Stories by Brandon Butler

Hybrid public-private Cloud usage more widespread than you think

Many times in discussions about Cloud computing, the hybrid Cloud – meaning a service that combines both off-site public Cloud and on-premises private Cloud computing resources – is thought of as being some nirvana state that will be the dominant architecture at some point in the future.

Dell dumps OpenStack and VMware for public cloud, focuses on private clouds

Dell has dramatically shifted its cloud computing strategy, canceling plans it once had to launch a public cloud service based on the OpenStack open source platform, and discontinuing a VMware-based public cloud it already has on the market.

How VMware will try to shake up the Cloud market this week

There have been rumors and speculation. There have been whispers and rumblings. But this week VMware is expected to release details about its plans to launch a public Ccloud offering, the central part of its new hybrid Cloud strategy.

Newvem expands to monitor Azure and Amazon clouds

Newvem, which sells a tool that allows users to track and optimize their use of cloud computing resources, has expanded its software's functionality to monitor not just Amazon Web Services, but now Microsoft Azure now as well.

Former Amazon cloud engineer spills to Reddit audience

Usually Amazon Web Services, which many consider to be the leader in the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) cloud computing market, is pretty hush-hush about the internal workings of its massive cloud.

ServiceNow wants to be the cloud for IT

Many enterprise IT shops may be reluctant to jump head first into cloud computing. After all, there are a variety of concerns that come with using the cloud, from security to integrations with existing systems, and perhaps most scary: What the cloud will mean for your IT job.

Google rolls out by-the-minute cloud billing, introduces a new NoSQL database

Google, attempting to build its reputation as an enterprise and developer-focused cloud computing provider, today said its cloud platform is open for anyone to signup for, and can be used with a new by-the-minute billing scheme.

Dell 'refining' plans for OpenStack-powered public cloud

Fresh off the acquisition of a company that specializes in helping customers manage resources across multiple public clouds, Dell said it is "refining" its own plans to build a public cloud based on OpenStack.

Cool tool: One click installation of open source apps

Downloading open source applications can sometimes be a pain in the neck. There can be multiple drivers, a variety of related components and a handful of little status bars that move from left to right at varying rates of speed.

Big Data is a big but young market

A recent survey by Forrester found that 7 per cent of IT executives and 9 per cent of business leaders feel they have gained a true return on investment from Big Data. That means there's a lot more business can be doing to glean insights from the massive amount of data that's potentially available to them.

IDC: Cloud, mobility exposing limitations of existing networks

The combination of highly virtualised environments inside enterprise networks, along with an explosion of mobile traffic, are exposing the limitations of existing networks, and driving the need for a new era of dynamic and scalable networks of the future, IDC researchers said in a panel discussion at Interop this week.

Dell buys Enstratius to beef up multi-cloud management chops

Dell has purchased Enstratius, a company that allows customers to manage cloud resources across multiple providers from a single management console for an undisclosed sum this week.

Interop network squares off against controlled 70G bit/sec DDoS attack

The network at one of the biggest annual networking shows is being subject to a series of distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) creating the equivalent of 90 million sessions attempting to use the network at the same time, all as part of a controlled test of the Interop network.

Platform-as-service offerings blurring lines between cloud packages

Cloud-based infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is for renting storage and compute capacity from a service provider, delivered via an Internet connection. Similarly, software as a service (SaaS) is for accessing applications that are hosted in the cloud.

How Facebook aims to reinvent hardware

Facebook used to be a company just like many others: It would buy servers, racks and other hardware from vendors like HP and Dell and rent out co-location space from vendors like DuPont Fabros and others.