Security Challenges in Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a very promising technology that helps companies reduce operating costs while increasing efficiency. The most beneficial features of using cloud computing include fast and easy deployment, the pay-per-use model, a reduction of in-house IT costs.  Even though cloud computing is heavily used today, security for cloud computing has still been an issue and still needs modifications.  In order to promote the widespread use of cloud computing, security issues must be addressed. The main cloud security issues are categorized as traditional and new cloud security challenges. The traditional security challenge of authentication and authorization applications for enterprises need to be cater more to work with a cloud environment. The availability of cloud service providers is also a big concern, since if the cloud service is down it can affect customers. Cloud providers using hypervisor and virtual machines may also have vulnerabilities. A compromise of a virtual machine can affect all users on the same physical server. Cloud providers need to reconsider traditional security concerns from different perspectives.

The most cloud security challenge for end-users as they utilize the cloud services and store their data is about privacy and user data confidentiality. Users want to know where their data is stored and who is in control of that information in addition to the owners. They also want to know that their information is not accessed and used illegally. Cloud computing moves most of the IT infrastructure and data storage to off-premises third-party providers. Due to this scheme the cloud faces two important consequences: a) Data owners have only limited control over the IT infrastructure, therefore data owners must establish a mechanism to mandate the enforcement of their security policies to ensure data confidentiality and integrity. b) Cloud service providers have excessive privileges, allowing them extensive control and ability to modify users IT systems and data.

There are many challenges in cloud computing, most dealing with security issues. As the cloud is more used in enterprises now and regular network users these challenges must be accommodated for and be fixed. To read more on this article click here!

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to both the applications delivered as services over the internet and the hardware and systems software in the data centers that provide those services. Cloud computing services have long been referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). From a hardware stand point and pricing point of view, three aspects are new in cloud computing. 1) The appearance of infinite computing resources available on demand, quickly enough to eliminate the need for cloud computing users to plan ahead for provisioning. 2) The elimination of an up-front commitment by cloud users which allows companies to start small and increase in storage resources only when there is a need. 3) The ability to pay for use of computing resources on a short-term basis as needed and release them when needed. This allows for rewarding conservation by letting machines and storage go when they are no longer useful.

The construction and operation of extremely large-scale, commodity-computer data centers at low-cost locations was the key component of cloud computing. Other necessities that need to decrease in cost are electricity, network bandwidth, operations, software and hardware available at these very large economies of scale. There are 10 obstacles and opportunities for cloud computing to grow. These consist of: availability/business continuity (use multiple cloud providers), data lock-in ( standardize APIs), data confidentiality and auditability (deploy encryption, VLANsm firewalls), data transfer bottlenecks (FedExing disks, higher BW switches), performance unpredictability (improved VM support, flash memory, gang schedule VMs), scalable storage (invent scalable store), bugs in large distributed systems (invent debugger that relies on distributed VMs), scaling quickly (invent auto-scalar that relies on ML, snapshots for conservation), reputation fate sharing ( offer reputation-guarding services like those for email), software licensing (pay for use licenses). Cloud computing will continue to grow tremendously, so developers should take it into account of what techniques can be discovered and worked upon.

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Backup and Archive

Cloud computing has been taking over the traditional backup fast and still gives consumers availability of their data. This week’s blog is on a novel about NASA and their usage of cloud computing. In 2010, NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project became their first mission to incorporate a public cloud into its daily mission-critical operations. NASA goal has been to obtain as much durability as possible with minimal cost. Their goal is also to significantly reduce cost compared to traditional backup solutions while enhancing the durability and availability of their data. One of the primary reasons organizations approach the cloud is because of the variable pricing models. Compliance, privacy and integrity of the data are also considered high priority requirements. NASA backup process to the cloud, along with the variable cost model of cloud storage, provides   a compelling alternative to the traditional backup processes IT systems used.

The cloud data transfer client can support speeds that exceed common data backup strategies such as using an external hard drive or DVD archiving. The seamless integration of archiving, compressing and encryption, along with unlimited storage adds to the convenience of cloud storage. The automated auditing ensures that backups are reliable and up to date and when recovery is needed, data can be restored in a very short amount of time. NASA software is modular they are currently only employing Amazon S3 as the backup data store. Their cloud computing setup runs on very modest machines with very few tweaks in compression and encryption parameters. 

Novel: https://blackboard.ncat.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2060041-dt-content-rid-6615846_2/courses/ITT_305002.201510/BackupMERData.pdf

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the networking cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers. Every application needs services and Amazon EC2 provides many. It can provide services for any application size whether it’s big or small. EC2 services also allows for your application services to be resized if the application grows overtime.  Amazon allows you to obtain your information fast and inexpensively. The benefit of this is that you won’t have to worry about having storage onsite and taking up space. You simply choose the instances that you want, the operating system and the storage quantity that you need.  Amazon has many instance types designed for the different use cases. These instances can be optimized for CPU, Memory, storage and GPU to give you the right performance and pricing for your task. They also have a variety of pricing options to help every business. EC2 gives you root control over your instances to modify them the way you want. Now let’s talk about why EC2 is reliable.

The EC2 service runs within Amazon’s proven network infrastructure and data centers. The service level agreement commitment is 99.95% availability. EC2 also works in coincidence with Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) with an IP (Internet Protocol) range that you desire. VPC allows you to control inbound and outbound network access to and from your domain. The EC2 instance Purchasing Option such as; On-demand instances, reserved instances and spot instances gives you financial benefits of Amazon’s scale. Amazon EC2 is certainly a top notch storage provider as big name applications use them. Netflix uses the service as well as AutoDesk, NASA/JPL , Animoto, Recovery.gov, bankinter and many more. To learn more about Amazon EC2 and their other services click here. 

iOS 8.1: What you need to know

More than a week has passed since Apple released its update to iOS 8 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Apple seems to have fixed some of the problems that emerged after last month in iOS 8.0. iOS 8.1 problems are a big issues with some iPhone and iPad users ranging from bad Bluetooth to apps to random reboots. It has also been a growing trend of users saying that iOS 8.1 has made battery life drop. The iPhone’s history of bad battery has been known to decrease after months of heavy usage. Even though the new iPhone 6 and 6 plus battery life is supposed to be better than recent iPhones. This may be the biggest trending problem of the new update but there are still other problems that continue to be known by users.

 Landscape issues where the iPhone 6 would get stuck in landscape mode after moving from portrait mode has been cleaned up from iOS 8.0.2 but there still persist some issues that need to be cleaned up with it. Reloading the app sometimes fixes this glitch but I have heard of some users having to even restart the phone to make the problem go away. iMessenger has also had some bug issues. I read that one user had a group thread split into separate threads on its own. Alerts from iMessage have also been malfunctioning saying that a message was not received even though the person received the message due to their response. I would not download the new update until Apple fixes the bugs on iOS 8.1. So what should you iPhone users do in the meantime? Search the web for temporary fixes. Apple will continue to take up your already none expandable space on your phones to continue to fix ongoing problems. Here is a link to help with temporary bug fixes.

Tablets being a workplace standard

In the last 5 years, tablets have been one of the most growing and innovative technology devices. Tablets have killed the netbook market and are fast transforming the traditional PC and laptop. Consumers now are choosing tablets over laptops because some tablets can offer the same features while costing less money. Tablets are lightweight, portable, fast start up, easy web browsing and for loading presentations. Companies are now requesting tablets to be a workplace standard. Nine in ten IT managers worldwide said tablets are either a part of their workplace or currently being evaluated. The 68% of those in the UK already offer the devices. Android takes the top spot for supplied tablet operating systems in the UK with 69% of organizations supplying android tablets to workers. Tablets allow workers to be more flexible in their line of work. Many people now prefer to use tablets than PCs and smartphones for small task such as shopping. In the UK more than half of technology managers believe tablets have increased employee productivity by 20% through increasing their flexibility. This includes another 59% claiming tablets have fully met the requirements they had expected. There are companies in the US that have an employee’s BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy to allow flexibility in their workplace. Most companies have not started supplying their employees with tablets like the UK. This could be due to the concern of data security. Company’s security can still be hacked through portable devices. As there is a solution to everything, I believe security won’t continue to be an issue for companies to allow employees to BYOD. Tablets are not needed in the workplace but they do make like a little easier when completing task and not having to sit at a desk to do all of your work. 

More about tablets being a workplace standard.

Why you should get a tablet?

Cloud Storage and Security.

Cloud storage is a service model in which data is upheld, managed and backed up to a remote location for user access through a network (usually the internet). Cloud storage has become really popular in the last few years and it looks to be a big part of the future moving forward. When I think of cloud storage I think of Dropbox, Google Drive and Apple’s iCloud. These are the most popular cloud storage's that people use today. They are similar in providing users the ability to store data including media on their sites for later access. They also have automatic back-up capabilities for smartphones. When we talk about data over the internet, security always has to be at the front lawn ready to stop hackers.

                Security for cloud storage is definitely one of the major concerns that companies are trying to approach. Clients aren't likely to entrust companies with their data without a guarantee that they’ll be able to access this information at any time and without anyone being able to gain access to it. Yes user authentication (username and password) practices can only give them authorization to their accounts but is data at the remote storage systems vulnerable. Data security risks could include insecure file sharing, data leaks, hackers, data seizure by government, lack of file control, unknown location of servers and even cloud employee data snooping. There could be a lot of loop holes for cloud storage but I believe companies will continue to come up with solutions to make it more secure.

                I use cloud storage a lot particularly Dropbox and Google Drive. I haven’t had any data retrieval or security issues so far during my experiences. Cloud computing is becoming really big and widely used. It will be a big part of storage technology moving on in the future.

I recommend both Dropbox and Google drive for the convenience of storing data online. 

Cloud storage definition: http://searchcloudstorage.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-storage

Chimpanzee's Culture.

In this week’s blog I tuned to Science Friday radio show online. The Friday segment that I listen to was about researchers observing wild chimpanzees in a rain forest. Chimps are widely considered as the most cultural animals in the wild.  In 1960 chimpanzees were seen using a long stick to fish for termites. They must have an adaptive culture in order to survive in the wild and they continue to adapt very well as a group. A study last month in nature showed that chimps can be violent just like humans and kill each other. It has been observed that their violence is not cultural in their groups. Chimp’s violence is more than likely due to psychological behavior. Chimpanzees do have the ability to learn socially from each other.

The chimps that were being monitored lived in a rain forest where water was trapped in small holes. To retrieve water they usually use leaves as sponges to get the water out of these holes to drink. The researchers reporting used a statistical model to show that chimps that saw another chimp use a new water drinking tool were 15 times more likely to adopt the new tool themselves. These things are done naturally by the chimps. When a chimp comes up with a new tool the concept spreads throughout their group. A higher end chimp is more likely to lead other chimps to new tools and techniques. Chimpanzee’s instincts and techniques can be better observed from watching them in the wild then capturing them.

Science Friday!

Science Friday is broadcast on many radio shows on Fridays from 2-4 p.m. Eastern Time. Science Friday can be listened to online and they also have an app available for phones. I recommend you all to tune in on a Friday for news and entertaining stories about science. 

Breaking down SAN and NAS.

Storage area network (SAN) is a high-speed dedicated network of servers and shared storage devices. A SAN provides storage and enables centralized data management. It meets the storage demands efficiently with better economies of scalability and also provides effective maintenance and protection of data. Network attached storage (NAS) is a high-performance file sharing and storage device. NAS allows its clients to share files with an IP address.  In other words SAN and NAS both are network technologies that allow you to manage the disk storage on your network. However, NAS is a much simpler and less expensive than SAN.

            Using network attached storage actually reduces the task of adding storage to a network because it eliminates the priority of configuring a network operating system for routine file sharing tasks. A storage area network is designed for managing very large amounts of network storage. A SAN contains three components: storage devices (which could be hundreds of them), a separate high-speed network (normally fiber-optic) that directly connects the storage devices to each other, and on or more SAN servers that connect the SAN to the local area network. The SAN server manages the storage devices attached to the SAN and allows users of local area networks (LAN) to access the storage.

            A NAS is dedicated specifically to serving files. The hardware is optimized it could have more network connections. Also its operating system is slim down so that it is dedicated to sharing files and not performing other functions. People use this device to store files that is accessible to other people. NAS uses Linux, Windows, Mac share data, large files and backup locations. Typically with SAN, servers access specific parts of the storage. Clients of SAN have storage utilization of moving and reallocating storage. SAN also uses iSCSI and Fibre channel. This is the protocol used to access your storage. iSCSI has a lower cost that comes with a lower performance. Fibre Channel has a higher cost with better performance. 

If you need more of an overview check out this video!

My Favorite Open Source Product.

Today’s writing will be about my favorite open source program. Google Chrome would have to be my top open source program. It is just something I use daily when I browse the web. I know a lot of people can say that they don’t care about what web browser they use to surf the web but when you experience Google Chrome it gives you a different web browsing experience. Chrome is built to make the most of your web browsing experience.

The great experience that you receive from Google Chrome is free on top of that. You don’t have to pay for anything from chrome, unless you decide to visit the Chrome Web Store. The store does provides thousands of free or paid extensions, apps and themes for your browser. Extensions enhance your web browser by so much more. I currently have Google Docs, AdBlock and Google Hangouts as my extensions. The speed and security that google chrome provides is also excellent. Chrome is fast to start up, fast to search and to load your web pages. Chrome also stays updated to bring you new enhancements to your browsing experience. I would have to say having the search combined with the search bar makes everything covenant and that much faster.

The address bar also has a star icon to bookmark your favorite pages you always visit. I also have the google chrome app on my cell phone. If you have a Gmail account you google will save your entire web browsing searches, favorite sites and link them to whatever device or computer that you sign into Gmail with. This allows me to stay connected to my favorite browser content on my devices. Google built Chrome off of simplicity and customization. Every user can have their browser set to their very own preferences to enhance their web browsing experience. Google Chrome really gives you no limits to web surfing. I recommend everyone to download Google Chrome and give it a try!

https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/

The Boston Celtics' explosion of digital video.

The Boston Celtics’ IT infrastructure is looking to scale out digital video storage. Digital video is the Celtics’ largest percentage of data. Their audio, photographs and graphics take up space but not as much. The team is moving from scaling up storage to scale out. This is due to them having an expected growth rate of at least 20 terabytes per year.  The Celtics are currently using EMC’s VNX system for storage. This hybrid data storage array features powerful multicore optimization and expands to 3,000 terabytes max capacity. The Celtics’ also use an older Clariion AX4 for disk based backups and archives. The team has a lot of analytics to do with EMC to determine a scaling out solution.

Scale-Out

The Celtics’ CTO (Chief technology officer) Jay Wessland wants to really make a major upgrade instead of using minor changes of scaling up to accommodate their storage needs. These minor changes are expensive so it would be smart to get a more sustainable system for their growing digital video storage needs. The team saves game video, interview video and event video that is used on the Celtics’ website, YouTube and social media. These parts of video are used mainly to give access to the fans. The basketball/business side also has a different location of similar video stored separately.

This side of the business uses videos for game tape on future opponents and self-scouting. They also use it in scouting whether its future NBA prospects or team needs in free agency. The Celtics’ goal is to have their digital video storage scaled out into a cloud so that it can be retrieved when needed and not taking up all of their internal storage. The retrieval cost of the cloud can be costly but that is not the CTO concern given that it will rarely be retrieved. Cloud storage will need to be a part of their new upgrade solution but with a partnership with EMC, the Celtics’ won’t have a problem bringing together a better resolution.

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/news/2240227007/Boston-Celtics-IT-takes-a-shot-at-scale-out-digital-video-storage

http://www.emc.com/domains/isilon/index.htm

Is the Galaxy S5 a rush to upgrade?

The new Samsung Galaxy S5 has been defined by the word evolution. It is a great upgrade from the Galaxy S4 but it is not a revolutionary change to Samsung Galaxy phones. The spec sheet without a doubt doesn't let down: 16-megapixel camera (with fast auto focusing clearer and faster snaps) a powerful S health app, a 2.5GHz quad core CPU, a stronger 2800mAh battery life, 16/32 GB of memory (upgradable to 128GB with microSD), 1080p 5.1 inch screen, microUSB 3.0, water and dust resistan

t IP67 certification, heart rate sensor and fingerprint scanner. It also includes a tactile back cover that is still plastic but gives a better feel than the S4 design. Samsung designs for the Galaxy phones have been a disappointment over the years.

If you've seen the Galaxy s devices over the last few years you know that it is time for a serious upgrade in the design. The blue and copper color options are more attractive, but still can be beaten out by the appeal of other devices. Designs from competitors like the iPhone and the new HTC One M8 have more of an eye candy physique. When people buy phones the first thing that stands out to them is the design and size. The Samsung Galaxy S5 design is better than the S4 but future Galaxy phones needs to be better to compete with other competitor designs. The fingerprint scanner can be annoying to use and the heart rate sensor is more of a perk that won’t be used by most people.

As stated before the Galaxy S5 is only a small upgrade from the Galaxy S4. The bottom line of this phone is that is has improved specs and it is smartly refined. It is still one of the great super phones that hit every class but design.  Is the Galaxy S5 worth the upgrade?