Cloud storage price war will be more intense

Cloud computing (cloud computing) is a mode of increase, use, and delivery of related services based on the Internet. It usually involves the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources over the Internet.

Organizations in the corporate and public sector have moved from deciding whether to use cloud-based services to making more strategic decisions about how to use cloud computing, for example, how to turn their own infrastructure into an infrastructure that can be used for cloud computing, or Which kind of cloud computing (private cloud or public cloud) suits their needs and how to overcome the challenges of moving from the old infrastructure to the cloud infrastructure.

At the same time, cloud service providers have shifted from providing just SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) types of services to providing more specialized services such as DRaaS , database services (DBaaS), security services, and backup services. Public cloud providers such as Amazon have introduced services for relatively new markets such as data warehousing and big data analytics.

Many cloud service providers such as VMware, Amazon and Google have introduced updated versions of cloud management tools. However, as the cloud matures, 2012 is also a year of new challenges, such as the lack of cloud standards, interoperability and portability. Users call for more standardization, alliances, and automation. In this way, users will avoid vendor lock-in problems.

However, cloud computing security is still a worrying issue. Businesses that already use cloud phones avoid putting sensitive data in the cloud. The eye-catching cloud service interruption incident is still a major concern for people. In 2012, Microsoft's Windows Azure and Amazon AWS EC2 cloud services experienced multiple outages.

2012 was a year in which all similar clouds, such as private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, and open clouds, were in development. Here are 10 major events in the cloud computing field in 2012:

1. European Commission Releases Cloud Strategy Roadmap

The European Commission issued an ambitious cloud strategy. Its goal is to improve and increase the use of cloud computing in the EU. The European Commission said that by 2020, cloud computing will generate about 900 billion euros of revenue in the EU and create 3.8 million jobs. The EU’s total cloud investment will reach 45 billion euros.

2. CW Procurement Guide: On-demand Infrastructure

This 10-page purchasing intelligence assesses the company's needs and points out that the lack of standards hinders the development of the cloud and the development of Microsoft's Windows Azure services. The goal of Windows Azure is to become a cloud operating system.

3. How to make the most of your Windows Azure free trial service

The free trial service of Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud used to be of little significance to IT professionals in the past because it focused on developers and only PaaS functionality. However, as Azure adds IaaS capabilities, IT managers can put every layer of this stack in the cloud during the trial and determine whether the service is right for them before buying.

4. Cloud storage price war intensifies: Azure, AWS and Google all cut prices

With large public cloud providers such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), Google, and Windows Azure downgrading cloud storage prices by 20% to 28%, the cloud will become an ordinary commodity service. This is good news for consumers.

5. Full coverage of the first user conference at Amazon Web Services

With the advent of public cloud applications, the Amazon Web Services Department held its first user and partner conference “AWS re:Invent 2012” in Las Vegas in November 2012. The key points of this meeting are the Amazon Web Services Cloud Strategy, New Cloud Services, Lower S3 Service Prices, How Users Benefit from Using Public Clouds, and What Users Want.

6. The success of G-Cloud depends on the change of supporters and attitudes

Denise McDonagh, head of the government’s government’s government cloud program, points out that public sector supporters must promote the use of government clouds and keep the government’s cloud going. McDonagh said at the 2012 Enterprise Cloud Summit that public sector IT leaders should work hard to eliminate the resistance of applying government clouds.

7. Lack of cloud standards and interoperability hinder cloud applications

Cloud interoperability standards will allow IT departments to migrate applications and workloads back and forth between private and public clouds, migrating from one cloud service to another. However, the lack of established cloud standards and interoperability make it difficult for users to migrate workloads and fully exploit the benefits of cloud computing.

8. SAP Provides Certification for Using Business Suite Software in AWS Cloud Services

SAP has provided certification for Amazon Web Services (AWS) to run its business intelligence applications, giving companies greater flexibility in cost-effective use of this application and infrastructure and standardizing the use of public clouds.

9. Private Cloud Case Study: European Nuclear Research Center Uses OpenStack Private Cloud to Solve Big Data and Low Efficiency Challenges

The European Nuclear Research Center (CERN) manages the Large Hadron Collider. This multinational research experiment aims to find the answer to the basic questions of the universe. The European Nuclear Research Center has found that open source private clouds are the most cost-effective and effective solution to their big data challenges.

10. Hybrid Cloud Case Study: Game Company Sega Reduces Time-to-Market with Hybrid Cloud

Sega combines a private cloud with a public cloud to combine a hybrid cloud infrastructure to help shorten time-to-market and improve scalability during the holiday season. At the same time, the hybrid cloud will help ensure the safety of unreleased games and very sensitive intellectual property.