Best Websites for Enterprise Security

December 31, 2012 By

IT field advances each and every day, so are the threats to it has exponentially increasing and becoming more sophisticated. IT administrators have realized the need for

network security. Even after implementing hard core tool such as firewalls and enterprise security applications, breaches and hacks have be so effective that they can penetrate through tools secure layers.

Even with a small mishap with these tools can cost millions of dollars to the IT company. Virtual IT world is put into fast-track, where only fittest application can be considered as the best.  Websites are the main source to know more on IT security. Following are some of the top websites for effective IT security.

Cloud Security Alliance:

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote and provide best security assurance within cloud computing. CSA provides guidelines to enterprise companies on security and in implementing cloud computing and also help vendors to address their security. When it comes to website security assistance, CSA is considered to be one of the best in the industry and provides effective techniques in approaching security in cloud computing. Cloud Security Alliance’s website is also incorporated with improved cloud computing security and related issues.

SourceForge:

SourceForge is one of the preferred website in IT industry. SourceForge is a web based storehouse, it acts as a centralized source for developers to manage and control websites. SourceForge is the first to offer free to open source projects. SourceForge’s website has several sections that offer endless security which covers almost every aspect of IT security such as networking security tool, firewalls and open source.

VMware:

                VMware is one of the companies based upon virtualization and cloud. VMware’s security and its security Advisories, guides and certifications are the best in IT industry. VMware compliance blog is the best websites that can provide the effective and one of the best assistance on VMware devices.

Cisco Design Zone for Security:

Similar to VMware, Cisco also offers security within their website. Cisco is primarily into offering networking devices, security and guidance throughout the globe. Cisco designs,

manufactures and sells its own networking products.

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology):

NIST is a measurement standards lab which is a non-regulatory agency of US department of commerce. NIST plays a major role in security requirements and defensive measures across the globe. According to NIST, the recent focus has been on mobile and cloud computing security. NIST was formerly known as National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

Gartner Blog Network:

Gartner Blog is the preferred place for enterprises seeking advices on network security. Gartner Blog is included with researches, articles, blog and rakings on network security and also houses a huge list of expertise on network security devices and common safety issues.

Microsoft Security Advisories:

Microsoft Security Advisories is a supplement of Microsoft Security Bulletins. Microsoft Security Advisories offers changes occurring within Microsoft products and other related bulletins along with troubleshooting advices. Microsoft Security Advisories is one stop solutions to security related issues.

Apart from these you might find many other websites for enterprise security like Android Security Group, PCI Security Standards Council, Packet Storm, and, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.  All the mentioned websites are considered as one of the best.

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Comparison: Online Backup vs. Cloud Storage

December 28, 2012 By

                Before cloud computing service came into picture, online backup services had been serving customers. Online backup was provided by many companies like Carbonite, Mozy, Comodo, McAfee and Symantec. General methodology in online backup service allowed customers to backup and restore files from anywhere. Online backup is nothing but a remote, managed or online backup service that provides users with a system for backing up and storing computer files. Before comparing online backup and cloud computing let us know more about each of the storing methods.

“Online backup is basically a method of storing data like documents, folders and sometimes even the hard drive contents on a remote server or a computer network.” Backing up data in a remote hard drive reduces the risk of data loss, theft, fire, corrupt and other natural disasters. Companies can easily restore any lost file from the remote location using any PC and high speed internet connection.  Many small and medium sized organizations prefer to backup their data on a removable storage media like DVD or CD or thumb drives or tapes, sometimes

they might think of storing data onto an external hard drive.

Cloud storage is a model of online storage where big data are stored in a pool of servers. These servers are generally maintained by third parties. Hosting companies usually operate large data centers, customers who are in need of cloud storage can lease the storage based on their requirements. Cloud storage services are

usually accessed through a web service API (Application Programming Interface) or a web based UI (User Interface) or through a cloud storage gateway.

One of the general rule between online backup and cloud computing is an online backup service allows customers to backup and restore files. Hard drive size varies from hundreds of gigabytes to one terabyte, using this storage method we will be back only a small portion of your system. Many online backup companies keep a copy of My Documents and other selected folder instead of entire hard drive. Cloud storage is different; these services take a portion of your hard drive space and synchronize it with online storage. Whenever you make any changes in the file they are quickly replicated to the cloud storage.  SugarSync is one of the services providers which offer both classic backup and file synch support.

Some of the cloud storage companies have claimed that they will be providing unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space, but none of them is true. For large data backups companies have allotted reasonable space, once customers have reached this limit his backup speed will noticeably reduce. The main question that a customer should ask before investing in any of the services is whether online backup of more than 100 GB is really worth of investing. If your data backup capacity is less than 100 GB then it is recommended to use any online backup services like dropbox, Google drive, Microsoft Skydrive and many more available services. Smart users knows when things get worst and make sure to get the best kind of backup service which is best suited for them and their organizations.

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Advantages of Using a Green Data Center

December 20, 2012 By

 There are millions of servers running worldwide on a daily basis. Often these are being enhanced and managed, but they are not always used. It is approximated that these unused servers cost billions every year.  This will always be a major waste of money, as well as a waste of precious energy.

Green data centers have recognized these wastes and worked to repair them. Many MNC’s are now more eco-conscious and are contemplating what green data centers can offer. Here are a few common advantages associated with green data center use

1.       Turning Off Unused or Dead Servers

When a company partners with a data center, it provides a specified amount of storage it requires. From there, the data center will allocate required space and also additionally provide extra space for expansion. But this creates dead server space. It is estimated that up to a fifth of all servers are sitting idle. These hardware pieces will always consume power and other resources, increasing the costs incurred by both the data center as well as the customer. Green data centers turn off these dead servers. The energy consumption is lowered, and thus, costs, which results in lower customer fees.

2.       Virtualization

Most companies presume that they need one server for each piece of software. This is not true. Green data centers utilize what is referred to as virtualization. The software management system places multiple pieces of software on the same server. So this reduces the costs to a great extent.

3.       Delaying Capital Expenditures

One among the main reasons data centers cost so much is that the data center has expenditures for power use estimates. Green data centers completely remove this excess

spending by using power on demand. Constant monitoring and analysis allows green data centers to only use the amount of power they need. The unused power is used for other applications.

4.       Storage Consolidation:

By performing consolidation in data centers can result in gaining more efficiency and helps to move one step closer to become Green data centers. To know more about consolidation in data centers follow the link given below

http://www.datacentertalk.com/2012/12/steps-for-successful-data-center-consolidation/

5.       Installing Best Network Monitoring Tool

Installing best network monitoring tool will ensure less downtime and less resource wastage. These tools will also help data center managers to remove defected hardware which might consume more power than normal ones. In current industry you can find many network monitoring tools, select any one of the tool which suits your business and more even more closer in becoming Green data center.

Along with all these steps, data center managers should ensure to implement alternative methods of cooling data centers, power

resource and other necessary steps in order to gain Green Gold LEED (leadership in Energy and Environment design) certification from USGBC (U.S Green Building Council).

Green data centers will have higher fees to start, but in the long-term, they are more efficient and always cost effective.

 

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Microsoft Plans to Run Data Center on Biogas

November 20, 2012 By

Starting in March 2013 Microsoft has planned to run its Cheyenne, Wyoming data centers from biogas. Biogas for the data centers will be created at local waste management plant.  This will be a testing plant with a small modular demonstration. Microsoft will use the test results from this plant and learn how to implement these on other large data centers; these results will also help company to become less reliant on power.

This plant

is created and maintained with a budget of $5.5 million, investment mainly coming from Microsoft and other financial sources. This plant is capable of creating power up to 300KW.  This plan will help the company to implement other alternative ways to power the rest of its data centers. This plant will use gas created with anaerobic digestion of dry waste + water, this anaerobic gas will power 300KW fuel cell and this fuel cell intern generate power. This power cell will run for 18 months with a close participation from University of Wyoming.

This is how the plant works; Sewage treatment plant will collect all the dry and other waste from house, cattle farms and other sources. These waste will be collected in anaerobic digester, anaerobic digester might contains many biodegradable materials like manure, municipal waste, crops, green waste, biomass, sewage etc. These collected wastes will be treated with water and fermentation process starts. These wastes under goes anaerobic digestion and emits biogas. Biogas mainly contains Hydrogen Sulfide, carbon-di-oxide and Methane. This gas powers the power cells which intern powers the entire plant.

If this plan becomes a success, then this trend will attract all internet companies like Yahoo, Apple, Google, Microsoft, EBay and Google. Microsoft has plans to neutralize its carbon emission by summer 2012. In future Microsoft has plans to collect materials for its digester from wastewater treatment plants, fuel refineries, agricultural farms, landfills sites etc. This is an uneconomical plan to gather all waste and convert it to energy. With all these plans Microsoft hopes to reduce its carbon emission from their data center.

All companies with data centers are aiming to lower their carbon emission associated with it. If this alternate power plant woks well, Microsoft might plan to build micro data centers at other plants. Microsoft has plans to open up mini data centers near water treatment plants. Microsoft has plans to setup this plant within next spring and make it working.

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Data Center Infrastructure Management

November 16, 2012 By

 

Most organizations spend more than 70 percent of their IT budgets on infrastructure such as servers, operating systems, storage and networking. This is required to manage the swift yet uneven pace of growth that is essential to survive in today’s highly competitive environment. When organizations achieve the critical mass, they are often bogged down by the widely varying demands placed on their IT infrastructure.

Even as the investments for hardware and software are tracking downward, the costs of managing and supporting infrastructure are increasing. Server sprawl leads to increased operations and support costs, labor intensive legacy platforms lead to increased administration and support costs, deployment and maintenance of IT systems is costly and consumes too much time and effort and, managing system security and user identity information across enterprise systems can be complex.

Desktop, Server and Device Management

Data centers can manage desktops, mobile devices, and servers as well as deploy patches, operating systems, and applications across the network, asset inventory and proactive monitoring of systems by implementing and managing the Microsoft System Centre Suite.

System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) – The SCCM comprehensively assesses, deploys, and updates servers, client computers, and devices-across physical, virtual, distributed, and mobile environments.

System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) – SCOM uniquely enables data centers to reduce the cost of data center management across server operating systems and hypervisors through a single, familiar and easy to use interface.

Security and Networking

Data centers should guarantee that information and communication are protected from unauthorized access while at the same time provide a mechanism to protect the IT infrastructure from attacks and viruses while preserving access to corporate resources.

Fore Front Endpoint Protection (Anti-Virus) – By allowing a data center to use its existing client management infrastructure, the solution helps reduce ownership costs while providing improved visibility and control over endpoint management and security.

Fore Front Threat Management Gateway (Firewall and Proxy) – The solution reduces the cost and complexity of web security through multiple layers of continuously updated protections that are integrated into a unified, easy to manage gateway.

Fore Front Unified Access Gateway (Firewall, Proxy and SSL VPN) – The solution utilizes a combination of connectivity options, ranging from SSL VPN to Direct Access, as well as built in configurations and policies. This enables the delivery of comprehensive, secure remote access to corporate resources for employees, partners, and vendors on both managed and unmanaged PCs and mobile devices.

Data Protection and Recovery

Organizations require a structured or disciplined backup, storage and restore management solution to protect their data. Disaster Recover Planning – an in-depth analysis of current systems and creation of definitive plans in case of natural or intended disasters.

Virtualization

In today’s highly automated, technology-enabled economy, business capability has become inextricably linked to IT capability. However, IT infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex. The need of the hour is to leverage IT so that

it becomes a more efficient and strategic asset of business.  By consolidating resources through server, client and storage virtualization, organizations can increase their resource utilization from 10%-15% to as much as 80%. Hardware requirements can also be reduced by 10:1 ratio or better. Automated system management and administration at every level in the data center allows greater focus on more strategic planning activities. Moreover, through virtualization, organizations can achieve a reduced deployment time for new IT services by 50% to 70%.

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Innovations in Cloud Computing and Virtualization

November 12, 2012 By

Modern data centers rely heavily on virtualization technology to improve productivity. As a result of the immense pressure on its performance, the technology itself has stepped up and evolved drastically since its inception. Virtualization is a concept wherein a virtual version of a hardware, software, operating system or storage space is created in order to centralize administrative tasks and enhance scalability and performance of the component that has been subjected to virtualization.

Virtualization ensures optimal resource utilization. With the aid of this technology, one can run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single platform/CPU. It’s a perfect example of enhanced multitasking or hierarchical multitasking. In multitasking, you are allowed to run multiple applications on a single operating system, whereas in virtualization, you are simultaneously running several operating systems on a single CPU; on each operating system, you can simultaneously run several applications. This reduces the overhead cost of the data center as you are making full use of the available CPUs, thus bringing down the need for more.

The latest innovation in the virtualization technology is the Converged Network Adapter. It is a server card that is meant to serve the purpose of a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter and Ethernet Network Interface Card in one card. It connects the storage network and the computer network. For companies struggling with complex physical and virtual networking, CNAs are a boon to have. Once the CNA is connected and routed properly, it can pass both TCP/IP networking and storage traffic simultaneously.

The main advantage of CNAs is the reduction in the number of adapters required to connect the servers to the ports.

After understanding the importance and hype around cloud computing, it becomes more or less important to strategically adopt cloud computing into the enterprise. The hype around cloud computing keeps growing as the number of cloud service offerings evolve.

Cloud computing should not just be an alternative to expansion of an enterprise. Maximizing the effects of cloud computing on an enterprise should be on the grounds of being able to leverage the technology to its full capacity. At this stage it is important to understand the needs of an enterprise, and its end-user requirements. There are several strategic plans for the successful adoption of cloud computing.

  • Understanding the requirements and demands of the enterprise, and the end-user
  • Frame the right team of professionals
  • Create a definite strategic plan
  • Deploy the right measures to achieve the objective

Cloud computing services have the obligation to abide by the standards of certain regulatory bodies. They are required to pass all the compliance audits. At the end of the day, all that matters for the successful adoption of cloud computing is a series of right decisions.

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FACTORS OF MEASUREMENT FOR A GREEN DATA CENTER

November 8, 2012 By

 

Managing a data center efficiently is a tough task. After taking the green plunge too, it is necessary that one measures the efficiency of those buildings.  This is because, to be completely efficient one needs to know at what rate does the data center use up the resources provided, what type of byproducts it is generating and most importantly how green it actually is.

Why fix something that is not broken?

People might take all that poking and prodding to find out the efficiency rate to be an exhaustive process.  But data center managers should remember that measuring certain parameters will help them understand their data center better. Based on these measurements, the managers can opt of upgrades and appropriate resources for the data center. It also helps them assess the success and growth rate accurately. It is shocking to find out that despite of its very important nature, many enterprises completely avoid the process. Surveys of more than 1,500 Data Center owners and operators at Datacenter Dynamics conferences in 2008 indicate that fewer than one in three were using Data Center efficiency metric and fewer than half definitely intended to use them in the future.

But what should we measure?

Now that the importance of measuring the efficiency has bee established, one needs to measure the right parameters so that those can aid in quantifying the impact of the various upgrades which are incorporated to make the data center green. Let us look at those pointers and try to understand why measuring them is important:

Power:

The data center runs on power and that’s what makes it the most important resources which needs measuring. Doing so will answer all queries, and will help one figure out the accurate rate of consumption of energy by the IT equipments, the lighting systems and the Cooling center.

It is pertinent to remember that power consumption is the most expensive operational cost of the data center.  If one measures the exact usage rate of this resource, then they will be able to save energy and capital by making necessary improvements.

Footprint:

Here, it means the carbon footprint. As we all know, carbon traps heat and if this is left unchecked, then it can hamper the temperature balance of the data centers. Carbon emission is largely man-made. This factor needs to be checked out because it has a domino effect on the working of a data center. Think about it, increase in temperature means the cooling units would work harder to maintain the temperature of the data center by consuming more power thereby decreasing the overall efficiency.

Battery rooms:

The generators in the battery room which start up in case of a power failure emit a ton of pollutants including gases like nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide. Measuring and keeping a tab on the power consumption of the generators give a clear picture about the data center’s health report.

Hot air emission:

Hot air comes with the territory but a clear pathway is absolutely essential to make sure that it is disposed properly. This is crucial as this hot air, if left unattended would be re-circulated in the data center thereby increasing the temperature. Measuring the efficiency rate of the cooling units will let one gain insights how effectively is the hot air disposed and also will help them make a better decision in case an upgrade is required.

Water intake:

Needless to say, cooling tower requires gallons of water on a monthly basis and the water used also needs to be replaced.  This measurement has not been seriously considered, but it plays a pivotal role towards determining how green the data center is. Removing gallons of water from the local supplies has a huge impact on the environment on the whole and should not be ignored.

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SECURITY OUTAGES IN DATA CENTERS-MEASURES TO STAY PROTECTED

November 5, 2012 By

Recently, some major internet giants like Go Daddy experienced a downfall with customers registering complaints against the leading web host. Investigations revealed that the outage was a result of security breach in their data centers. A group called the hacktivists claimed responsibility for the attack. It was quite clear that hackers want to infiltrate any organization that boasts of a tight invincible security environment. Such treacherous attacks have created a stir in the IT sector, and have even raised questions on the safety of the data stored in these divisions.

Security threats cannot be restricted to only physical infiltrations; the main threat that is hovering over data centers is the cyber attack. Cyber attacks are not something that the IT sector is unaware of, it is just that these platforms are being used by people to voice their agitations and protests.

IT sector and data centers have taken the required measures to combat such attacks. Employees are given suitable training, sophisticated security tools are installed, and every precaution that one can think of is deployed to prevent security breaches in a data center. And then it happens anyway, putting all the efforts into vain. More worse all the data is looted and lost.

A. Pre-requisites: it is always better to keep your employees and staff well aware of the possible threats and breaches. Frame the right guidelines to follow when under such siege. Keep them updated on the counter measures which might sometimes possibly be way ahead of their expertise as technicians, but do not give up. It is possible that the data center staff get overwhelmed with anxiety during a security breach resulting in monetary and data losses. Having a well executable plan of action can save one from all the possible damages.

 

B. Action after attack: In spite of all the precautionary measures, a data center is in danger of losing all its data; prepare a checklist that would come handy, if so, there is another attack.

  • Remain calm and poised: Do not get over excited and jump to the rescue without a prepared plan or succumb to the situation without being able to help. Just remember that yours is not the only company to have come under an attack; they have sailed through it, so will you.
  • Inform the necessary personnel: assuming that you already have a plan of action for such situations, inform the necessary staff members who have been trained to combat such situations. Contemplate and strategize accordingly, and start investigations without a delay.
  • Preserve evidence to identify the criminals: do not shut down the servers after the attack; keep them running as this would help in identifying the perpetrators of crime. Gather as much information as possible that may be critical to an internal or external investigation.
  • Take the help of the law enforcement authorities: make sure to file a case of security breach with the police officials. This would not only aide investigation, but would also avoid conflicts.
  • Document the investigation details: most crucial element of the investigation. Record all the details, document, and preserve for future reference. Make copies of the same to avoid any sort of tampering.
  • Inform the clients: Be honest and inform all the parties affected of the security breach. Consult your legal counterparts on the same; this would save you from lawsuits and fines.
  • Scrutinize your employee’s approach: Take constructive measures to identify every employee’s weakness and strengths. Make sure the plan of action is not erased once the services are restored. Modify your plan of action so that you’ll be better prepared the next time.

C. Conclusion: Prepare yourself for the worst scenario, because your data center could be the next. Planning ahead, you should be prepared to react decisively should a breach occur.

 

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ECO-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING

October 31, 2012 By

With the increased use of internet these days, small and large scale businesses and entrepreneurs have realized the importance of marketing through the web. Internet has become a publicity tool for everyone who needs to make their presence felt. Every nook and corner of the world has access to the internet, and to the services available over it. Hence it becomes important for initial startup firms to have a website of their own, and create a definite position in the big fat web world. After creation of a website with the right content and design, the next step is to choose a source to host this website. This is the most strenuous and laborious task.

A web host has to be selected depending on the user’s requirements. There are a wide variety of web hosting options to choose from with each one trying to grab the attention of potential clients. One can opt for shared hosting, dedicated hosting, or meet the two in the form of VP (virtual private) server hosting. As if this was not enough, there is another hosting option available on the block called ‘Green Hosting’. This is one sustainable trend of hosting that has taken the internet world by a storm.

To define in layman’s terms, all the internet stuff that reaches every desktop, laptops, Tablets, and phones does not exist in outer space. It is getting processed in servers that have been housed in the facilities of the hosting firms. The only obstacle is that these servers are the consumers of a large amount of electricity and resources. The amount of fossil fuels used to power the servers in order to meet the ever growing demands of the internet is infinite. Some data centers and data storage facilities have come under the scanner for their excessive usage of power and other exhaustible resources. Hence some companies are deploying stringent procedures to facilitate eco friendly operations in their centers. Here is a check list that might garner some interest-

Virgin technology: It is a known fact that as server technology improves, operational efficiency also increases. Some companies have adopted a new strategy of using only the new servers. This has been a great move to reduce carbon footprint. Brain Host has been one such company and it states that newer technologies help reduce hot spots, and enable operation of efficient and less polluting servers.

Wind energy- The savior

Some companies have followed and are following a different track. They have not completely abandoned the concept of newer technologies, but have tried to offset their carbon footprint by purchasing wind credits. Green Geeks is one such company.

Companies do not like to run all their servers on wind power alone. Wind energy is one form of energy that largely depends on the geographical conditions of a region. It is a little too inconsistent. Inconsistent energy is not the right choice for centers that house enormous amounts of data. Companies have made a choice by combining the use of both fossil fuels and wind energy. Web hosting companies make use of energy from the existing grids, and then purchase wind credits to offset the fossil fuel energy that they used.

Location at its best: Some companies just take the credit for being situated in the best designed location. All that these companies had to do was to find the right location that best suits their current requirements, and future prospects. Iceland is one such location. The available geothermal and hydroelectric energy accounts for about 100% of all the electricity used.

Of course, green energy is not cheap, but it is definitely a good start towards being eco friendly.

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A NEW RATING SYSTEM TO PREVENT DATA CENTERS FROM OUTAGES

October 30, 2012 By

Data centers have been mauled by outages very frequently over the past few months. Data centers have become the prime targets for defamatory allegations citing erroneous wastage of power and other resources. These unscrupulous outages have affected the likes of Level3, Telecity, Colo4, Amazon, and Equinix to an extent that it resulted in hundreds of businesses going offline. It not only affected the hosting companies but also the other companies that used the data centers for hosting and for connectivity. These are latest in the line of the several outages that have disrupted services in the hosting and colocation firms. If it was the power failure that caused disruptions in Level3 and Telecity, Colo4 experienced problems with the electrical equipments, and NTT felt the jolt with networking issues. In some cases, the situations were so worse that all the physical equipments were damaged. All this ultimately boils down to just one big question which is “Could this all be prevented?”

With the expansion of data centers worldwide and the ever increasing global infrastructure, global outages are also a part and parcel. Statistical reports have shown that most of these outages are the result of human error which can be prevented. Some of the recent high profile outages were caused by failure on the infrastructure side; all of these outages were avoidable. Today there are a large number of systems available that globally classify the infrastructure and resources of a facility and give them a suitable ranking. Unfortunately these ranking systems do not stress on individual and same components. Most of the ranking and evaluation systems rely on the mechanical and electrical infrastructure of a facility. The operations and maintenance which are equally important when compared to the infrastructure facilities. These along with the human error factor contribute to the continuous operation of the data centers.

Beyond the infrastructure layer lies the information technology layer. The perfect combination of these two layers contributes to the success of any organization. All these layers add to the organization’s business continuity and availability. Mere failure estimation and assessment of the mechanical and electrical infrastructure does not address all the variables. It in fact adds to the woes of risk assessment. It is important to primarily understand the levels of a data center, its purpose, capacity, and the type of services provided. Risk assessment procedures for a colocation data center are totally different from the regular hosting facility. A cloud enterprise requires different procedures.

A better understanding of the risk profiles and the fact that all data centers are not equal could have prevented the previous outages. Here is where the four Tier classification of data centers needs to change. These four levels of classification do not seem to fit into the present IT world where all the IT services are delivered through the cloud. With just four levels available to frame the most stringent procedures for a complete fail proof facility, it is necessary to deploy a more comprehensive method to better understand a data center’s resilience.

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