Host Your Web Site In The Cloud: Amazon Web Services Made Easy: Amazon EC2 Made Easy

A prior colleague of mine, Jeff Barr, Cloud Computing evangelist extraordinar at Amazon Web Services has released his new book "Host Your Web Site In The Cloud: Amazon Web Services Made Easy: Amazon EC2 Made Easy."

I am looking forward to reading it!

PCI Compliance for Dummies - Free ebook

PCI Compliance for Dummies

Get the facts on PCI Compliance and learn how to comply with the PCI Data Security standard.

http://downloadebookz.tradepub.com/free/w_qa36/prgm.cgi

Webcast: Stand It Up and Go As Fast As You Can – Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for High Performance Cloud Computing

Join experts from Parallels and Intel for an informative discussion on cloud computing for performance-sensitive workloads. Learn how Parallels Virtuozzo Containers use a performance-friendly architecture to enable companies to truly maximize their Intel hardware investment.

Thursday, September 16th, 2010
11:00 a.m. ET


REGISTER


More information to enhance your webcast experience:
Download Reference Architecture Discuss Reference Architecture
FAQ Executive Summary


The Intel Cloud Builder series can be found here:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-cloud-builder/

Learn about Parallels internal cloud solutions:

• Inside clouds with Parallels
• Choosing a cloud services vendor
• Benefit from clouds for developers
• Virtualize performance sensitive workloads
• Stay informed - Parallels Enterprise Blog

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 adds Plug-In controls for the Rackspace Cloud

Rackspace Announcement:
With the Rackspace Cloud Visual Studio 2010 Plug-In, developers are fully aware of everything that is going on with their cloud server instances when they are developing or deploying an application, thus reducing overall complexity and errors by providing a layer of automation not possible without integration.  The toolkit provides a new level of abstraction, making it easier and faster than ever for .NET developers to create and deploy applications to Cloud Servers for Windows. Additional application programming interface (API) features of the Rackspace Cloud Visual Studio 2010 Plug-In include the ability to:
http://tools.rackspacecloud.com/applications/rackspace-cloud-visual-studio-2010-plug-in

ZDNET Post:
Cloud hosting provider Rackspace rolled out on September 8 a new toolkit for customers who want to develop and deploy to its Cloud Servers for Windows service.  The new tookit, known as the Rackspace Cloud Plug-In for Visual Studio 2010, was developed by Microsoft Gold partner Neudesic. Rackspace is touting the toolkit as reducing deployment and provisioning time for its hosted Windows servers, as well as providing users of those Windows servers with a single cloud-management portal.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/rackspace-fills-out-its-windows-cloud-story/7318

www.cloudave.com Posting:
Today, Rackspace announced the release of Windows based Cloud Servers to compete with Amazon EC2 Windows instances and Windows Azure. According to Rackspace, the new service delivers a highly scalable environment ideal for Windows-based hosting, testing and developing applications and supporting the high levels of traffic required for launching online gaming platforms or the next social networking phenomenon. This was expected for a long time because they needed to have Windows based offerings in order to effectively compete with Amazon.
http://www.cloudave.com/61/rackspace-offers-windows-cloud-servers

Amazon Web Services launches series of new events

Amazon Web Services launches series of new events:

Upcoming AWS Events - Fall 2010 -  Details @  http://lnkd.in/4xcpim

Terremark vCloud Express - What do you think?

I was reading whitepapers on Terremarks vCloud Express.  It looks great!  Have you worked with it?

http://vcloudexpress.terremark.com/

Powered by Terremark

vCloud Express is delivered from Terremark’s top-tier datacenters connected to a global web of 160 networks. It’s built on enterprise-class technology and supported by a leader in managed services and cloud computing.

Virtualized by VMware

vCloud Express is Virtualized by VMware, the leader in virtual server technology. VMware’s robust and secure virtualization platform gives you freedom and control, complete reliability and high security. That’s why VMware is the overwhelming choice for cloud computing, in use by all of the Fortune 100.

Easy to Use

vCloud Express features a simple Web-based console based on Terremark’s class-leading Enteprise Cloud platform. A full-featured API allows programmatic access to compute capacity. Standards-based architecture and support for a broad range of operating systems means we’re ready for your applications today, no customization required.

No Minimum Commitment

With vCloud Express, you pay only for the capacity you use, when you use it. You can add capacity at the click of a mouse for peak times, then scale back down when you don’t need it. Getting started takes just minutes and a credit card.

Cloud webcasts I'm attending that you may be interested in

Webcast: Sep 29 2010 8:00 am Orchestrate Digital Initiatives to Better the Customer Experience
Channel: Cloud Computing
Attend: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/22774

Webcast: Oct 27 2010 12:00 pm Enterprise Cloud Computing: A Complete Lifecycle
Channel: Cloud Computing
Attend: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/22837

The Cloud's impact on online security, PCI and more...

A BrightTALK Channel
Sept 14th, 2010 - BrightTalk will host a 1-hour webinar with Rackspace customer GoCompare along with Alert Logic where you can learn about Security in the Cloud and best practice advice to avoid risk. Get insight from GoCompare's experience with the Cloud.  Learn about PCI in the Cloud and more.
http://brighttalk.com/summit/1544  

With the continued growth of Online Video, everyone wants a piece of the pie!

Key announcements can be reviewed at the following links:


- NetFlix adds content from Epix - NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Pay-cable movie channel Epix agreed to supply movies to Netflix Inc. (NFLX) for the online movie company's on-demand service starting next month in a deal that adds momentum to the rise of video streaming on the web.


- Netflix: Defying the Laws of Gravity - Netflix (NFLX) has a strong business operation that is highly successful and has driven strong revenue, EPS, and cash flow growth over the past several years. 


- Apple is jumping in too - Whether Apple delivers from in-house or via CDN, Apple's new approach sets streaming bar high.


- Can Redbox Challenge Netflix Online? - Redbox is a division of Coinstar(CSTR) that offers movie rentals via DVD kiosks. Redbox recently announced plans to launch an online streaming service in competition with Netflix(NFLX), which is well established in the streaming video market.


- Sorenson Has A Winner With Their New 360 Video Platform (Hands-On Review) - Back in May, Sorenson Media, best known for their Squeeze encoding software and the Spark video codec, launched a new video platform called Sorenson 360. After being hands on with the offering for the past three months, I've come to the conclusion that it's one of the most well thought out platforms on the market for small and medium sized customers.

Citrix announced plans to acquire VMLogix

Early this week, Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS), a leader in virtualization with annual revenue of $1.58 billion, announced its plans to acquire VMLogix, a leading provider of virtualization management for private and public clouds. The VMLogix acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter, and Citrix plans to use the technology from VMLogix to extend the Citrix OpenCloud platform and add an intuitive self-service interface to to its popular XenServer virtualization platform. Gartner expects the market for server virtualization management to reach $2 billion in 2014, growing at a compound annual rate of 39.2%. Let’s take a closer look.

Mike Vizard of CTO Edge says Citrix is attempting to promote the proprietary approaches to virtual switching and cloud computing management that have been taken by VMware and Cisco. According to Wes Wasson, chief marketing officer for Citrix, as cloud computing continues to rapidly evolve, the need for open standards that promote interoperability is quickly becoming a major industry issue affecting the rate of cloud computing adoption.

In July, Citrix reported second quarter revenue of $458 million, up 12%. Net income was $48 million or $0.25 per share versus $43 million or $0.23 per share last year. The company repurchased shares for $101 million and ended the quarter with $1.41 billion in cash and marketable securities. Q1 coverage is available here.

During the quarter, Citrix closed eighteen customer transactions of over $1 million each, including several deals over $5 million. New license sales were $149 million, up 15% from last year, driven by growth in both the Desktop and Data Center businesses. Revenue from license updates increased 13% due to strong customer interest in the XenDesktop Trade-up program. Tech Services grew 35% and Online SaaS revenue was $89 million, up 18% driven by 35% growth in Web Collaboration.

The Desktop business, which includes both Application and Desktop Virtualization solutions, generated revenue of $290 million, up 15%, with revenue from XenDesktop, a desktop virtualization tool at $60 million. During the earnings call, CEO Mark Templeton said demand for XenDesktop was driven by the unstoppable wave of new iPads, Macs, and smartphones often with the client’s CIO leading the charge.

The Data Center and Cloud Computing business, which provides Application Networking and Server Virtualization solutions, generated revenue of $74 million, up 20%, with the NetScaler customer base increasing 50% mainly in the enterprise market.

Citrix expects third quarter revenue of $450 million to $460 million and EPS of $0.31 to $0.32. It raised its fiscal 2010 revenue guidance to $1.81 billion to $1.83 billion from $1.765 billion to $1.78 billion. It expects EPS of 1.27 to $1.31 versus earlier guidance of $1.29 to $1.34. The stock is trading around $58 with market cap of about $10.85 billion. It hit a 52-week high of $59.53 on August 20.

SaaS market to reach $40.5 billion by 2014

According to IDC, the SaaS market had worldwide revenues of $13.1 billion in 2009, and IDC expects it to reach $40.5 billion by 2014, representing a CAGR of 25.3%. Consolidation is happening at all levels of cloud computing, both applications (SaaS) and infrastructure. SaaS vendors Taleo, SuccessFactors, RightNow, and Salesforce.com have already started consolidating, and Citrix is the latest cloud computing consolidator but at the infrastructure level.