Daily Archives: February 7, 2011

8 posts

Virtual Internet Issues Cloud Warning

Cloud computing set to account for 80% of all computing provisioned through the Internet by 2020

While Xen Sandbox Clouds and Enterprise VMware cloud servers are now regularly outselling traditional packages including colocation and dedicated servers, Virtual Internet has issued a strong warning to IT decision-makers researching UK cloud hosts: Experience Matters.
“IT managers need to seriously consider the implications of selecting a web host with little experience in the custom requirements of IT departments in the UK,” said Yana Kryuchkova, Marketing Manager, Virtual Internet.

“In recent weeks, some major overseas players have entered the UK market with misleading marketing which suggests they offer a new, better brand of cloud computing services.”

“In reality, they lag more mature providers such as Virtual Internet who hold the distinction of being the first web host to simultaneously offer VMware and Xen enterprise cloud servers in the UK.”

Virtual Internet rolled out Enterprise VMware servers as early as 2008 and augmented their cloud offerings with Xen Sandbox servers for testing and deployment in 2010.

“Our first-mover advantage has allowed us to carefully calibrate our cloud services with the custom requirements of our clients who immediately grasp the limitations of a cookie cutter approach to cloud hosting,” she said.

A recent report on web hosting by research firm Gartner cautioned that one leading UK web hosting provider’s sales and support quality had become inconsistent due extremely rapid growth.

Further, while the provider appeared comfortable delivering specific formalised products it struggled with customised solutions.
This illustrates the challenges facing IT managers as they explore web host virtualization strategies encompassed by the cloud.

“It takes time to get this equation right. Experience matters. We have been fine-tuning our cloud strategy in the UK since 2008 making us a compelling choice for enterprise customers,” said Ms. Kryuchkova.
Virtual Internet strengthened its lead in the cloud-hosting arena by recently securing two official International ISO certifications: The ISO 9001 and ISO 27001.

This is an addition to offering free, trademarked 24/7
VI-tal support, which underpins every single custom SLA they sell to an enterprise customer.

“Our 10,000 square foot in London is manned by VMware Certified Professionals (VCP) who offer round-the-clock support and help maintain a 100% uptime guarantee,” said Ms. Kryuchkova.

According to Virtual Internet, enterprise customers can save up to 50% on annual hosting costs by utilizing a virtual dedicated server.
“However, the ultimate success of this strategy depends on choosing a web host with the consummate experience and expertise in the UK market. Failure to do so will be costly and complex to correct.”

Marketwire Announces EasySuite 2.0 Platform

Marketwire has announced EasySuite 2.0, its next-generation, Web 2.0-friendly conversation-driving, content-creation and web-hosting platform.

EasySuite 2.0 is a powerful platform that gives public relations, investor relations and other marketing communications professionals the ability to create and maintain content-rich, interactive online newsrooms, investor centers and other sub-sites of their organizations’ websites. Integrated with Marketwire’s news distribution systems, EasySuite 2.0 is ideal for non-technical communication professionals, yet allows expansion capabilities for those with programming ability as well. In addition, EasySuite 2.0 facilitates collaborative content creation, including allowing users to define rights and roles, manage workflows and versions, and analyze and report on activity. Users also have the ability to maximize engagement with the integration of social channels and blogs alongside company information so stakeholders become fully involved with all facets of an organization.

EasySuite 2.0 Highlights

User-friendly Interface
EasySuite 2.0 offers non-programmers a WYSIWYG, MS Word-like interface with a wide variety of content control and engagement tools so they can quickly update their websites, reducing the dependence on IT resources and allowing faster, more direct interactions with their online audiences. The platform also offers a split screen for users who want HTML support.

Audience Engagement Tools
In addition to its core publishing functionality, EasySuite 2.0’s social tools (blogs, commenting, social-sharing) allow companies to add new types of content to their EasySuite-hosted pages, improving their value as content destinations, helping to engage their audiences, and empowering companies to use them as standalone content channels.

Simultaneous Newswire Distribution Integration & Added Security
EasySuite 2.0’s content management system is tied directly into Marketwire’s news distribution system so clients can choose to have their news releases, filings and announcements simultaneously post to their company websites upon release, eliminating lag time between any possible wire distribution time and corporate website posting time. This integration also enhances security because fewer copies of a document circulate prior to distribution, preventing accidental disclosure.

Built-in Collaboration Capabilities and Workflow Support
EasySuite 2.0 provides multiple user accounts so team members can work together to manage the content on their website. This allows for delegation of duties without giving up editorial control. Additionally, the roles and permissions within EasySuite 2.0 ensure that only designated users have access to key functionality such as the ability to approve, reject, publish, schedule or remove new content.

Unlimited Page Flexibility
EasySuite 2.0’s flexible page-creation functions allow users to build and maintain multiple pages — there are no limitations or restrictions on types of content. This means that EasySuite 2.0 can be used for hosting a variety of website content pages rather than limited to just an “IR Room” or a “Press Room.” In addition, users can maintain complete control over text, images, multimedia and page layout. Users can also create “dark sites” — pages that are kept active but hidden from a site’s navigation tree and only made public during crises or market-moving announcements.

Improved Search Engine Visibility
EasySuite 2.0’s SEO-friendly URLs contain keywords displayed in page and story content, helping inform visitors of their content and leading to more accurate indexing by search engines. This contributes to higher positioning for a given topic and greater visitor traffic to Web pages as a result.

Analytics and Reporting
Integrated reporting features such as website usage, traffic volume and user activity help companies track and measure success. Users can integrate EasySuite 2.0 pages with their organization’s Google Analytics account by deploying its tracking code within their EasySuite pages.

Product Information
Marketwire’s EasySuite team creates a custom solution to meet each organization’s unique needs, ranging from a simple company news page, sign-up form and welcome page to a site with complex content and interactive features. EasySuite 2.0’s affordable pricing is based on site setup time, licensed data required, if any, and the level of functionality desired. Marketwire’s EasySuite team also provides ongoing product support.

Easy PR Service Tier
Marketwire hosts and manages content-rich websites for public relations and other marketing communications professionals that include press releases, images and multimedia as well as “about us” pages, FAQ pages, document libraries and more. These sites can be built as microsites and connect to company websites as add-ons, or they can be built as complete, standalone solutions.

Easy IR Service Tier
EasySuite 2.0 gives investor relations professionals simple-to-use tools to manage and maintain information resources complete with news announcements, regulatory filings, corporate information, governance documents, shareholder information and integrated third-party data such as financial fundamentals that automatically update.

www.marketwire.com

Oracle Announces File Management for Private Clouds

New Solution Delivers Advanced Cluster File System Capabilities for Storage Clouds

Oracle has today introduced the Oracle® Cloud File System. The Oracle Cloud File System offers organizations a solution that extends cloud characteristics to their storage by enabling more effective storage pooling through a network accessible elastic storage cloud.

Oracle Cloud File System is designed to help organizations deploy their applications, databases, and storage in private clouds. It delivers a cloud infrastructure that provides network access, rapid elasticity and provisioning for pooled storage resources that are the key requirements for cloud computing. With Oracle Cloud File System customers can use Oracle Database features to manage application data stored outside of an Oracle Database.

www.oracle.com

Data Centre World Conference & Expo 2011

Data Centre World is a free to attend exhibition and conference at Olympia Exhibition Centre, London, for data centre managers, professionals, distributors and channel partners. This year’s event features 48 sessions over 2-3 March 2011.

Opening Times
Wednesday 2nd March: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Thursday 3rd March: 9:30am – 4:00pm

Data Centre World Conference & Expo is organised by
Turret Group Ltd
173 High Street
Rickmansworth
Herts
WD3 1AY
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1923 692 660
Fax: +44 (0) 1923 692 679
Web: www.turretgroup.com

Joyent Introduces SmartDataCenter 6 Cloud Operating System

Joyent, announced SmartDataCenter 6, the newest version of its cloud operating system, an integrated suite of software and services designed for Service Providers and Enterprises to launch and operate public, private and hybrid clouds. Joyent was recently positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Visionaries Quadrant of the 2010 Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IAAS) and Web Hosting Magic Quadrant.

“Service Providers that want to capture part of the growing cloud market need the most experienced supplier with the most efficient and fully built-out cloud operating system, services and standard operating procedures available,” said David Young, CEO, Joyent. “Joyent is the only cloud software company that has run a public cloud for six years and makes its software available to companies that want to benefit from our knowledge and experience when they set up their own clouds. Other software companies are just now releasing completely untested 1.0 solutions.”

SmartDataCenter is the cloud operating system for the data center that is used by thousands of customers on JoyentCloud.com (Joyent’s public cloud) and Dell Data Center Solutions (DCS). Service Providers deploying SmartDataCenter 6 are able to manage the compute, storage, and network of multi-tenant cloud environments through a single development platform that enables the data center to work like a single unified computer allowing for optimal data center management.

Capabilities include:

Complete automation of the data center, with virtualization that supports complex, multi-device architectures, virtual LANS, load balancing, routing, virtual private networks (VPNs), and more;
Customer management that includes a web-based portal to manage the entire collection of cloud services;
Proven scalability that delivers unlimited scalability in a multi-tenant cloud environment across numerous physical data centers;
High utilization above 70% for CPU and nearly 100% for memory, as proven with the installation of SmartDataCenter for JoyentCloud.com since 2004;
Extensible resource-oriented architecture that allows adding, removing, or introducing new capabilities and resources without disrupting a production installation of SmartDataCenter;
Tiered administration and billing that is ideal for multi-tenant configurations;
Cloud management guidelines that include standard operating procedures developed over six years of Joyent public cloud operations;
Sales, marketing and technical enablement that include marketing toolkit and sales workshops.
Unlike other cloud software providers who employ inefficient operating system virtualization, Joyent uses lightweight virtualization for web stacks (e.g. PHP, Java, Ruby on Rails), delivering as much as 70% higher utilization rates – and hence decreasing costs and increasing profit margins. Deployment of SmartDataCenter 6 enables Service Providers not only to withstand downward pressure on profitability as the rest of the cloud services industry (which is based on commoditized, antiquated technology) competes on price, but to increase margins as they offer a higher level of service to customers.

Dell was the first customer to license Joyent’s SmartDataCenter software in March 2010 and the company currently delivers public and private cloud services to its customers. In addition, Joyent serves China Cache, a Service Provider in mainland China using SmartDataCenter to deliver customers the latest in cloud services. Uniserve, a provider of managed hosting and colocation services in Canada, is the latest to use Joyent’s SmartDataCenter 6 as part of the DCS solution to deliver public cloud services to its customers.

SmartDataCenter 6 will be generally available in March 2011, though service providers can currently get access to the technologies through Joyent and its partners.
To learn more about SmartDataCenter 6, please visit http://www.joyent.com/software/smartdatacenter/

Rackspace Hosting Announces New CloudU Program

Rackspace® Hosting has announced its new CloudU Program.

CloudU is a cloud computing curriculum designed for technologists and non-technical users alike. The program’s goal is to build widespread knowledge about the cloud revolution and encourage discussion about the cloud’s benefits for businesses of all sizes.

Rackspace Hosting is the world’s leading specialist in the hosting and cloud computing industry, and the founder of OpenStack, an open source cloud platform. The San Antonio-based company provides Fanatical Support® to its customers, across a portfolio of IT services, including Managed Hosting and Cloud Computing. In 2010, Rackspace was recognized by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as a Top 100 Performing Technology Company and listed on the InformationWeek 500 as one of the nation’s most innovative users of business technology. The company was also positioned in the Leaders Quadrant by Gartner Inc. in the “2010 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service and Web Hosting.” For more information, visit www.rackspace.com

Easyspace.com Drops .co Domain Names to Just GBP 9.99

For one week only, .co domain names will be charged at just £9.99* by the UK’s leading domain registration company, Easyspace. This is a ‘rock bottom’ price that means .co domain names will be discounted by over 64% for 1 week only!

The successful web hosting and domain names provider are always looking to provide the best deals on a variety of web services and this fantastic offer will enable lots of new websites to be set up at a very low price, which business owners are sure to welcome in the current economic climate.

.co domains were originally intended to represent websites in Columbia. However, the .co name has now been globally recognised as the world’s premier domain name – offering new options such as branding for companies and personal websites.

As the largest ICANN accredited domain name registrar in the UK, Easyspace provide expert solutions for domain hosting and registration and are well known for their superb web services. With over 10 years of experience, Easyspace provide a knowledgeable overview of the best services available and offer peace of mind with their excellent reputation for great customer service.

Easyspace Managing Director, Sarah Haran, commented: “We are delighted to be able to offer .co domain names at such a competitive price. Easyspace prides itself on being able to offer exceptional products and services and pass on great savings to both new and existing customers.”

The special offer will be running from the 6th to the 12th February 2011.

For more information please visit www.easyspace.com/domain_names/dot_co.

*Price quoted for 1st year registration.

OzeVision Hosting Wins Two Web Hosting Awards

OzeVision Web Hosting has been awarded 17th position amongst the “Top 25 Most Poplar” web hosting companies in the category “Australian Web Hosting Directory” by WebHostDir.com and 22nd position in the category “Australian Dedicated Servers Directory” by DedicatedServerDir.com for the month of January 2011. The awards pages can be viewed at:

http://ozevision.com/web_hosting/top-25-most-popular-webhosting-awards.html

http://ozevision.com/web_hosting/top-25-most-popular-dedicated-awards.html

Every month WebHostDir.com and DedicatedServerDir.com ranks the 25 most popular companies in the categories “Australian Web Hosting Directory” and “Australian Dedicated Servers Directory”. The “25 Most Popular List” is based on the number of votes a company receives and the amount of times their profile page has been viewed each month. This ensures that each and every month WebHostDir.com and DedicatedServerDir.com come up with an up to date list of web hosting companies that customers can trust for their web hosting needs.

“2011 has started with a bang for us. We are very pleased to receive these award in two very competitive categories. Our commitment to our customers is accentuated by these awards. This is the 2nd time we have won award in “Australian Web Hosting Directory” category and 4th time in “Australian Dedicated Servers Directory” category. These awards show that our customers value the services that we have been providing.” says Khalid M. Syed, Director and owner of OzeVision.com that owns and operates OzeVisionWebHosting.com.

OzeVision Web Hosting has been providing the best web hosting service in the market since 2005. The wide range of web hosting services extends from enrty level unlimited web hosting packages to enterprise class dedicated web hosting for the demanding customers. The feature rich dedicated hosting packages provide an excellent choice for a customer looking for web hosting dedicated solution.

OzeVision Web Hosting provides web hosting and domain registration. For any enquiries please visit www.OzeVisionWebHosting.com and use the “Contact Us” form.