If you’re a cloud computing purist, the most “pure” definition of cloud computing refers to a cloud that hosts everything offsite in a data center.
This “true” cloud is the typical embodiment of Software as a Service, or SaaS. The large, enterprise-level information technology providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google provide this type cloud, and it imposes a few limitations:
1. You have no control of your data – losing all data sovereignty.
2. You’re 100% dependent on your cloud provider and internet service provider to be operational. If either goes down, you have a service interruption.
3. A speedy user experience is dependent on sufficient internet bandwidth. Insufficient bandwidth yields slow speeds and an ineffective solution.While Metro Ethernet and other high speed connections are becoming more available, in Middle and East Tennessee we still have slower bandwidth.
Seeing these limitations,we at Claris Networks developed a
hybrid cloud. We started our
hybrid cloud offering about six years ago to give our customers a better, faster and seamless cloud experience.
The hybrid cloud still hosts all your data in the data center, but the difference is that we extend the cloud footprint to the customer premise. So instead of only a purecloud model, the hybrid cloud combines a more redundant architecture that reduces potential service interruptions. The local server integrates seamlessly with the cloud but lets the owner control the data as if he or she operated the data center locally, on-site.
A couple reasons that the hybrid cloud is being adopted so quickly:
· Redundancy and reliability – The cloud is a very reliable technology, but in the world we live in outages happen. With the traditional cloud, an end user loses all network functions in the event of your computer support company’s service outage. It’s the same as if your internet goes down – you’re dead in the water. The hybrid cloud mitigates this risk since the onsite device will maintain a majority of the business’s IT functions during a service provider’s outage.
· High bandwidth is not readily available – We’re approaching a time when gigabit Ethernet connections will be available in every home and office building. But today, especially in rural communities and smaller markets, connection speeds are the biggest limiting factor in cloud implementations. The hybrid cloud eliminates bandwidth limitations with the onsite device.
· No changes from your current IT setup – Today’s users aren’t used to interfacing with their applications in a true cloud solution; a total redesign of the user experience can be very intrusive to the user, or having a new way for users to get to their applications can be a disruptive change. Hybrid cloud computing largely maintains the user experience.
Intel recently unveiled its hybrid cloud solution, validating the hybrid cloud concept and suggesting that cloud computing trends among IT consulting and computer support companies will continue towards the hybrid model. The respective boosts and mitigation of redundancy, user experience and risk for the end user and business owner give the hybrid cloud approach a strong foothold as businesses continue to adopt the cloud.
It’s true. The DROID X is the biggest thing in smartphones lately.
We compared the DROID X to the HTC Incredible, iPhone 3GS, and the HTC EVO. The device’s 4.3” screen make’s the other devices look like a rascally pack of little brothers.
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Our hometown hero Dan Thompson took some time to demo the DROID X after our friends at Verizon were kind enough to let us try it out. (You can see Dan’s shiny head reflected in the EVO, second from the right.) His thoughts are compiled below:
My first impressions of the DROID X are that it’s huge. My concern was that it would be cumbersome to have such a big device in my pocket all day, but after a little use I found the huge screen to be an asset to the X instead of a detractor.
The onscreen graphics are beautiful. The 4.3” screen brings what you’d hope for such a big produces very crisp, high-resolution images that would rival any I’ve seen on a phone so far.
Typically, Android users have had a gripe with phone manufacturers because the devices aren’t very fast, but the DROID X is certainly an exception to that – it’s very fast, very responsive. Thumbing through menus and loading screens is very fast and noticeably faster than the iPhone 3GS.
Verizon released a new version of the Motoblur Android operating system, integrating some nice widgets with it. The one I found most useful was toggle mode. Toggle mode let me switch back and forth between airplane mode, turn wireless on and off, and enable/disable WiFi very easily.
A couple standout features:
· Swype – a new text input method that lets you drag your fingers across the keyboard to type, so you never have to lift a finger – just move it a little. If you can figure it out, it could be faster than regular typing, but there’s a definite curve to the technology.
· Shutter button - The 8 megapixel camera has a dedicated shutter button on the bottom right corner of the phone, so you can shoot traditional landscape oriented shots just like your regular point and shoot.
· Mobile hotspot – You may be familiar with Verizon’s MiFi mobile hotspot. It creates a wireless 3G network for your laptop or other users. The DROID X includes this capability within its hardware. It’s tethering for the next generation.
· HDMI – The DROID X shoots 720p high-definition video and lets you stream the video straight from the phone to an HD TV with an HDMI output. The cable you need isn’t included, but you can find one for about $25.
All in all, the DROID X is a really solid device with a ton of features. The only possible downside would come from its size. I don’t really have small hands and found one-hand typing nearly impossible, so keep two-hand typing in mind as you consider the device. It’s interesting to see devices starting to getting bigger after we valued economy of space for so long.
Dan Thompson works as Manager of Product Development at Claris Networks, and regularly appears on Knoxville’s NBC affiliate
WBIR as a technology expert.
Thanks again to our friends at Verizon for sharing the DROID X with us this week.
A screenshot from
Mashable shows how the integration will work.
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A quick rundown:
· Outlook links Facebook profile photos to email messages.
· Facebook news feeds from your contacts are pulled into your inbox.
· Emails from a Facebook friends show status updates, wall posts, pictures, etc. below the email.
· Real time Facebook updates in Outlook.
· Send friend requests from Outlook.
· Outlook only pulls data; there’s no ability to update your status or like a post.
You may already be using
Outlook Social Connector for
LinkedIn that came out last November. With the advent of the social inbox will Outlook become the new Tweetdeck or Hootsuite? Maybe – at least for employees who use Outlook for their company email.
This raises an important question: how will business owners handle the social inbox? If employees spend 15 minutes a day on social media activities, it adds up to about a week and a half of work each year. Is your company wasting all that time, or can businesses leverage time spent on social media as an investment for the good of their business?
A good strategy for leveraging social media time as an investment involves primarily two things:
1. Have a strong corporate policy about social media in the workplace.
2. Figure out how the relationships you build on the internet can be good for your business. When done right, the social web has great potential to brand your company and generate leads.
We’ll soon have more on developing a business strategy for the social web, especially as we approach our lunch and learn series with
Ackermann PR. We’ll have a three part series entirely devoted to social media and the small to medium business coming up in August. We haven’t
formally announced it yet, but keep your ears open and eyes peeled for details.
Breaking: Clarisnetworks.com is one year old.
So it may not be bigger than LeBron going to Miami, but it's a milestone for our IT company.
It seems just like yesterday that our humble little website was experiencing its first clicks. But 364 yesterdays have passed since we went live with a new clarisnetworks.com last summer.
We’ve made a lot of changes since then. We’ve added live chat, the Cloud9 blog, and some pretty nifty graphics to our cloud computing, managed service, and computer support solutions pages.
As mirrored by our website, the last 12 months have been very dynamic for our business. We’ve continued to refine our cloud computing product offering to bring our clients the most cutting edge IT solutions for the SMB available. With our talented, hard-working employees and unmatched products and services we’ve had a great year and grown our business.
We’ve still got more in store, though. Below, Claris Networks Vice President Dave Sagraves talks about the future of our industry and technology for Knoxville, Chattanooga, and East Tennessee.