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Exploiting Hardware Differences in Cloud Data Centers

Every large cloud vendor has several data centers located across the world: thousands of disks, CPUs, RAM chips and networking devices. All of this equipment is of differing vintage. Even if all data centers start off with identical equipment (seldom the case), over time they are subject to differing schedules of hardware maintenance and component-replacement. With the passage of time, even the most strictly-managed data centers tend to become heterogeneous.

The end result is that differences in performances begin to appear for different cloud instances. Since cloud usage is typically charged over the hour, higher performance clusters can achieve significant savings. The question is how to find clusters that are faster and more efficient.

Recent research at Aalto University Finland and Deutsch Telekom Laboratories, Germany focused on understanding hardware variations between data centers of the same vendor and studied the performance variation.

The researchers used standard operating system commands to obtain the CPU details of their clusters and verified the output using other system calls. After considerable effort, they determined that the vendor had the following different types of CPUs –

The trend is very clearly visible – the vendor is slowly phasing out the processors at serial numbers 1,2,4 and 5 of the table above and is switching over to E5645 (serial number 3).

When the list of CPUs was broken down by availability zones, there were some where the newer E5645 processor was barely present (<10%) and in some others, the numbers had risen to nearly 90%. Obviously, new data centers had the most modern processors. When the output of the different processors was compared, there were differences all. New ones were delivering 1.25 times’ the throughput of the next-best ones. Compared with the earliest CPUs, there was a performance difference of more than 1.6 times.

Armed with these results, the research team began to calculate costs. If a large task took 100 server instances and a year to complete, switching instances from old processors to new (with a 1.6 times performance advantage) would deliver a net saving of $40,664. For a small business, this kind of saving is very significant.

Users taking care to select data centers where infrastructure is new can automatically get better processors and other hardware. In times such as this, where every dollar counts, this research offers companies a blueprint to further reduce expenditure.

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About the Guest Author:

Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.

Japanese Social Gaming Companies Embracing Box Gacha After the Kompu Gacha Ban

In May 2012, the Japanese government banned kompu gacha dealing a huge blow to social gaming companies. Gacha is a game mechanic in which players chance their luck (and their money!) to win a mystery item. Many documented cases cite players as having spent exorbitant amounts to win a specific virtual item. However, a lack of regulation meant that some companies could set the chances of winning an item at practically zero, innocent of the knowledge of money-wasting users. Kompu gacha played a huge part in the record profits that had been posted by Japanese social gaming giants like DeNA and GREE.

The main problem here was that players enjoyed the kompu gacha mechanics. However, kompu gacha makes winning the prize so random that it essentially becomes a gambling mechanic. Since underage children often had access to games using the kompu gacha mechanic, this was an inexcusable situation for Japanese lawmakers. The two cases that made headlines included a child in middle school that spent more than five thousand dollars in a month on kompu gacha games and an even younger child that spent more than a thousand dollars in only a couple of days.

Although kompu gacha was banned, gacha remains alive today

Paying for a chance to win a virtual prize is still a core game mechanic. In fact, at least 80% of the most popular social games still include gacha machines and, for many game developers, gacha’s micro transactions contributes more than half of game revenue. However, the industry has taken some measures to reduce uncertainty in gacha and allow players to predict what is going to happen. Most gacha machines allow players to “spin the wheel” for 100 yen. There are also gacha machines with a higher chance of a better payout for 300 yen.

Replacing kompu gacha with box gacha

As soon as the banning of kompu gacha was mooted, gaming companies started trying out different gaming mechanics, necessarily more predictable and less addictive than their predecessors. “Package gacha” has started to gain popularity as an alternative to abusive kompu gacha mechanics of the past, allowing players the same thrill of potentially winning a rare item after spinning.

In normal gacha, each spin’s odds would be reset, meaning that every spin would have the same odds of hitting a rare prize. However, with box gacha each time a prize is won it is “removed” from the box, letting players know that they can win the prize they want if they play a certain number of times. Each spin increases the probabilities of winning a particular super-rare prize. A vast improvement on the unfair practices of yore.

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About the Guest Author:

Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.

How to Resolve Cloud Application Migration Issues?

As cloud becomes more advanced, complexities affect growth. Operational challenges, if not dealt with immediately, could stall continuity, leading to loss of both revenue and reputation. One of the major challenges faced by enterprises is migration of key business applications to the cloud. When CIOs or managers issue an order asking staff to migrate applications, headaches often ensue.

This probably explains why a large amount of IT expenditure goes into making applications portable. Other problems include:

Lack of experienced personnel: Without people experienced in managing and controlling application portability onto the cloud, your application portability task will flop. Porting key business apps onto a cloud requires the same expertise and precision of a brain transplant, hence there is no room for even the slightest mistake. Companies should put job applicants through live testing scenarios before deciding to hire.

Handling confidential enterprise data: The internet is a playground for malicious software, viruses, illegal bots. Migrating crucial business data and applications thus requires extensive preparation and precaution to safeguard crucial data. The solution is to maintain a strict security firewall to prevent intrusions. The entire cloud platform should be under constant surveillance, with suspicious events traced and reported to the respective authority.

Involvement of 3rd Party: If IT is not your key competency, then migrating to a cloud-based business environment requires a 3rd-party provider who has expertise in cloud operations and management. Firms must choose a premium partner with a proven track record in providing cloud-based solutions. Check out their previous partnerships and analyse how their solutions responded to vulnerabilities and threats.

Integration of in-house and cloud applications: The technical integration of data as well as business applications is a key cloud issue. Companies prefer to keep a certain amount of applications and data in-house while migrating to cloud. However the migrated applications may depend on in-house data for operations, which requires a technically-challenging integration. A proper scheduling and systematic approach to migration would solve this issue. Identification of dependent systems, calculating impact of migration and planned migration onto a trusted cloud platform is vital.

Support for legacy systems: Moving to the cloud ultimately results in change of infrastructure and adoption of new standards of business operations. Newly-integrated software platforms and hardware components make their way into offices but spark problems concerning interoperability of existing legacy systems with new components. It is wiser to upgrade legacy systems rather than degrade cloud infrastructure to facilitate interoperability. Aging systems hinder cloud performance, also creating greater workload because of slower processing capability.

Resolving migration issues at the earliest opportunity paves the way for greater success for cloud-based business. GMO Cloud takes pride in the excellent service they provide and proven track record. With the introduction of the public cloud offering, additional services – which includes migration - were included to complement and follow through on the core services sold.

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About the Guest Author:

Mandira Srivastava is a fulltime freelance writer who specializes in technology, health and fitness, politics, and financial writing. Equipped with degree of mass communication and having worked for both private and corporate clients, I have experience meeting a wide range of writing requirements and styles.

How Cloud Computing Enhances Productivity and Collaboration

The burning desire to increase productivity and enhance efficient collaboration are primary expectations of business managers moving entire IT systems to the cloud.

No doubt, cloud technology affords businesses unprecedented flexibility and scalability to upgrade IT requirements periodically when needs arise. When the amount of information processed increases owing to business expansion, these companies can simply scale up storage capacity with cloud, leading to better productivity.

Cloud also permits users to log on anywhere and on any digital device in real time. Employees of companies can therefore retrieve relevant data stored in the cloud while executing official duties, without facing serious barriers or hindrances.

Incidentally, retrieval of information stored in the cloud is comparatively faster than on in-house servers. This is because the cloud structure is perpetually managed by a third party whose primary responsibility is to wipe out downtime. Uninterrupted continuity of business operations is projected to increase productivity and add long-term business value.

Companies are also witnessing efficient collaboration among employees using cloud. Now, it is possible to have fast and coordinated chats, email, instant messaging and constant updating of data/information. This is a rapid improvement upon the recent past, when companies solely relied on duplicating information from one section to another.

Elimination of duplication will help businesses drastically reduce costs in transmitting information. Data loss, violation and exposure to unauthorized parties will be prevented, and companies can optimize the time of accessing, retrieving and processing information to carry out their operations more efficiently.

While this practice can help businesses to save on the cost of running operations, it also contributes to the conservation of the environment. Instead of poring through packs of paper files, employees can share a mere single file on their company’s cloud.

Greener companies. Higher profits. More efficiency. Optimum business performance. These are the goals towards which every cloud-migrating company should be working. The cloud may be their most viable option for staying competitive in a fast-paced, increasingly challenging business climate.

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About the Guest Author:

Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/

What 2012 Meant for Cloud… and What Lies Ahead

There is no question that cloud computing has played an important part in the tech industry in 2012. New start-up companies were popping up every few days with some kind of innovative cloud service. Studies predict that cloud computing technology will be a major source of revenue and employment worldwide by 2015 with some experts boldly declaring that every computing function will be in the cloud come 2020!

Whatever your view on the above, there is no doubt cloud technology will be a major driving force in the technology market in years to come.

Important cloud computing developments from the past year

The demand for full time IT professionals specializing in cloud computing has exploded in the last year, more than three times 2009 levels. Companies have migrated to the cloud to reap reduced costs, higher efficiency, and a lesser need for personnel and resources. Studies show that agility, reduced costs, and scalability are still the most important factors for companies looking to adopt cloud. While SaaS is still the most important cloud service (in which companies invest most), PaaS and IaaS services are gaining traction and, by 2017, are expected to grow dramatically.

There are still obstacles in the adoption of cloud services. Many companies still hold doubts about security. Other problems include government regulations, compatibility and vendor issues. However, these factors are quickly becoming irrelevant as new companies find technological solutions on a regular basis. In 2012, five key sectors benefited from cloud computing considerably: media, mobile technology, social media, data storage and handling, and online commerce.

Security concerns are being alleviated by new cloud service providers. Enterprise-facing software, archiving services, and cloud backup services have allowed many businesses to ensure cloud will not place their data at risk. Cloud collaboration looks to be one of the most promising cloud services in the next few years. 2012 saw a massive investment in cloud technology, with more than seven billion dollars driven into cloud start-up companies by venture capitalists.

Cloud computing to grow dramatically

According to studies by Microsoft, cloud computing is expected to help create fourteen million jobs in the next few years, many of these in southeast Asia. Investors can also expect massive revenues of around 1.1 trillion dollars every year after 2015. Thanks to the savings that cloud offers, IT spending is only expected to grow sixteen percent, while jobs will increase by double that.

The Southeast Asian market, in particular Singapore and Malaysia, is an especially attractive target for cloud computing investors. Many of these countries act as global business hubs thanks to their privileged position geographically, advanced infrastructure, and business-friendly governments. This helps create a positive feedback loop where increases in cloud investment trigger job creation which in turn allows cloud computing to continue growing.

Although private investment will undoubtedly influence growth, it is in public clouds where most innovation and investment will occur in the next few years. The year 2015 is considered a turning point in the future of this market. However, with the accelerated pace of new developments in cloud technology, advancement may actually occur faster than expected.

Be Part of Our Cloud Conversation

Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Guest Author:

Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.