Crunchyrolls geoblocks. It doesnt work every time, so youll have to be patient.
The customer support is also not that great when compared to the competition where live chat is concerned. The support staff are inconsistent about responding on time, so youll most likely resort to using their email ticketing system instead.
If youre looking for an affordable VPN service that offers great speeds and vast server support in the U.S. with consistency, Private Internet Access provides you that, with the bonus of a 30-day money-back policy. Read our full PIA review for more details.
If youre thinking of catching up on the latest season of Attack on Titan or rewatching old classics like Death Note without the Netflix versions inaccurate subtitles, Crunchyroll streaming is the best place to go. The best part about streaming anime with Crunchyroll is that all the episodes are released within an hour of them going live in Japan.
However, thanks to the platforms geo-restrictions, the popular streaming services vast library of weeb content is only available to U.S. members. If youre planning on a weeklong trip to Rome, you can bid sayonara to Crunchyroll content access while youre there. That is, unless you have a VPN to save the day.
The best way to watch an episode right after it airs is by hopping onto Crunchyroll and streaming newly released episodes there. Using a VPN makes this possible from other countries outside the U.S.
ExpressVPN is the best Crunchyroll VPN option out there, but NordVPN is close on its heels though the five other VPN recommendations are worth considering, depending on your needs.
What about you? Do you watch anime from outside the U.S., and if so, what VPN do you use to access Crunchyroll? Let us know in the comments. Thank you for reading and ganbatte on your anime streaming adventures this year.
Let us know if you liked the post. Thats the only way we can improve.
YesNo
Originally posted here:
The Best Crunchyroll VPN [Bypass the Ban and Enjoy Your Anime] - Cloudwards
Best free password managers: Better online security doesn’t have to cost a thing – Good Gear Guide
You need a password manager. Data breaches now happen regularly, and that flood of stolen info has made cracking passwords even easier. Not just the password12345 variety is at riskit's also any that use strategies like variations on a single password or substituting numbers for letters. Even if you're using unique, random passwords, storing them in a document or spreadsheet leaves you vulnerable to prying eyes.
While paid password managers offer nice extras, a free password manager still protects you from the risks of using weak passwords (or worse, using the same one everywhere). You just have to remember one password to access a single, secure place where all your other passwords are stored.
And because free password managers come in different flavors and styles, you should be able to find one that fits your lifestyle. Down the road, you can always upgrade to a paid service if your needs grow.
Image: PCWorld
Like several other services, Bitwarden offers a free tier and a paid tierbut its free tier packs in so many features that most individuals won't need more. You can access the service across an unlimited amount of devices and a multitude of device types, enable basic TOTP two-factor authentication, and fill your vault with as many passwords as you'd like. The free personal plan also allows privacy-minded users to avoid the company's cloud hosting and instead self-host.
Rivals dole out far less to their free users, and it's particularly rare for them to grant unrestricted movement between multiple device types. (LastPass and Dashlane begin charging as soon as you want to leave the confines of a single device.) Most competitors are also not open-source like Bitwarden, which prevents their communities from being able to hunt for hidden backdoors or security holes.
The one thing that the free personal plan doesn't offer is real-time password sharingbut you can partially get around that by signing up for a free two-person org plan instead. It allows unlimited password sharing between the two users, thus allowing both individuals to safely access current passwords for shared accounts. However, the trade-off is that this free enterprise plan does not allow self-hosting.
Bitwarden's generous lineup of features for its free service makes it our top pick. Choose the free 2-person org plan to enable password sharing with one other account. Image: PCWorld.
Bitwarden's other advantage is that should your needs expand down the road, the transition to a paid plan won't cost much. A premium personal plan is just $10 per year (compared to $36+ per year for rivals), and a family plan is $40 per year for up to six users (compared to $48+ per year for rivals). And moving up to a paid tier does come with concrete benefits: support for more sophisticated forms of two-factor authentication, evaluations of your passwords' health (e.g., strength, public exposure, etc.), encrypted file storage, and emergency access for trusted individuals.
Finally, if you decide to move elsewhere one day, Bitwarden allows you to export your passwordswith the option to do so as an encrypted file. But with such a generous and thorough set of features, you'll likely not want to go elsewhere.
PCWorld
KeePass may not look like much, but under the hood this desktop-application-based password manager has all the features you could want, particularly if you're privacy and security minded.
Because the program and its encrypted database file(s) are stored locally on your computer by default, you retain full control over who can access itunlike a cloud service, where you have to trust that servers are set up correctly and that the employees are trustworthy. Moreover, you don't even have to install it on your system, but can run it via a portable .exe application kept on a USB stick.
KeePass is also an open-source program, which means that the community can always vet it for any hidden backdoors or just plain old security-crippling bugs. And you can enable two-factor authentication through the use of key files (which augments your master password), plus lock the database file to the Windows account that created it, too.
KeePass's numerous plugins let you approximate much of the premium features you'd get with a paid service, so long as you're willing to put in some elbow grease. This is only part of the full list! Image: PCWorld.
You're not just locked to a Windows desktop system, eitherbecause the program is open source, you can find community-created ports of KeePass for MacOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, as well as a boatload of plugins that let you customize it to your taste. With plugins, you can re-create most of the features you'd find in paid cloud-based services, like checking to see if any of your passwords have been found as part of a data dump.
You can also get creative with how you store your database filefor remote access, you can put it on a home server, or if you're comfortable, a cloud service of your own choosing. (Perhaps you're more comfortable with how Google safeguards its accounts than a dedicated password manager service, for example.) And should you ever decide to hang up your hat as a DIY password manager administrator, KeePass allows for easy exports of your passwords.
Password managers within mobile operating systems and major browsers have come a long way. Just a few years ago, we wouldn't have advised using them at all, but now they've shored up their security and features to become a viable (though basic) option.
But basic isn't badwhen it comes to password managers, the best service is the one that you'll use. For some people, using a dedicated password manager can be too much to keep track of. In those cases, leaning on Google, Apple, or even Firefox can help upgrade your password security with little extra effort necessary. Their built-in password management tools can do the heavy lifting of creating and remembering unique random passwords across the web, and you won't need to switch to a different app to make it work.
If you're going to choose a browser-based password manager, Firefox is one of the best options among the bunch.
Of course, you will lock yourself into those ecosystems by doing so, but if you live your whole life within those waters already, you won't be bothered by that fact. Google probably will appeal to most people, as Chrome is ubiquitous, but those who worry about data privacy can instead turn to Firefox and its pledge to not sell your data. Apple also shares Firefox's commitment to privacy, but it's the hardest platform to leave, as the company doesn't provide an easy method to export passwords. We advise choosing Google or Firefox for the widest reach across devices, and Apple if you own both MacOS and iOS devices (and don't plan to leave). Microsoft's password manager in Edge can also be worth a look for people deeply enmeshed in the Windows ecosystem.
The one primary downside to using your Google, Apple, or Firefox account to store passwords is that they're not as tightly safeguarded as with a third-party service. Even if you secure your account with two-factor authentication (and you absolutely should if you're storing passwords in it!), Google, Apple, or Firefox tend to be more lax about accessing passwords from a device that's logged in. Often they don't ask for reauthentication to use a stored password, unlike most dedicated password managersand that can be a security hazard on a shared device.
Why bother with a paid password manager if you can use a free one? Paid services provide premium features that enable more control over your passwords and how you secure them. For example, you'll often gain access to password sharing (handy if your household members all need to know the Netflix password), support for YubiKey and other more advanced forms of 2FA authenticators, and alerts that tell you if your password turned up in a data dump. Some paid services even have a signature feature that makes them stand out from competitorsfor example, 1Password has a travel vault feature that hides some passwords when you're traveling, as an extra security measure when you might encounter aggressive airport screening or simply lose access to your devices due to theft or lost baggage.
If you need these kinds of features, check out our list of the best paid password managers to see which ones offer the best bang for your buck.
Originally posted here:
Best free password managers: Better online security doesn't have to cost a thing - Good Gear Guide
Cloud Hosting vs Web Hosting: Whats the Difference? – Siliconindia.com
With so much data being generated every day and new websites coming up, the security and management of these resources becomes extremely crucial for organisations.
These organisations need to manage the resources and elements of their websites at a suitable place, from where they can be accessed instantaneously at the users command.
The 2 major options with managers today are the traditional Web Hosting and the new-gen concept, or rather say facility, of Cloud Hosting. As companies continue shifting to online modes of data storage like the cloud space, cloud hosting services are gaining popularity, though many managers still stay confused between Web Hosting and Cloud Hosting.
For those who are familiar with the concept of Cloud Computing, this might not seem a huge challenge, especially for those who have a cloud computing certification, However, managers deprived of this need to analyse the pros and cons of both services, and figure out which one of these 2 is more suitable and beneficial for their organisation.
In this article, we try to illustrate the key differences between these 2 modes of hosting, focusing on different parameters. You should analyse each of these separately to make the final decision about which hosting service to use in your company. Before we discuss the difference, lets have a quick look at what exactly these 2 hosting services are.
Web Hosting
Web Hosting is the traditional mode of hosting websites through which organisations host their website resources on local servers. The resources are stored on a local server, and as a user makes a request on a website, accordingly, these resources are accessed from the server and presented on the website.
There are various types of web hosting which you can use for your website like Virtual, Dedicated, Shared and Managed. However, the 2 most common are Virtual and Dedicated web hosting services. The major difference between these 2 is shown below.
Cloud Hosting
Contrary to hosting your website resources on local servers, cloud hosting allows you to store your website resources on the digital space of the internet through various platforms. You can leverage this online cloud space, by simply paying for as much services you awail, rather than paying to buy a fixed server space.
With the growing popularity of cloud computing, the cloud based hosting is also gaining stability, mainly due to its various benefits. Some of the benefits of this kind of hosting service include better security, less costs, flexibility, ease of accessibility, shareability, etc.
Web Hosting vs Cloud Hosting
As we know the basics about both kinds of hosting now, lets check what are the key differences between them and which kind of hosting excels in a particular category.
Control Over Resources
Services
Scalability
Security
Making a correct decision about your hosting service provider is crucial as this is not something which you can change from time to time.
There is a lot of planning and brainstorming which goes on in an organisation before arriving at the final decision. So analyse all these parameters carefully and go ahead with the service which best suits your business needs, mission, and objectives.
Read the rest here:
Cloud Hosting vs Web Hosting: Whats the Difference? - Siliconindia.com
Assessment of the World’s Data Center Server Industry, 2022-2027 – ResearchAndMarkets.com – Business Wire
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Data Center Server Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global data center server market reached a value of US$ 49.7 billion in 2021. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach US$ 67.2 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.06% during 2022-2027.
Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use sectors. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.
The continuous transfer of data from private servers to cloud-based solutions is currently driving the growth of data center servers in various industries across the globe. Data centers can store servers and other equipment, thereby increasing their demand among the cloud service providers to house cloud services and cloud-based resources. Most consumers are now planning to increase the use of private and public cloud in the coming years.
Moreover, various consumers are now transferring data across public cloud and other commercial facilities such as colocation sites, and network provider's point of the present location. This has augmented the demand for the Internet of Things (IoT) which further requires data center servers to include endpoint devices such as integrated compute/storage; intelligent gateway devices and nearby devices such as on-premise data centers and managed hosting sites.
Other factors elevating the growth of the data center server market include increasing usage of unique client-centric solutions, enhanced security management, and technological innovations.
Key Market Segmentation
This report provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global data center server market, along with forecasts at the global and regional level from 2022-2027. The report has categorized the market based on product and application.
Breakup by Product
Based on the product, the market has been segmented into rack servers, blade servers, microservers and tower servers. Rack servers currently represent the biggest segment.
Breakup by Application
Based on the application, the market has been segmented into industrial servers and commercial servers.
Breakup by Region
Region-wise, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.
Competitive Landscape
The competitive landscape of the market has also been examined with some of the key players being:
Key Questions Answered in this Report
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/f9n5ou
Here is the original post:
Assessment of the World's Data Center Server Industry, 2022-2027 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire
Russia has been preparing to have its Internet sanctioned – Quartz
Among Joe Bidens options to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine are disruptive cyberattacksthe kind that Russia itself often unleashes on other countries. Even more broadly, sanctions experts have discussed the possibility of cutting countries off from the global internet entirely, the way governments do to stifle unrest in domestic regions.
But Russia has been preparing for precisely this kind of contingency for the last half-decade. In 2019, Vladimir Putin signed a Sovereign Internet Law, which gives the Russian government more control over internet content but also to counteract threats to the stability and security of the internet in the country. On three instances, most recently last summer, Russia disconnected itself from the internet so that it could perform tests on Runet, a locally based network designed to step in to serve web pages in the event of a cyberattack or a deliberate outage, said Karen Kazaryn, the director of the Internet Research Institute in Moscow.
The infrastructure of the internet is huge and complex, so cutting off a whole countrys internet isnt as easy as flipping a switch. Some countries, though, are easier to target than others. In 2012, a web monitoring firm named Renesys used the number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in a country as a proxy to determine how easy or difficult it would be to isolate its internet. Greenland, Mali, and Turkmenistan, for instance, were relatively vulnerable. Russia, like the US or Canada, were dubbed resistant to such deliberate outages.
Still, there could be hidden centralizations, said Jim Cowie, who co-founded Renesys and is now the chief data scientist at DeepMacro, a research firm. For example, Russia could have 20 ISPs but their traffic could all be traveling on the same fiber optic cable, so targeting the cable would turn the whole thing off. In the sanctions realm, such discussions happen, Cowie said, but they dont lead anywhere. Traditionally, there are some things left out of sanctions considerations on humanitarian grounds, so in the olden days, for instance, you never targeted the telegraph service or the post or telephone systems, he said. He pointed to the US Treasury Departments order on Feb. 21, which exempted telecommunications services from sanctions.
Still, if Russias internet capacities are themselves the problemif its hackers continue using cyberattacks as a form of warfarethen counter-attacking its internet would be a logical strategy. Russia knows this too. After the Runet tests last year, Russian officials said that they had to be ready for anything given the aggressive nature of US cyber strategy.
The concept of a sovereign internet isnt technically ludicrous, Cowie said, but in a country with a lot of internet diversitylots of ISPs, users, and connectivityit can take a long while to establish. And a government would have to be sure, he said, that it didnt have anything essential that was dependent on the global internet. Like, say, a government services web site that was hosted on a cloud server sitting in London.
Russia conducted its first test of an isolated internet in 2017, Kazaryn said: a process that involved sequentially disconnecting major telecom firms and ISPs from the global internet. Kazaryn described both the contingencies and the aims that these exercises are designed for. If major internet servers are instructed to stop serving web pages with the Russian .ru domain, he said, Russian companies have to be ready to pick up and serve, with minimal delays, cached copies of those pages. Russia wants to store not web pages themselves, but information about where the web pages are located, he said. It is like recreating the infrastructure of the internet via back-ups, using local servers, he said.
To Cowies knowledge, Russia has only ever disconnected its internet in stages, rather than in its entirety. There are a lot of people who are interested in internet measurement, who were waiting to see if that happened, but it didnt, he said. They must have just had their fingers on hundreds of switches, as a way of convincing regulators that its possible if its needed.
More:
Russia has been preparing to have its Internet sanctioned - Quartz