Tips

Tips

• Considerations for choosing an OpenStack distribution

  When it comes to choosing an OpenStack distribution, HP, Red Hat, Cisco and others are all viable options. But enterprises should make their decision carefully.  Continue Reading

• Three issues that hinder cloud computing API performance

  APIs can be critical to a cloud application's success. But if poorly designed, they can also be a big headache for cloud providers, developers and users.  Continue Reading

• Five challenges with open source cloud infrastructure tools

  Open source cloud infrastructure platforms like OpenStack offer many benefits to an enterprise -- but first, IT must clear these five adoption hurdles.  Continue Reading

• Testing cloud applications for Azure, Google Cloud

  As software development cycles accelerate, IT must more rapidly test cloud-based applications. The right tools and services can help pick up the pace.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating OpenStack vs. VMware for private cloud

  OpenStack and VMware are both viable options for hybrid and private cloud. So which one should your organization choose?  Continue Reading

• How to define hybrid cloud service-level agreements

  Defining hybrid cloud service-level agreements takes more forethought and planning than traditional SLAs. Here is what you should consider.  Continue Reading

• Avoid strapped IT budgets with cloud cost optimization

  Many businesses expect cloud to be cheaper, but cost-efficiency is no guarantee. To reap cloud's financial rewards, devise a cost optimization plan.  Continue Reading

• Comparing features, tiers and pricing of PaaS vendors

  As cloud services become more complex and customized, the harder they are to evaluate. An expert offers advice for evaluating PaaS vendors.  Continue Reading

• A cloud management tools comparison guide

  With its complex nature, cloud management can get bumpy at times. Luckily, cloud management tools from VMware, Dell and others can help.  Continue Reading

• OpenStack features, services creating industry buzz

  OpenStack features, including portability, security and storage are prompting vendors and IT pros alike to support the open source cloud platform.  Continue Reading

• How to secure REST API endpoints for cloud applications

  When designing APIs, developers must make good decisions about security design components that show who's using what API, when and for what purpose. This tip offers insights into the critical components for securing APIs.  Continue Reading

• Five steps to moving mission-critical applications to the cloud

  Some enterprises see migrating mission-critical apps to public cloud as an insurmountable obstacle. But, common sense precautions can smooth the transition of even the most crucial workloads.  Continue Reading

• Attain magical five nines availability for cloud applications

  Every company seeks the magical five nines -- or 99.999% availability. If major providers can't promise it, how can you get it?  Continue Reading

• Seven ways to keep your cloud storage costs under budget

  Cloud storage can be an effective place to house your data, but keeping it cost-efficient means putting in some work up front.  Continue Reading

• Sizing, pricing Amazon Web Services EC2 instance types

  Bill Claybrook compares complex sizing and pricing issues when choosing EC2 instance types.  Continue Reading

• Analyzing VMware vCHS for the cloud consumer

  In direct competition with Amazon's IaaS, VMware vCloud Hybrid Service differentiates itself from the pack with several features.  Continue Reading

• Amazon Kinesis benefits and alternatives

  Amazon made waves with the release of Kinesis, but companies should know its ups and downs before blindly adopting AWS's service.  Continue Reading

• Untangle cloud billing knots across multiple providers

  Tracking your spending while using multiple cloud accounts can be a budgeting nightmare, but services are available to simplify the process.  Continue Reading

• AWS platform services emerge from Microsoft's PaaS failures

  Amid signs that Microsoft's PaaS commitment isn't working, cloud pros are concerned about profit beyond IaaS. Reigning leader AWS may have found it.  Continue Reading

• Is Amazon CloudSearch superior to do-it-yourself search tools?

  Big data can be incredibly valuable for enterprise business intelligence. But to extract that value, you must choose the most appropriate search tool.  Continue Reading

• If IT had a hammer: Choosing among IaaS, PaaS and SaaS

  Enterprises tend to use the latest technology to solve all of its IT problems. But if your apps are nails, is IaaS, PaaS or SaaS really the hammer?  Continue Reading

• Choosing among IaaS, PaaS and Database as a Service for a cloud database

  Regardless of which cloud database you choose, multiple factors must come into play, ranging from costs and availability to feature support.  Continue Reading

• When IaaS won't cut it: Planning a transition to PaaS cloud

  Many IT pros find PaaS meets their needs more than IaaS does. How can you ensure success? Transitioning to PaaS isn't as easy as you think.  Continue Reading

• Windows Azure Media Services gives YouTube junkies a new outlet

  Enterprises need only look to YouTube's stats to see the value of video. Windows Azure Media Services has the benefits of video with more control.  Continue Reading

• Application portability in PaaS: Problems and solutions

  Even in the early stage of cloud adoption, users of PaaS services are already questioning the portability of the applications.  Continue Reading

• Security considerations for IaaS cloud

  Learn about the necessary security considerations for IaaS cloud environments.  Continue Reading

• Building redundancy into your cloud outage strategy

  Any effective cloud computing strategy should include measures to protect against outages. The best defense you can have is to plan for redundancy.  Continue Reading

• Peeling back the layers of the Platform as a Service market

  The PaaS market can be split into traditional IT vendors and independent, niche providers. Which choice offers an enterprise long-term cloud health?  Continue Reading

• Implementing SOA in the cloud

  Learn why there is confusion surrounding implementing SOA in the cloud.  Continue Reading

• PaaS selection starts at the programming language

  The PaaS market is growing without a single leader or approach. Picking a model should involve more than just saying, ‘Eeney, meeney, miney, moe.’  Continue Reading

• Examining the state of PaaS in the year of ‘big data’

  Either more vendors are offering ‘big data’ capabilities or they have creative marketing teams. Which PaaS provider’s big data cloud is the real deal?  Continue Reading

• Three questions to ask when considering Microsoft Azure

  Is Microsoft Azure a no-brainer cloud choice or impossible to adopt? Ask these three questions to determine if the cloud platform is right for you.  Continue Reading

• Defining and allocating vCloud Director resources

  For IT shops configuring VMware vCloud Director, here are the first four steps needed to make the service aware of a vSphere environment.  Continue Reading

• Ten questions to ask when storing data in the cloud

  Concerned about the security and privacy of your data in the cloud? Ask these 10 questions of every cloud provider to ensure that they'll keep your data safe and flexible.  Continue Reading

• Connecting to virtual servers in the cloud

  For IT shops that must move content from an enterprise network or desktop to a cloud-based server, here's how to set up remote connections to virtual servers.  Continue Reading

• Intrusion detection in a cloud computing environment

  Make sure that your cloud computing environment is equipped to detect and respond to attacks with the appropriate intrusion detection systems.  Continue Reading

• Understanding cloud compliance issues

  Concerns about compliance have made companies wary of storing their data in public cloud environments.  Continue Reading

• Top threats in a PaaS cloud service and how to avoid them

  Platform as a Service offerings suffer from vulnerabilities, such as lax default application configurations and holes in Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols, which should be monitored and mitigated.  Continue Reading

• Five requirements for deploying an application in a public cloud

  Thinking about deploying an application in a public cloud? Investigate these five requirements to ensure success.  Continue Reading

• Running a Web service on Google App Engine

  Google's App Engine for building Web applications in the cloud is beginning to support Java servlet-based Web services. It's still under development, but you can experiment using Eclipse support or command-line utilities in the SDK.  Continue Reading

• Network considerations in cloud computing

  The impact of networking on cloud computing is best understood by considering public and private cloud applications in one dimension and cloud access versus intra-cloud networking in the other.  Continue Reading

• Identifying applications for public and private clouds

  Before leaping head first into cloud services, figure which applications are best suited to a public versus private cloud. This article will help you define target apps for the cloud.  Continue Reading