by Michael Smith
Richard Stallman, the founder of the GNU project – which is NOT an operating system as claimed by one author and journalist recently – finds the euphoria as regards "Cloud Computing" as entirely over the top.
Stallman sees in this present debate simply another way of the software companies to bind as many users as possible to proprietary concepts, and he finds the use of Web-Software, such as Google-Mail, as a means of storing personal data “in the cloud” somewhere “as worse than stupidity”.
While on some levels Cloud Computing might look good and useful and having some sort of documents for working on the move online is a good idea, probably, total Cloud Computing is, I have to agree, as Richard Stallman says. Especially if we consider the small print in the EULAs of Google and other in the cloud services, the majority of which consider the data that the user stores there as also legitimate theirs. This is to say that Google, etc. claim that they have been given, as soon as the user stores data with them, an extension of the copyright and hence can use the data as and how they see fit to use it. Doh?
To him all the talk of Cloud Computing is nothing more than market hype and to me, personally, it has some sinister undertones.
According to Stallman there are no possible positive reasons as to why anyone would want to store personal data on the servers of those businesses whaile one has the possibility to store such data locallly. The argument, he says, that the use of bought in, in other words hired, services instead of the use of local software saves money is more than ludicrous. Furthermore is it as ludicrous to claim that, as it is being done, the development towards Cloud Computing is going to be inevitable.
"Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true." Stallman said.
The 55-year-old New Yorker said that computer users should be keen to keep their information in their own hands, rather than hand it over to a third party.
A sentiment that I can but agree with wholeheartedly and this for more than one reason, though privacy being the greatest of them all.
His comments echo those made last week by Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, who criticised the rash of cloud computing announcements as "fashion-driven" and "complete gibberish".
"The interesting thing about cloud computing is that we've redefined cloud computing to include everything that we already do," he said. "The computer industry is the only industry that is more fashion-driven than women's fashion. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?"
The growing number of people storing information on internet-accessible servers rather than on their own machines, has become a core part of the rise of Web 2.0 applications. Millions of people now upload personal data such as emails, photographs and, increasingly, their work, to sites owned by companies such as Google.
But there has been growing concern that mainstream adoption of cloud computing could present a mixture of privacy and ownership issues, with users potentially being locked out of their own files.
This is a dangerous affair, however, for once they are uploaded to those servers the question remains as to who owns them, and if the EULAs are to be believes, and I have addressed that earlier in this article, then the service provider, whether Google, or whoever else, owns a shared copyright of your data.
Think about it... they claim that they own the data, your personal information, your essays and manuscripts, your photos, and whatever else, equally and the right to do with it as they please. Do you really want to hand such rights over to such people?
The possibility of being locked out of your own files is real, let me tell you that. It happened to me and while I do store bookmarks and such online, they are but copies of what I store off line either on a hard drive, a flash drive or CDs.
Stallman, who is a staunch privacy advocate, advised users to stay local and stick with their own computers.
"One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control," he said. "It's just as bad as using a proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless. You're putty in the hands of whoever developed that software."
This advice of Richard Stallman I can but endorse and while he may be better in many aspects of computing and have much more knowledge on the subject, I have been there and experienced the issue of not getting to my data for over two months.
While I know that there are many advocates of Cloud Computing I wonder how many of them have, in fact, stopped to think as to what they are doing and how many have, in fact, carefully ready the EULAs of the services. If they have done with those licenses the same that the majority of us tend to do with the EULAs of software, whether Open Source, Freeware, Shareware or proprietary, then they, more than likely will not have done so. Few of us ever tend to read those licenses, do we now. In the case of Cloud Computing services, free or paid for, I do sincerely think that we should read those licenses and we should read them very, very carefully indeed.
© M Smith (Veshengro), October 2008
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Cloud Computing, according to Richard Stallman, "worse than stupidity"
EuroSOX – TIME FOR a new approach to compliance
By Jürgen Obermann, CEO of GFT inboxx GmbH
The 5th September 2008 marked the deadline for European organisations to transpose two new directives – the Statutory Audit Directive and the Company Reporting Directive – into domestic law. Commonly referred to as EuroSOX, this latest initiative is the European Commission's eighth guideline for the protection of shareholders, brought in with the aim of ensuring the reliability of annual accounts and consolidated financial accounts of companies, in the wake of recent high profile corporate fraud cases, such as the Parmalat scandal.
Despite the publicity around the introduction of EuroSOX proclaiming the drastic requirements expected from IT, there is surprisingly little said in the EU guidelines as to the concrete IT requirements necessary for organisations to become compliant. Thus suggesting that the current hype regarding 'EuroSOX compliance in IT' has been somewhat exaggerated. After all, companies operating globally have already had to abide by the International Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) or the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US-GAAP) if they wish to adhere to international legal regulations.
The impact on IT
Aside from the obvious changes necessary in IT, EuroSOX will additionally lead to some indirect IT requirements. These ultimately derive from requirements that qualified auditors have to meet, though they are mainly general requirements regarding the quality of systems, processes and data management, as have already been prescribed for years - e.g. in accordance with Basel II.
In implementing EuroSOX, companies should not look on this as just another compliance regulation to be abided by, but rather as an advantageous tool which should be used to encourage greater business transparency.
Best practice approach to EuroSOX
As far as EuroSOX and other compliance rulings are concerned, IT departments should not interpret individual regulations and laws such as EuroSOX, Basel II etc., but should instead concentrate on a holistic approach. This is as proven in recent research commissioned by GFT inboxx which found that 94% of IT managers in Europe have insufficient knowledge of the legal requirements regarding archiving of e-mails.
IT departments must concentrate on their core tasks. They are not in a position to tackle the legal details of individual laws. This is a job for legally trained and specially qualified expert staff. By concentrating on the combined, generic requirements of all compliance guidelines, IT departments can tackle the issues at a higher level.
The requirements that should be met by an IT department can be roughly divided into three basic tasks, however these are not mutually exclusive:
1.Generic best practice data management and data handling – making sure that a consistent approach is taken across the board.
2.Long-term safeguarding and processing of all information. Preparation for possible disturbances (disaster recovery), secure long‑term archiving of all information and ensuring access at all times within the parameters of storage times are of the utmost importance in this context.
3.Transparency, which is above all facilitated by creation of powerful search functions and analytical methods regarding all information in the company.
The first task is very much open to interpretation and is broad in nature. In the event of any doubt, any weak points coming to light as a result of audits and inspections can be resolved in this context. Items two and three, however, are clear and not open to interpretation. An email document either exists or it doesn't. Either powerful overall search is possible or impossible. Inspections will thus concentrate on these points. Thus in the short term there is a need for action from the IT department in this respect.
Recommendations for IT departments
1.Do not tackle individual legal regulations such as EuroSOX – leave the interpretation to the specialist departments.
2.Don’t take a siloed approach. Instead concentrate on implementing the common requirements for all compliance guidelines:
a.Transparency of IT processes;
b.Audit-proof long-term archiving and planning for disaster recovery
c.Creation of an overall search and analysis platform to facilitate e‑Discovery
3.In the short term focus on (b) and (c). They are rigorous requirements that cannot be avoided.
4.Use this as an opportunity to create a business case for other IT projects.
GFT Inboxx is exhibiting at Storage Expo 2008 the UK’s definitive event for data storage, information and content management. Now in its 8th year, the show features a comprehensive FREE education programme and over 100 exhibitors at the National Hall, Olympia, London from 15 - 16 October 2008 www.storage-expo.com
Source: StoragePR
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"Children on Virtual Worlds" - 25 parental safety tips, report launched by the EU Agency ENISA
The EU Agency ENISA, the European Network and Information Security Network Agency, launches a report on virtual worlds with 25 safety tips for parents on how to make their children behave safely in online virtual worlds.
Heraklion, Crete, 06.10.2008 - Club Penguin, Barbie Girl, Moshi Monsters, Webkinz, etc. Is your child spending hours playing online games? Well, you are not alone. Virtual world sites are now hugely popular and have become a compelling activity for many Internet users. The rate of growth in online social networks, including virtual words for children has risen over the last past years. With more than 100 youth-focused virtual worlds, regulators and parents are struggling to keep pace. It has been estimated that 20 Mn children and tweens will visit virtual worlds by 2011.
Parents are naturally concerned about how their children use and behave in virtual worlds. The biggest concerns is the online safety of children (7 years old and under) and tweens (8-12 years old) and how they can be protected from online predators. Awareness of what children can do online and parental involvement is crucial. Parents should be educated, empowered and engaged to ensure truly positive and valuable experiences for their children, while reinforcing safety online habits in these three-dimensional environments.
The ENISA paper gives 25 safety tips to parents. These tips provide clear and comprehensive tools for parents to decide with their child what is appropriate and safe, to behave responsibly as well as to have fun in virtual worlds. Sample tips range from computer security, to rules, and advice on parents? and children?s education, e.g;
1. Keep the computer in a common room.
2. Set house Internet/mobiles rules if and how to use virtual worlds.
3. When activating a child?s account, always do it using the parent?s email address.
4. Be aware that parental consent should be required to process sensitive personal data, for chat rooms, send unsolicited commercial e-mails, etc.
5. Have children use neutral nicknames, not their real ones.
6. Communicate with your children about their experiences. Encourage them to tell if they feel uncomfortable or threatened online.
For all 25 safety tips, , please read the full report: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/children_on_virtual_worlds.pdf
The Executive Director of ENISA, Mr. Andrea Pirotti remarked: ?It is our responsibility as adults to secure that our children can have both fun and safely enjoy online gaming and virtual worlds?
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Kedron UK announced partnership with INFOSIM
Kedron UK are first to distribute Infosim's StableNet product in the UK
Kedron UK, experts in enterprise management solutions, announced on October1, 2008, a deal with Infosim, provider of advanced OSS solutions. The deal gives Kedron UK extensive UK distributions rights to provide the Infosim StableNet technology both directly to end users and through the channel.
Infosim's StableNet technology is an end to end service level network management solution. The product is designed to address the growing business need to relate information technology management to business services. StableNet comes in three editions to target SMEs, larger organizations and Telecoms companies specifically.
Initially Kedron will be selling the StableNet product portfolio directly, but there will be opportunities for VAR's in the network management and security market space, network integration companies and IT Outsource providers. Kedron is planning an exciting Channel Partner Program with high rewards in this resellers will receive certified training, quality led generation, marketing collateral in the form of sales brochures and presentations as well as pre-sales support from certified engineers. Meanwhile, Kedron will also be promoting the StableNet product via marketing and trade shows.
“We've worked very closely with Infosim in bringing this product to market to ensure that the proposition delivers tangible benefits for our customers, This includes network optimisation and analysis that will allow all people in an organization from the IT manager to the CFO to receive the best performance from their IT systems”, says Roland Stigwood, Managing Director of Kedron UK, who continues, “What really impressed us about StableNet is that it is a truly end to end service delivery solution offering fault ands event alerting and inventory and configuration management. The different editions suit a variety of industry sectors presenting Kedron with a huge potential opportunity to develop market space.”
Dr. Stefan Koehler, Managing Director at Infosim comments, “We're thrilled to have Kedron UK as our partner, working in the Enterprise Management space. They were ideally suited to understand both our offering and out marketplace. This, coupled with their customer focused approach and existing relationships with big name vendors and clients made it a simple decision to choose them as our first venture into the UK market.”
The StableNet product is a flexible solution that comes in three variants to suit different needs, Express, Enterprise and Telco. The base package pricing delivers a solution that includes a number of compulsory modules with optional modules available as chargeable extras.
Kedron UK provides a wide range of network monitoring and traffic analysis solutions and support services that will add real value to any company or organization; from Proof of Concept right through to solution delivery and optimization, Kedron works with clients to endure complete satisfaction and maximization of their network investment.
Infosim is internationally recognized as a technology leader in the OSS market. Superior technology, products and an unrivaled commitment to innovation, have put Infosim at the forefront of the network performance management and optimization market. Infosim is a privately owned corporation. Today, many world leading companies like Siemens and SingTel rely on Infosim technology.
StableNet is Infosim's next generation service assurance solution. Service providers, enterprises and public sector IT departments trust StableNet to increase service levels to their users by reducing or preventing service disruptions and enhance the quality of experience by proactively managing performance. StableNet comes in three editions which are optimized for the requirements of different user segments:
- StableNet Express: Entry level, SMEs, workgroups
- StableNet Enterprise: Public Sector, Education, MNCs
- StableNet Telco: ISPs, Data Centers
Source: Clark Moulder Purdie Communications
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IBM launches cloud services initiative
Armonk, NY Oct 2008: IBM has launched a company-wide initiative that extends its traditional software delivery model toward a mix of on-premise and cloud computing applications with new software, services and technical resources for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and clients. IBM's new cloud services can help businesses of all sizes more easily adopt cloud computing models to better manage data, lower operational costs and make collaboration easier.
Businesses face a unique set of challenges as they look to grow in a globally integrated economy. A perfect storm of data deluge, a fluid regulatory environment and widening information technology (IT) skills gaps is placing additional cost pressures on top of already resource-strapped organizations. As a result, businesses are looking for new ways to drive more value out of their IT infrastructures and free up resources for strategic growth investments.
"We are moving our clients, the industry and even IBM itself to have a mixture of data and applications that live in the data center and in the cloud," said Willy Chiu, vice president, high performance on demand solutions, IBM. "IBM's cloud computing strategy was inspired by feedback from the business world's broadest IT customer base indicating a growing desire to utilize data, applications and services from any device and from any location based on open standards."
IBM has a four-pronged strategy to capture the cloud computing opportunity by: 1) delivering its own cloud services portfolio; 2) helping ISVs design, build, deliver and market cloud services; 3) helping clients integrate cloud services into their business; and 4) providing cloud computing environments to businesses.
Throughout 2008 and 2009, IBM's clients and partners will have access to cloud services specialists through its worldwide network of 13 Cloud Computing Centers and 40 IBM Innovation Centers to help test applications via cloud computing models
New IBM Cloud Services
IBM's cloud services enable ISVs and clients to collaborate, innovate and build their own cloud computing infrastructures. New offerings include:
1. "Bluehouse" -- IBM is launching a free open beta for "Bluehouse," the first Web-delivered social networking and collaboration cloud service designed to connect people from different businesses. "Bluehouse" combines social networking and online collaboration tools to help businesses of all sizes to securely work together through firewalls and beyond organizational boundaries. This suite of hosted online technologies allows individuals to share documents, contacts, engage in joint project activities, host online meetings and build social networking communities via the cloud through a Web browser. The "Bluehouse" beta is available today at (http://bluehouse.lotus.com).
An example of IBM's Tomorrow at Work initiative to anticipate trends in work styles, "Bluehouse" can be used by anyone to collaborate with external groups, such as partners, agencies, suppliers, customers and outside experts as easily and securely work with co-workers. Small and medium-sized businesses will benefit from minimal up-front costs and maintenance of this SaaS platform, and departments in larger companies will have a quick, simple way to work with their key stakeholders within their intranet and out on the Web.
2. Lotus Sametime Unyte -- Arranges quick, easy Web conferences including the sharing of documents, presentations or applications, through any Web connection. No on-site software server deployment or support is needed. By enabling businesses to communicate in real-time with a worldwide network of employees, partners and customers, Sametime Unyte will help local companies become global trading partners. IBM has built in several enhancements to Sametime Unyte to enable global customer use through multi-language support and faster network performance. In addition, several new features make online meetings easier, including a "waiting room" for meeting participants to gather and specialized alerts and prompts for meeting hosts. Soon IBM will integrate Sametime Unyte with Lotus Notes and Lotus Sametime to allow people working in email or instant messaging to join Web conferences, with a single click of a button. Sametime Unyte is available at www.sametimeunyte.com.
3. IBM Rational Policy Tester OnDemand -- Helps reduce online risks by automating Web content scanning to isolate privacy, quality and accessibility compliance issues. Available as a subscription on an annual basis, this software helps improve trust by detecting online usability and compliance-related issues before they affect Web site visitors.
4. IBM Rational AppScan OnDemand -- Scans Web applications for security bugs, allowing customers to immediately identify sources of online risk without the necessary time and investment for in-house training and resources.
5. Telelogic Focal Point -- Helps customers better manage their software investment by providing product management teams with the ability to collect, analyze and prioritize product features in line with broader organizational goals. Telelogic Focal Point enhances communication by centralizing the product information shared by product management, engineering, marketing and other stakeholders.
New Cloud Services Resources for ISVs
IBM's cloud services resources can help ISVs build new applications quickly using open standards-based technologies. New resources include:
1. A new series of white papers, on-line demos and downloadable code to help ISVs address the common challenges of designing and building cloud-enabled services, such as multi-tenant architecture. Resources include enhanced technical blueprints on IBM's developerWorks Web site and technical support through IBM's global network of 40 Innovation Centers.
2. Creating a new SaaS Enablement Network of infrastructure providers that use IBM server technology to help ISVs deliver interoperable SaaS solutions, which allow disparate applications to work together. Members include Terremark, Rackforce, and iTricity, which recently opened a new Cloud Computing Hosting Center for Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg. IBM added 100 partners to its SaaS Specialty program in 2008, the largest annual increase, which nearly doubles its SaaS partner ecosystem.
3. IBM Business Partners can take advantage of a variety of new marketing resources, including free web conferencing services using the IBM Lotus Sametime Unyte service.
On October 15 and 16, IBM will host partners and customers at its Executive Briefing Center in Palisades, New York, to discuss its cloud services strategy for this rapidly growing market. For more information on this event, visit https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/swg/08bbpsaas.nsf.
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62% of companies use Data De-duplication to chase away Storage Inefficiency
London, UK, 6th October 2008 - Research by Storage Expo has found that 62% of companies use De-duplication to increase efficiency, reduce storage requirements and also costs. A further 27% intended to implement de-duplication technology within the next 12 months. At the other end of the spectrum 4% do not intend to join the bandwagon and 6% claimed that De-duplication was not delivering what they expected.
Simon Robinson, Research Director, The 451Group, commented, “Data De-duplication has emerged as one of the most talked about technologies in storage, and IT departments are actually embracing it, suggesting that De-duplication can provide real value and return on investment to businesses that deploy it.”
Natalie Booth, Event Manager for Storage Expo 2008 said, “Data De-duplication is a relatively new method of reducing storage needs and boosting efficiency by eliminating the inherent data redundancies that exist in many traditional storage and data protection processes, such as backup. Heralded as one of the most exciting technologies in the storage market De-duplication has left organizations very excited about its possibilities.”
Simon Robinson will be chairing a seminar on Data De-duplication called ‘Reducing your Data Footprint with De-duplication’ on the 15th of October at 3:45pm. The seminar will be focussing on organizations that have implemented de-duplication technology and discussing their experiences on whether the reality really does live up to the hype. Key challenges addressed at the seminar will include reducing storage requirements, increasing efficiency, reducing energy requirements and reducing asset redundancies”
The other speakers in the keynote are:
- Steve Bruck, Infrastructure Architect, Associated Newspapers Ltd
- Simon Spence, CIO, CB Richard Ellis
With two days of stimulating and thought provoking keynotes and seminars that reflect the needs of today’s data storage professionals and information management experts, Storage Expo 2008 gives visitors the chance to improve and update their storage strategies.
Other Seminars that focus on De-Duplication include:
- De- duplication Explained by Barnaby Skivington, Senior Consultant, Data Domain
- Backup-to-Disk with De-duplication. Lowering Costs, Improving Protection, and Simplifying Management by Sean Livingstone, Technology Business Consultant, EMC
- Storage Management for the 21st Century by Jonathan Kamminga, Global Solutions Architect, Dell
- The Reinvention of Storage by Eyal Zimran, Senior Director of Marketing and Alliances, IBM
Source: StoragePR
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ABSplus for when the worst happens
Your PC does not work …. Now what do you do?
By B.Blanchard, CMS Products Inc
Introduction:
New working practices have led to more employees working from home and more mobile workers carrying laptop PCs. In both cases the PC has become a vital tool in the business process and the individual is working without the benefit of IT co-workers on hand to provide a quick response when problems occur.
One of the key methods of business communication is now the e-mail which means the PC becomes the main link to the rest of the organisation as well as to suppliers and customers. The PC is used for many business functions from Diary to typewriter and calculator, but what if your PC fails to work properly – what do you do? There is no time to send it off to the IT group for repair, you need it now. Self-help may be the only solution feasible in the time available.
The Problems:
Your PC problem could be one of several types.
PCs today have become much more reliable and laptops have become small enough to be treated like appliances. We forget the technology inside is both advanced and vulnerable, being susceptible to shock and other environmental issues. This can lead to failure of the system’s hard drive – one of the more common hardware failures.
Today there are thousands of programs available for the PC and any one PC will have a combination of these programs according to personal preference and the requirements of the owners work. This can sometimes lead to problems particularly after a software change or update.
Viruses and mal-ware are threatening our PCs everyday and even a protected PC could succumb to the threat, leaving the PC in a dangerous state. Not only is its operation affected but it could be difficult to eradicate the problem and could lead to further infection. A good, clean replacement system is required.
A Solution is needed
What is needed is a solution that you can use when any of the above occurs. It must be quick and easy to implement in order to get your PC running properly again.
There are many Backup solutions on the market today but all they really do is automate the copying of files from the data area to another disk. They may not even access all areas of the disk to allow files like e-mail to be copied. The backup created would be of no use in recovering the use of your PC.
Some Backup solutions take the approach of making an image backup of the system disk. These usually blindly copy information from each part of the system disk to an image backup device like a CD/DVD or tape where the information is not stored in its native format and therefore has to be completely restored back to the system disk before it can be used. This takes a long time and furthermore, each backup requires all the information to be copied again. It is not possible to copy only the changes. When processes take a long time they are often forgotten or ignored by users.
Industry analysts would agree that the fastest way to recover a PC is with a replacement system drive. When trouble occurs, recovery is achieved by starting the PC from the replacement system disk. An example of this kinid of solution is the CMS Products’ ABSplus where the BounceBack Ultimate software creates the replacement system drive and keeps it up-to-date by just backing-up the changes. When recovery is required you restart the PC from the ABSplus disk on the USB port.
The required solution is one which quickly recovers use of the Laptop or desktop and must be quick & easy to use, since there may be no IT assistance readily available to the user. It should have the ability to password protect access to the information and offer the user the chance to encrypt sensitive data. Further solutions that protect data during times when it is exposed and vulnerable, such as during travel should also be available and capable of being integrated.
Furthermore, this solution should have the ability to encrypt those files deemed to be sensitive by the user or company. When the PC is recovered, these encrypted files should be automatically restored to their decrypted state on the hard drive after the user enters the correct password.
Conclusions:
Companies who want to reduce their IT costs and keep their users productive deploy solutions which generate replacement system drives. Return-on-investment can be measured in weeks rather than years and is easily calculated from known business parameters.
In the case of a Laptop PC, the replacement solution is in the form of a small palm-sized hard drive which can be carried with the laptop. For a desktop PC, the solution could sit inside the PC itself, ready to be accessed when trouble strikes.
Self-help IT products mean less time and distraction for the IT department and the users can help themselves when they need to, without delay.
CMS Products Inc. is exhibiting at Storage Expo 2008 the UK’s definitive event for data storage, information and content management. Now in its 8th year, the show features a comprehensive FREE education programme and over 100 exhibitors at the National Hall, Olympia, London from 15 - 16 October 2008 www.storage-expo.com
Source: StoragePR
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