Does Virtual-to-Cloud Make Sense?

One of the first steps that many organizations take when they begin thinking outside the data center is to convert physical servers to virtual machines. An array of Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) tools can help systems administrators inspect a physical server’s filesystems; package up the operating system, the applications, and the data; and create a virtual machine image for a virtualized environment to replace the physical server. Systems administra…

May 21, 2013 Flexera

RightScale Compute: PCI-Compliant Apps in the Public Cloud

PCI compliance in the public cloud is a growing topic of concern and interest. Some people claim one can be a PCI-compliant merchant using a public IaaS cloud, while others say that’s impossible. I am a former Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and have participated in multiple PCI working groups, and I’m firmly in the former camp. PCI compliance in the cloud is possible, but the hardest part is knowing what you need to do and what you…

April 11, 2013 Flexera

CloudStack Graduates to Top-Level Apache Status

It’s a little early in the year for “Pomp and Circumstance,” but don’t tell that to CloudStack. The open source IaaS platform this week graduated from an incubation project to a top-level project within the Apache Software Foundation. The project is now working on both its 4.0.2 and 4.1.0 releases, and from here on, users can expect a new feature release every four months, according to CloudStack evangelist Joe Brockmeier. As with previous releas…

March 25, 2013 Flexera

Installing RightScale and Rackspace Private Cloud – in a Garage

Ryan Geyer, a RightScale cloud solutions engineer, likes to keep on top of the latest cloud technologies, including Rackspace cloud management. While some people spend their weekends building model airplanes or puttering in their yards, Ryan likes playing with private clouds, and recently built a Rackspace Private Cloud Powered by OpenStack in his garage. Check out his step-by-step description, along with a photo showing that yes, you can actuall…

March 18, 2013 Flexera