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This Week in Cloud, April 21, 2011: New OpenStack release, why Facebook open-sourced the designs of its data center. And more…
Feature article
CSMIC Initiative Update – A Mission to Build Cloud Service Measurement Metrics
By Jeff Abbott
The Cloud Service Measurement Initiative Consortium (CSMIC) recently added some new members to its roster. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the organization, its objective is to develop a standardized method for measuring and comparing IT business services based on metrics that matter to the consumers of those services. There are some tools (such as http://www.cloudsleuth.net/) in the market today that can show real-time service performance monitoring of uptime and latency.
But research from CSMIC shows that people demand a more comprehensive analysis to understand what service is best for them (or at least better/worse than what they have). The research revealed six top-level metrics that should be considered: security, capability, quality, risk, cost, and agility (and those can be broken down even further). Read the full article.
Cloud News
- OpenStack released its third update since launching in July. According to this CRN article, which describes some of the new features, between 150 and 170 developers have contributed code to OpenStack so far. Enhancements include extending the API and adding support for popular enterprise technologies to deploy OpenStack clouds with greater scale and performance.
- This Huffington Post article explores why Facebook released the designs of its super-efficient data center in Oregon under the Open Compute Project. Analysts quoted in the article believe Facebook is hoping to leverage crowd-sourced expertise to make further improvements to its data centers and also drive down the cost of equipment.
- Microsoft owes Google an apology, according to this Business Insider article. Last week, Microsoft claimed that Google was lying when it said that its Google Apps for Government was FISMA-certified by the U.S. General Services Administration. But, according to the GSA, it is.
Cloud Views
- Cloud.com’s Peder Ulander writes about why you don't need a cloud computing strategy in this Computerworld article.
- In this ZDNet article titled ‘Private Cloud Discredited, part 2,” Phil Wainewright writes “private cloud is a diversion and a distraction from the task of embracing cloud computing in the enterprise.”
- Why virtualized hybrid clouds won't happen soon – read David Linthicum’s thoughts in this InfoWorld article.
- This CRN slideshow offers MSPs five tips for selling cloud services to SMBs.
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