Tag Archives: Scalable Storage

Mitigating Security Risks in the Cloud

July 1, 2016 Kris Price

Many understand the importance of data and agree that data should be protected in an efficient manner. Companies are also realising that moving essential services to the cloud — from CRM to voice to communications — has many advantages. In order to develop an efficient data protection, storage and transfer protocol, most rely on the cloud. The Cloud based models are more flexible, efficient, scalable, and integrated. These have great potential to save money. On the other hand, careless, unplanned migration to the cloud could bring its own issues and risks, and therefore, a careful well thought after plan is needed before migrating to the cloud.

Data breaches have become a daily global occurrence these days. Leading organisations, associations and groups are facing security threats on a daily basis. So, how do you minimise the chances of data loss or breach?

The cloud enables the users to store data in multiple locations for easy access and restore in case of a disaster. It is very important to have all your security related questions answered from the vendor you are planning to use. Here are some tips for users who want to reduce the risks while moving to the cloud.

Get Answers to your Security Questions:

Get connected with the online representatives and ask the basic security questions. It would be better if you discuss the concerned security matters with the experts and find out if they align with yours. In most cases, the clients ask following questions:

What type of data protection strategies does your company use to avoid data loss?

Is customer support available for 24/7?
What are the modern techniques (feature sets) being used to protect my data?
Any data breach at your company? If so, tell me how you handled it?
Do you have a security checklist template that we can check?

Partnering with a cloud based service provider has added benefits, as the provider has its own experts in house that can monitor up-time, implement security measures, monitor services around the clock, and implement necessary protocols to protect and backup the data.

Always check the proper security facilities and features. This can be done by checking the history of a cloud service provider (for instance, by talking to present and former clients, reading reviews online).

Consider the following four factors to evaluate cloud service providers:

Secure facility for storage: The cloud service provider should provide details about the security of their storage facilities. While digital security is important, security of the actual physical premises and the employees who work there are also very critical.

Preventive activities: As hackers are becoming creative to be successful in breaches to access data, service providers must have security protocols in place to stop potential risks before they actually happen. The cloud service providers should satisfy the client, for instance, by showing that they encrypt the data during its flight and at rest; monitor any risks 24/7; and inform the clients when security is a concern.

Privacy of data: Data stored in the digital data centres should be treated with high degree of security, as they are important for the users. It is required to check how a service provider maintains the privacy of data. All types of materials such as files, folders, video conferencing data, and call recording data should remain safe and secure, with encryption technologies.

Data loss protection:In case of a sudden data loss, the service provider should have an efficient data recovery system to quickly restore the data. Alert systems help in achieving an efficient data recovery.

Managing Data on Mobile Devices in Today’s Mobile World

December 16, 2015 Callum Huddlestone

Consider the statistics on mobile devices! Almost three quarters of your enterprise data is being created in different mobile settings, which include laptops and mobile devices like smartphones. Your employees might be out of the office selling your products, talking to your clients, repairing damaged equipment, digging up roads, attending seminars, or marketing your products. Although, such services of your employees to your company may offer you more competitive advantages, it is important for you to know that these employees may have a limited knowledge Information Technology (IT), and also they are certainly not experts when it comes to IT security. However, your company is putting security services into the hand of such people. Are you really sure you will be able to manage all of the mobile devices in your company, especially, in this mobile crazy world? Don’t you want to make a decisive action give such circumstances?

Cloud computing automates mobile device management and in turn it automates business processes, including businesses at remote sites. Your company can establish a dependable mobile device management system that can offer secure control of your mobile data, applications and devices without compromising the freedom available for the workforce simply by moving over to the cloud based computing services. Cloud services will lead to automatic definition of protocols; and they also enforce steps that help to manage and secure mobile assets, as well as implement answers that pro-actively control, protect mobile objects and enhance competency, client services, and eventually productivity.

For management of mobile devices, cloud computing services are organized with great, dynamic solutions for mobility management. There is reduction in the complexity due to the abstraction of the backup infrastructures and connectivity. The companies will be able to take full advantages of mobility and provide mobility devices with the help of software applications. Simply by reducing connection time, mobile workers that are connected to the cloud can increase facing time of the customer. In addition, they can easily deliver the correct amount of information at the appropriate time on their reliable devices. Just as the desktops in the office are being supported so the mobile devices will also be supported due to the fact that the entire data mobile devices, applications and data will be managed from a single console. The administrator at the head office of enterprise will remain the one to handle security issues.

Top notch cloud based management solutions will respond to the changes in the condition of the device. There are a number of parameters being monitored by the software, and some of them include: files, folders, memory, settings in the registry for the purpose of making changes and backup process triggers. There may be need for launching of precise applications
whenever the users either signs in or logs-out; the information of the user can easily be formed and saved to the core server so as to be able to trace the activity of the user or even when top secret folders and files are written to the external cards or passed on to other devices. Some of the applications that are available for offer with mobile management services that based in the cloud are: Optimization of bandwidth, scheduling, prioritization, management of connection, asset control, remote control, inventory control, license control, application control, and software distributions.

Mobile management tools that are based in the cloud may be of help to your company when it comes to management and protection of mobile devices in the entire company. Enterprise grade cloud solutions are:
• Highly flexible,
• Easily scalable, and
• Quickly measurable.
In short, enterprise grade cloud solutions are are Internet based applications which can easily be configured to the particular needs of your company.

Get Yourself Scalable Storage!

January 5, 2015 Stewart Parkin

If your data is burgeoning and your volumes are becoming unmanageable, it is time to get yourself some scalable storage. Virtualisation, no doubt is a first step, but it is just that—the first step. You need to take the logical next step and move to the cloud.

The cloud is designed to handle unstable workflows. The peaks and troughs in your data flow need no longer bother you. You can scale up your storage when data volumes peak, and scale it down when your data volumes dip, and you need to pay only for what you use! If you pause and consider the implications of this, you will appreciate the flexibility you gain thereby. Your legacy systems never allowed you to enjoy this luxury. They were designed for unchanging workflows and you had to spend hours anticipating the peaks and troughs in workflows and provisioning for the same. You had to maintain redundant resources to ensure that you did not find yourself short when peaks were encountered.

Die-hard fans of legacy systems will be quick to point out that there must be some kind of trade off involved. Perhaps, scalability will be provided at the cost of performance? Well, no. It is the legacy systems that create trade offs with performance. Legacy systems have monolithic controller architectures. When resources are shared, all the applications try to hog the available resources, creating noise and performance dips. If resources are to be dedicated to performance sensitive applications, a management nightmare is in the making. Resources will have to be hard wired to specific applications while other applications are starved for resources. The process can also result in storage fragmentation. Cloud architectures are designed to dedicate and release resources on demand. This results in optimum utilisation of resources and makes the resources available for other applications, as and when the demand is made. Storage fragmentation is never an issue as storage is never fragmented or permanently dedicated to any one application.

Cloud resource scalability extends to security scalability. Data is always encrypted, isolated and in synchronisation with standard security requirements. Comprehensive security can continue to be provided even when hardware resources are scaled up or down. This is in distinct contrast with legacy systems, where security cannot be scaled up or down on demand, and additional security can only be provided if physical resources are added to the data centre.