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Tips for Healthcare Organizations to Prevent and Respond to Data Breaches – HealthTech Magazine

One of the things that weve seen from traditional architectures is that most organizations have the same virtual machines. They have physical servers and databases that have grown so large that they cant protect them inside their window. In many cases, they have NAS architectures, which theyd traditionally protect using native NAS tools, but they dont necessarily provide the same level of recovery or separation from cyberattacks.

To protect these different workloads, traditional architecture had different parts and pieces, whether it was something like a master server or media server, and these server-based operating systems with applications installed on them send data to different storage devices. In many cases, weve seen these servers be compromised as part of a ransomware attack.

At Cohesity, we took all these different parts and pieces and consolidated them into a single hyperconverged architecture. Effectively, we run all those services inside our cluster as logical entities. That clustered approach gives us several big advantages. The first is that we distribute the workload across all the nodes. This allows us to back up and recover much more quickly than the traditional architectures.

The platform architecture itself gives us the ability to rapidly recover data, which is a key concern. Because its a node-based architecture, it doesnt have any things like disruption for upgrades, forklift upgrades or outage from software upgrades. We can add or remove nodes all while its up and running. We have a whole host of ransomware protection thats built into the platform, and we have storage efficiencies to help organizations reduce the amount of data that they have to store to drive down the cost.

READ MORE:Layered security is essential to healthcare systems incident response planning.

HALEY: We built an architecture designed with security in mind. It starts with a hardened architecture, where we built a platform so that it leverages technologies like encryption and immutability and has capabilities for things like write once read many (WORM), even architectures to support technologies like air gap. Weve also done a whole host of technologies to maintain and restrict access, and so we have granular role-based access control. Not everybody needs to be an administrator. We can give people the rights they need to do what they need to do without making everybody have too many rights.

We also support technologies such as multifactor authentication. My No. 1 recommendation to everybody professionally and personally is to enable multifactor authentication on everything. Anything that you care about, you should turn it on. Its a huge deterrent from several of the credential compromises weve seen. Multifactor authentication is a huge defense against attack. In addition to protecting the data, we also help people detect anomalous activity.

HALEY: We have a platform built into our Helios single pane of management consult. What were doing is looking at every object that we protect and creating a trend line for each object. The trend line shows how much data is backed up every day, how much changes and which files are being added, changed or deleted. We also look further into it so that we can understand how compressible the data is, or how eligible it is for deduplication.

What were really doing is looking for the signatures of a ransomware attack as it relates to data. The idea of creating a trend is that we understand what a normal day, a normal week or even a normal month looks like for every object in the environment. As part of the anomaly detection, whenever we see something thats out of trend, well alert you to it. We also show you the last clean backup. So, well show you where we detected the anomaly, and well show you the last nonanomalous protection point as well as a list of the files that we discovered that were affected by this.

Generally, if you see this as a challenge, you can initiate recovery right from the detection panel. If its something that you expected maybe you installed a service pack or you updated an application on the system you can simply ignore the anomaly. Weve also set this up so that it can send an alert directly to the Cohesity mobile app. Its just another set of eyes looking at the data, and were trending it using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

DISCOVER:Learn how infrastructure upgrades helped an organization survive a ransomware attack.

HALEY: We index all the data that we store. We build a searchable index. We also have an index and an inventory thats globally searchable for all the objects that we protect. We have tools in an actionable methodology. We can search for something and then act right when we find it. So, we have these to help organizations understand all the data thats being protected. If you think about it, the data protection architecture becomes an aggregation point for all the data in an environment. Its like a central repository for the data. These tools provide a great deal of power.

Our architecture is a multinode cluster, but we have this idea of the Cohesity marketplace, the idea that we can run apps and services natively on the architecture, and they spin up as Kubernetes containers. We run apps and services on the architecture that you could download and install directly into the cluster.

One example is a data classification architecture. Instead of indexing the file, server and database names, it can actually index the contents of files. Imagine being able to go through all the files youre protecting and look for patterns. Understanding where that sensitive data is allows you to better understand how to secure it.

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Best free password managers: Better online security doesn’t have to cost a thing – PC World

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.

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What is a cloud server? Types of cloud servers and how …

What is a cloud server?

A cloud server is a compute server that has been virtualized, making its resources accessible to users remotely over a network. Cloud servers are intended to provide the same functions, support the same operating systems (OSes) and applications, and offer similar performance characteristics as traditional physical servers that run in a local data center. Cloud servers are often referred to as virtual servers, virtual private servers or virtual platforms.

Cloud servers are an important part of cloud technology. Widespread adoption of server virtualization has largely contributed to the rise and continued growth of cloud computing. Cloud servers power every type of cloud computing delivery model, from infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS).

Cloud servers work by virtualizing physical servers to make them accessible to users from remote locations. Server virtualization is often, but not always, done through the use of a hypervisor. The compute resources of the physical servers are then used to create and power virtual servers, which are also known as cloud servers. These virtual servers can then be accessed by organizations through a working internet connection from any physical location.

In a public cloud computing model, cloud vendors provide access to these virtual servers and storage resources in exchange for fees that are typically structured as a pay-as-you-go subscription model. Cloud computing delivery models that include only virtual servers, storage and networking are called IaaS. PaaS products provide customers a cloud computing environment with software and hardware tools for application development, which are powered by cloud servers, storage and networking resources. In the SaaS model, the vendor delivers a complete, fully managed software product to paying customers through the cloud. SaaS applications rely on cloud servers for compute resources.

Although private cloud servers work similarly, these physical servers are part of a company's private, owned infrastructure.

An enterprise can choose from several types of cloud servers. Three primary models include:

Public cloud servers. The most common expression of a cloud server is avirtual machine(VM) -- or compute "instance" -- that apublic cloudprovider hosts on its own infrastructure and delivers to users across the internet using a web-based interface or console. This model is known asIaaS. Examples of cloud servers includeAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud(EC2) instances, Microsoft Azure instances andGoogle Compute Engineinstances.

Private cloud servers. A cloud server may also be a compute instance within an on-premisesprivate cloud. In this case, an enterprise delivers the cloud server to internal users across alocal area network (LAN) and, in some cases, also to external users across the internet. The primary difference between a hosted public cloud server and a private cloud server is that the latter exists within an organization's own infrastructure, whereas a public cloud server is owned and operated outside of the organization. Hybrid clouds may include public or private cloud servers.

Dedicated cloud servers. In addition to virtual cloud servers, cloud providers can supply physical cloud servers, also known asbare-metal servers, which essentially dedicate a cloud provider's physical server to a user. These dedicated cloud servers -- also called dedicated instances -- are typically used when an organization must deploy a custom virtualization layer or mitigate the performance and security concerns that often accompany a multi-tenant cloud server.

Cloud servers are available in a wide range of compute options, with varying processor and memory resources. This enables an organization to select an instance type that best fits the needs of a specific workload. For example, a smaller Amazon EC2 instance might offer one virtual CPU and 2 GB of memory, while a larger Amazon EC2 instance provides 96 virtual CPUs and 384 GB of memory. In addition, it is possible to find cloud server instances that are tailored to unique workload requirements, such as compute-optimized instances that include more processors relative to the amount of memory.

While it's common for traditional physical servers to include some storage, most public cloud servers do not include storage resources. Instead, cloud providers typically offer storage as a separate cloud service, such asAmazon Simple Storage Service(Amazon S3) andGoogle Cloud Storage. An organization provisions and associates storage instances with cloud servers to hold content, such as VM images and application data.

The choice to use a cloud server will depend on the needs of the organization and its specific application and workload requirements. Some potential benefits include:

Ease of use. An administrator can provision a server in a matter of minutes. With a public cloud server, an organization does not need to worry about server installation, maintenance or other tasks that come with owning a physical server.

Globalization. Public cloud servers can globalize workloads. With a traditional centralized data center, admins can still access workloads globally, but networklatencyand disruptions can reduce performance for geographically distant users. By hosting duplicate instances of a workload in different global regions, organizations can benefit from faster and often more reliable access.

Cost and flexibility. Public cloud servers follow apay-as-you-go pricing model. Compared to a physical server and its maintenance costs, this can save an organization money, particularly for workloads that only need to run temporarily or are used infrequently. Cloud servers are often used for temporary workloads, such as software development and testing, as well as for workloads where resources need to be scaled up or down based on demand. However, depending on the amount of use, the long-term and full-time cost of cloud servers can become more expensive than owning the server outright. Furthermore, a full breakdown of cloud computing expenses is important to avoid hidden costs.

The choice to use a cloud server may also pose some potential disadvantages for organizations.

Regulation and governance. Regulatory obligations and corporate governance standards may prohibit organizations from using cloud servers and storing data in different geographic locations.

Performance. Because cloud servers are typically multi-tenant environments, and an admin has no direct control over those servers' physical location, a VM may be adversely impacted by excessive storage or network demands of other cloud servers on the same hardware. This is often referred to as the "noisy neighbor" issue. Dedicated or bare-metal cloud servers can help an organization avoid this problem.

Outages and resilience. Cloud servers are subject to periodic and unpredictable service outages, usually due to a fault within the provider's environment or an unexpected network disruption. For this reason, and because a user has no control over a cloud provider's infrastructure, some organizations choose to keep mission-critical workloads within their local data center rather than in the public cloud. Also, there is no inherent high availability or redundancy in public clouds. Users that require greater availability for a workload must deliberately build that availability into the workload.

When organizations are evaluating the use of cloud servers to satisfy their compute needs, there are a few key considerations.

When considering any type of cloud service, organizations should examine the specific cloud servers the provider uses -- such as the type, configuration and virtualization technology. While use of cloud servers for computing tasks can offer customers many specific benefits compared to physical servers, certain use cases can favor traditional on-premises servers.

Read here for more information on cloud security best practices for customer organizations.

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No, the Cloud Is Not a Green Technology – InformationWeek

There is a myth surrounding the cloud regarding it as a green technology. Though we love cloud computing, people tend to think that if they bring their technology to the cloud, they're being green. Much of this misconception comes from the cloud providers themselves, but a lot is from general misunderstandings of what the cloud is.

Since the cloud is nothing more than a rented data center that someone else owns, cloud computing itself can't be much greener than any other data center technology. For example, in our own data centers, we have our own routers, switches, firewalls, storage -- everything we need. Cloud providers data centers contain that identical technology that you would have in your own data center. The only difference is, in our data center, we manage our own servers. When we use a cloud provider, they manage those servers for us.

In our own data center, we might not need to buy 5,000 servers. We may think that by going to the cloud, there's no need for 5,000 servers. However, a cloud provider needs to buy the same 5,000 servers that you would have in the data center to support you and your enterprise. Many people don't realize the cloud provider needs to buy an equal number of servers they have in the data center because they don't understand that the cloud is just somebody else's network in a data center. If you have 10,000 servers in the data center with 128 cores and six terabytes of RAM, the cloud provider will need the same number of servers. Instead of buying them yourself, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Cisco, or Dell buys the same quantity of cloud computing hardware.

Now, the next thing that leads to this misconception of the cloud being green is regarding what many people believe is in a data center, which might utilize our equipment better due to virtualization like being able to put virtual machines (VMs), storage, or whatever else we need where we want. Though VMs do allow greater utilization of cloud technology, we've been using a virtualized environment with either VMware ESXi, QEMU, or KVM in data centers for the last 20 years. For the last two decades, we've been moving around our virtualization and decoupling our storage environment with block storage technologies. Every kind of economy of scale that we get in a well-run cloud provider, we get in a well-run data center. This means that, for decades, the cloud has never truly showcased itself as a green technology.

Now, in a data center, we have to build our own networks. By doing so, we can generate extreme performance and critical security. On the cloud, we don't build as much of that network. This might equate to a little bit of electrical savings but remember -- the cloud providers need to buy bigger routers in greater quantities. These are going to generate more heat by using more electricity. Although there is a slight benefit regarding the consolidation of a network, its energy savings are minimal. Whatever you don't buy, the cloud provider has to buy, because they still need the same technology in their cloud networking.

While there could be an argument made for some of the cloud providers to use greener sources of energy, we still have the problem of heat generation. Servers, storage, graphic components -- all the technology we need to operate a working cloud -- generates heat. So, if we're really talking about green technology, we're not talking about dispersing more heat into the atmosphere, we're talking about a generation of heat that is coming from the servers. Whether that heat and energy usage comes from our own data center or that of a cloud provider, that heat and high energy use are still going to be there.

Whether you're building your own modern data center using more green technologies, or whether you're using the cloud data center with more green technologies, it's just a matter of where your equipment is located. Is it located in your data center, or is it located in the cloud? Now if we're comparing 40-year-old data centers to modern cloud computing environments, more modern technology like virtualization and containers are absolutely greener. But again, in any traditional data center throughout the last two decades, we have been using virtualization. So the cloud, which is a virtualized network and datacenter, is just a newer version of the same technology. The names change, but the technology is the same.

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The What, Why and How of DevOps The New Stack – thenewstack.io

This post is the first in a series.

Kastens Michael Cade takes you on a journey through 90 days of DevOps. Michael documented resources and lessons learned during a three-month span to provide readers a foundational understanding of the DevOps discipline and tools that align with the DevOps mindset. This blog post series summarizes his experience. In this first post, well examine the definition of DevOps and its purpose in an organization.

DevOps is a term used frequently by developers and other teams in an organization. Exactly what is it and why do we use it? Thats the question I tackled during the first few weeks of my 90 Days of DevOps adventure. In this post, Ill explore a definition of DevOps, the responsibilities of the DevOps engineer, DevOps relation to agile development and the DevOps life cycle. Well wrap up with some real-world stories from leading organizations who use DevOps to improve the speed and quality of software development.

Michael Cade

Michael is senior global technologist, Product Strategy at Kasten by Veeam. Based in the U.K. with over 16 years of industry experience, his key focus is on technologies such as cloud native, automation and data management. His role at Kasten is to engage with the community to enable influencers and customers to overcome the challenges of cloud native data management and be successful.

DevOps brings together a combination of software development and operations. Development happens when software developers program an application and test it, and operations begins once the application is deployed and maintained on a server.

DevOps encompasses a set of practices that help organizations reduce the time between product ideation and its release in production to the end user. Done correctly, DevOps helps to eliminate silos and ultimately shorten long, drawn-out software release cycles by introducing smaller, more frequent releases that keep pace with customer needs.

DevOps engineers have to possess a broad range of skills, including:

While DevOps engineers dont need to be experts in these areas, some may be specialists in one or more, which can help them succeed in the DevOps role.

One of the main tasks of a DevOps engineer is releasing a new application version into production in an efficient and automated way. Lets take a look at the DevOps application-focused life cycle and how DevOps engineers can use this model for a successful release.

For DevOps, the application life cycle consists of five main phases: development, testing, integration, deployment and monitoring. These repeat in an infinite loop once an application is released into production. Heres a summary of each stage:

During this stage, a developer will collaborate with team members and potentially customers to define requirements for an application. They will determine an IDE (integrated development environment) and the programming language to use. DevOps engineers should familiarize themselves with the IDE and language so they can make the best infrastructure decisions for the application. Version control is critical, as well as a code repository for storing and collaborating on code. The repository can be public or private, and created on GitHub or GitLab, for example.

Development consists of three main steps:

Once the requirements are set and the application is being developed, testing code in various environments is the next step. During this phase, QA tests for bugs. Containers will be used to simulate the test environment, eliminating the need for physical or cloud infrastructure. Automation in this phase will contribute to continuous integration and help DevOps avoid having tens or even thousands of engineers do the work manually.

Smack in the middle of the DevOps life cycle, integration involves committing changes to source code, usually on a daily or weekly basis. With every commit, automated testing can be employed to help detect issues or bugs prior to the next phase. Releasing the new code may be as simple as putting it into a registry or code repository where its accessible to your production servers.

Now its time to deploy the application into production for users to consume. During this stage, the code is deployed to production servers. Different applications will require different hardware and configurations, which is why application configuration management and Infrastructure as Code come into play. If your application is containerized but also available on a virtual machine, platforms like Kubernetes will be needed to orchestrate those containers and ensure you have the desired state available to end users.

Once the application is in production, continuous application performance monitoring is essential to ensure end users are getting the experience they require. Part of this process is capturing user feedback to factor into the product roadmap. Reliability is also key the application needs to be available to users when they need it. To that end, security and data management should also be continuously monitored. Some of the key parameters to monitor include CPU utilization, disk space and response time. Keeping logs enables developers to troubleshoot any issues.

The figure below illustrates the stages and shows how they operate in a continuous and infinite loop:

Do you know the difference between DevOps and agile? In short, agile development is an approach that focuses on delivering small frequent changes, rather than releasing a major update, with the goal of providing an optimal end-user experience. DevOps describes software development and delivery best practices based on cooperation between software developers and operations specialists with the goal of simplifying development and minimizing miscommunications.

The two concepts are similar, but there are important differences:

Combining agile with DevOps yields substantial benefits, including flexible management and powerful technologies, good communications, automation and better overall product quality. Best practices for merging agile and DevOps include:

DevOps is catching on among leading organizations in every industry that are realizing its many benefits. Here are three real-world examples of how a DevOps culture can be adopted successfully:

To summarize, DevOps is a combo of development and operations that allows a single team to manage the whole application development life cycle: development, testing, integration, deployment and monitoring. Its goal is to accelerate the development life cycle while delivering innovative features and fixes that delight customers and align with business objectives.

In the next blog post in this series, well discuss why its important for DevOps professionals to learn a programming language, and explore how to do it.

If youre just getting started with a DevOps function in your organization, the resources below may be useful:

The New Stack is a wholly owned subsidiary of Insight Partners, an investor in the following companies mentioned in this article: Docker.

Featured image via Pixabay

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Cloud industry veteran pegged to be Ridge’s Chief Sales Officer – 69News WFMZ-TV

NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --Less than a month after securing $22 million in early-stage funding, Ridge has advanced with a significant new hire: cloud industry veteran Sean Casey as Chief Sales Officer. Casey has over 25 years of go-to-market experience, most recently as SVP of Worldwide Sales and Business Development for ECI, a premier provider of managed IT services, technology solutions, and business transformation to the financial services industry.

Casey previously held senior go-to-market positions with Turbonomic, Zerto, and Cloud Cruiser, leading numerous cloud modernization and cloud adoption initiatives across private, public, and hybrid deployments. Well known for his personal skills, Sean has excelled in creating powerful partnerships and developing long-term business alliances in addition to leading sales teams across the globe.

In his new role, Casey will expand and lead Ridge's global sales team, enabling it to reach enterprise customers and CSP partners who are looking for cloud-native solutions on any infrastructure and in any location.

Speaking on the appointment, Mati Lerner, co-CEO, Ridge, said: "I am incredibly excited that Sean is joining the Ridge team, deepening our cloud capabilities and expertise. His extensive experience will play a huge role in our growth strategy across new verticals and markets, and I know that Sean has the passion to help us unlock the full potential of cloud computing for our customers.

The news comes on the heels of our recent investment announcement, which will help us reach new markets and serve new customers looking for on-prem and flexible hybrid cloud solutions. We have ambitious plans for expansion across 2022. Sean comes with a keen knowledge of the market, and his practical experience in building sales organizations will be a major element in attaining our goals."

Ridge's massive network of points of presence closes public cloud coverage gaps and empowers businesses to deploy applications on existing infrastructure anywhere with no latency or data residency obstacles. Its cloud-native services, including its CNCF-certified managed Kubernetes, enable enterprises to easily deploy cloud-native applications as part of any multi-cloud or hybrid cloud architecture. With Ridge, developers enjoy public cloud agility together with the superior performance and data control of private servers.

Speaking on his new role as Chief Sales Officer, Sean Casey said: "I am honored to join Ridge at such an important moment for the company. From my experience, I know that the centralized cloud model, in which a few cloud hyperscalers host the majority of cloud-based deployments, is no longer able to handle the cloud-native needs of many enterprises. Ridge offers them a solution: their hybrid cloud platform unifies deployments across locations and enables application owners to meet the challenges of latency, data sovereignty, and geographic network diversity."

About Ridge

Ridge, the world's most distributed cloud, closes the public cloud's coverage gaps. With its flexible architecture, developers deploy modern, cloud-native applications anywhere in the world with no latency or data residency roadblocks. Easily accessed through a single API, Ridge Cloud is fully interoperable with any existing infrastructure, whether on-prem servers, colo deployments, local data centers, or hybrid clouds. Using Ridge's managed web services Kubernetes, containers, and object storage developers enjoy public cloud agility together with the superior performance, throughput, and data control of localized infrastructure. Ridge empowers businesses to unlock the full value of cloud computing.

Founded in 2018, Ridge is based in Boston, MA, and Tel Aviv. For more information, please visit Ridge at http://www.ridge.co or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact

Teena Touch, Ridge, 1 4153103125, teenatouch@gmail.com

SOURCE Ridge

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Flight Simulator Quietly Added on Xbox Cloud Gaming – WhatIfGaming

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OVHcloud Expands Its Portfolio of File Storage Solutions With Enterprise File Storage, a Service Developed in Collaboration With NetApp – Business…

ROUBAIX, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:

OVHcloud (Paris:OVH) is combining its expertise in Infrastructure-as-a-Service with Platform-as-a-Service solutions to support the digital transformation of organizations by providing them with a ready-to-use toolkit. This accelerated integration of software technology is reflected in the launch of the Enterprise File Storage service, engineered in partnership with NetApp, which combines OVHclouds know-how with NetApps cloud storage management expertise.

OVHcloud is expanding its portfolio of cloud file storage solutions with an offering developed in collaboration with NetApp, a world leader in this field. Enterprise File Storage is designed to help organizations transition to the cloud by meeting their requirements for sovereignty, high performance and resilience, while ensuring seamless integration with the OVHcloud universe at a predictable price.

Enterprise File Storage is aimed at organizations with applications that have high operational requirements and need a highly available file storage service. The service is suitable for a variety of use cases, including organizations that are already cloud-based and want to facilitate sharing of enterprise data from different applications hosted on OVHcloud services, or organizations that are already running their own NetApp on-premise infrastructure and are looking to offload their workloads or begin their migration to the cloud.

Based on NetApps ONTAP file system technology and fully managed by OVHcloud, this all-in-one platform offers great ease of implementation while optimizing cloud storage costs, increasing application performance, and ensuring data protection and compliance. With Enterprise File Storage, customers get easy access to stored data and benefit from a flexible, scalable, and high-performance platform with storage capacity from 1 to 58TB per service. The Enterprise File Storage service is appropriate for a wide range of enterprise environments and applications due to the use of the industry proven NFS protocol. It provides high performance both in terms of IOPS and throughput thanks to the combination of SSD technologies with NVMe caches.

As Hybrid Cloud is a high priority for over 77% of NetApp customers, first party cloud services based on NetApp ONTAP are instrumental to make these projects become reality. Says Peter Wst, VP CTO WW Enterprise & Commercial Business, NetApp. We are glad to see OVHCloud making the choice of NetApp as a trusted technology partner for their Enterprise File Storage service.

We are pleased to work with a recognized expert partner like NetApp to help our customers maximize and get the most out of their data by providing a unified experience across our various cloud storage solutions, said Thierry Souche, Chief Technology Officer at OVHcloud. Our customers can now access highly efficient and available storage resources, leveraging key features of ONTAP software and fully managed by OVHcloud.

With over two decades of expertise in digital infrastructure services, OVHcloud has developed an industrial model that preserves the technological and operational sovereignty of customers, while deploying environmentally friendly and resource-efficient technologies. Designed and engineered in the Groups own data centers, all OVHcloud solutions guarantee total data reversibility and immunity to extraterritorial laws. The infrastructure operated by OVHcloud meets the highest security and data protection standards, in line with ISO27001 certification, as well as GDPR compliance. Like all of the European leading cloud providers solutions, Enterprise File Storage features an outstanding price/performance ratio in the industry and allows organizations to maintain control of their cloud strategy with predictable pricing and the choice of data location. In addition, because NetApp is an industry standard, Enterprise File Storage frees organizations from any technical lock-in and provides business continuity outside an OVHcloud environment.

Enterprise File Storage is already available in data centers in Roubaix (France) and Frankfurt (Germany). The solution will be deployed in a very short term in Beauharnois (Canada), then will be rolled out in further geographies.

About NetApp

NetApp is a global, cloud-led, data-centric software company that empowers organizations to lead with data in the age of accelerated digital transformation. The company provides systems, software and cloud services that enable them to run their applications optimally from data center to cloud, whether they are developing in the cloud, moving to the cloud, or creating their own cloudlike experiences on premises. With solutions that perform across diverse environments, NetApp helps organizations build their own data fabric and securely deliver the right data, services and applications to the right peopleanytime, anywhere. Learn more at http://www.netapp.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at http://www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc.

About OVHcloud

OVHcloud is a global player and Europes leading cloud provider operating over 400,000 servers within 33 data centers across four continents. For 20 years, the Group has relied on an integrated model that provides complete control of its value chain from the design of its servers, to the construction and management of its data centers, including the orchestration of its fiber-optic network. This unique approach allows it to independently cover all the uses of its 1.6 million customers in more than 140 countries. OVHcloud now offers its customers latest-generation solutions combining performance, price predictability and total sovereignty over their data to support their growth in complete freedom.

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Operating system (OS) for business: Which solution is best? – IDG Connect

Linux is one of the worlds most dominant operating systems (OS), with widespread adoption across industries and emerging technologies. However, Linux-based OS are not the only systems that businesses use, and there are multiple use cases for other options. However, selecting the right OS for business can be tricky, particularly when organisations are still figuring out what they require from their new system.

Over 540,000 professionals have used Peerspot research to inform their purchasing decisions. Its latest paper looks at the highest rated OS for business vendors, profiling each and examining what they can offer enterprise.

Heres a breakdown of the key players currently active in the market:

Average Rating: 8.2

Top Comparison: Oracle Linux

Overview: Provides a free and open-source computing platform to anyone who wishes to use it.

Average Rating: 7.0

Top Comparison: Windows 10

Overview: Combines Chrome OS and Chrome Browser to enable work in the cloud.

Average Rating: 9.5

Top Comparison: SUSE Linux Enterprise

Overview: A brand new way of building openSUSE and that is a new type of hybrid Linux distribution.

Average Rating: 8.0

Top Comparison: RHEL

Overview: A powerful open-source foundation product optimised for building both private and

public cloud infrastructure. It provides a secure, scalable, and flexible platform for running cloud native applications.

Average Rating: 8.4

Top Comparison: Oracle Linux

Overview: A complete, secure, enterprise-grade cloud platform. From built-in, near zero-overhead virtualisation and to scalable data management, it gives businesses everything they need to build enterprise clouds.

Average Rating: 8.6

Top Comparison: Oracle Linux

Overview: Combines the reliability, scalability, and performance of Linux with technologies that meet the specific requirements of SAP workloads.

Average Rating: 9.0

Top Comparison: RHEL

Overview: A modern and modular OS that helps simplify multimodal IT, makes traditional IT infrastructure efficient, and provides an engaging platform for developers.

Average Rating: 8.6

Top Comparison: Oracle Linux

Overview: Super-fast, easy to use and free, this operating system powers millions of desktops, netbooks, and servers around the world.

Average Rating: 8.1

Top Comparison: Windows 10

Overview: The most cloud-ready server Microsoft has ever built. It has big improvements in security, software-defined infrastructure, and technologies to help developers build modern microservice based applications, in the cloud or on-site.

Average Rating: 8.3

Top Comparison: Windows Server

Overview: Offers powerful IT device management and security features for business.

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Operating system (OS) for business: Which solution is best? - IDG Connect

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IT Insight: Web-based solutions for your business – Seacoastonline.com

JoAnn Hodgdon| Special to Seacoastonline

Technology. Isn't it all modern by definition? Modern applications, however, are those applications that have been designed for the new millennium, the new way of doing things, the Cloud, web-based high-mobility applications. The difference is that applications that were very much rooted in the past, the late 90s and early 200s were linked and installed somewhere on a piece of hardware within your network. The current method of applications is to usethem as a service. Today you either access applicationsvia a browseror perhaps some other type of modern authentication method.

Web-based applications do not need to be installed on a hard drive. There are no space limitations. Thisreduces costs for your business as it lowers support and maintenance via the web with its updates applied centrally. All your users can access the same up-to-date version which can be accessed anywhere with a web browser. Since Covid, witha large number of remote users outside of your network and your security controls, web-based applications are the norm.

A classic example of this modern software is within the medical industry, where legal requirements for EMR (Electronic Medical Records) really drive that industry. Many of these companies have designed their EMRs in a new way, where you can access them via a webpage or some other technology where they are less application-based on a device in your network, and more accessible from almost anywhere. With this sensitive data in the Cloud, it is centrally located so everybody needing your information can obtain it with the proper credentials.

Another three-letter designation that we use in our industry is line of business application, or LOB. It is a generic term for whatever it is when we're talking to a customer about your specific business applications.

For example, in manufacturing, an application that manages your manufacturing process from scheduling what it is you're building to its deadline, to your vendors contact information, is common. Financial industries also have their own LOB application, leaning on contact management, with many being slightly different. At PCG, we have a ticketing management software that creates a ticket to trackwhen an engineer, help desk, or anyone else is working on an issue from the beginning to completion.

If anything, the last two years have taught us that mobility is key. Before the Pandemic, many companies thought in terms of a monolithic structure: a building, employees within the building, and inside that building, servers and infrastructure that worked fine. Suddenly, the Pandemic hits and everybody is remote, home. Those organizations who had far flung sales forces, or groups who were always working remotely, were already at the forefront of this concept, where applications were as mobile as the people working.

Why do companies stick with older software? Often it is because that is what they are most familiar with, comfortable with, the version they know and understand. Maybe they dont want to invest in training on a newer version of software.It is costly to try to retrofit an older application to do newer things. Perhaps the vendor that designed it in 2005 did not imagine a VPN (Virtual Private Network) that is available in the Cloud today. Users who are used to a workflow in a comfort zone need to examine whetherit is worth learning how another vendor does it, for all the other advantages that a newer program brings with less headaches and more mobility.

Businesses should ask has the application that drives my business been innovating? Have they been updating their method of deployment and ease since development in 2005? Is there a 2020 version we need to move to? Applications for modern mobility are key as older applications sitting on your server may be impeding progress and profitability. If you need to contact your IT Department to get a new user configured on your server, you are using antiquated software. Web-based applications are more current, user-friendly, and able to be accessed from anywhere.

Have we explored the application? Where is it at? Has your current vendor been talking to you about a new version? Do they have a web faced version of it? If they don't, have you thought about maybe some other ones; other vendors in this space; their competition? Maybe they're innovating in a way that this company that you've been with for a long time just isn't anymore. It pays to investigate.

What do you want to accomplish and how is changing direction to web-based applications going to help you accomplish those goals? Your users will be happier after the initial acclimation to it, it will be cost effective to eliminate on-site servers, and your network will be designed for the environment and the future you have planned for your company.

JoAnn Hodgdon is vice president and co-founder of Portsmouth Computer Group (PCGiT) with her husband David. PCG provides comprehensive managed IT services, business continuity, security, cloud computing and Virtual CIO services to their clients. You may reach her at joann@pcgit.com or at http://www.pcgit.com

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