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Cloud

Cloud Computing – Types of Cloud and Services

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has very fast evolved into a basic methodology for building IT structures and services. The number of companies opting for cloud deployment has been rapidly increasing; proving that the cloud isn’t just a technology. However, cloud computing is classified based on cloud location or services offered.

Types of cloud and cloud computing

Image Credits: Mashable

In this article we will take you through the difference the various types of cloud have in them based on the cloud location. You can find the differences in clouds based on services they offer here – IaaS, SaaS, PaaS are the fundamental models of cloud services.

Different Types of Cloud

Public Cloud:

In a Public Cloud, the entire computing infrastructure is provided to the general public by a service provider, who hosts the entire infrastructure. However, there would absolutely be no control over the infrastructure on part of the customer. These service providers are companies which hold data of customers and this data is available for the customers on the Internet.

In a nutshell, customers have no control or rights over the infrastructure location or maintenance. Also since all customers on the public cloud share common infrastructure with limited configuration there are several advantages and disadvantages associated with this public cloud model which will be listed in some other article later on.

Also Read: The Ultimate Cloud Data Security Mantras For Individuals and Businesses

Private Cloud:

In the private cloud model, the infrastructure is all in the hands of one particular organization. The control and visibility that’s lacking in public clouds is with businesses within this cloud model. The private cloud is implemented within the enterprise firewall and can also be remotely located from the enterprise.

Since there is no sharing of infrastructure with others, the security risks are minimal. With a private cloud there’s more security and more expenses.

Also Read: A Personal Private Cloud In Your Home Isn’t A Bad Idea

Hybrid Cloud:

The Hybrid Cloud model is simply the combination of both public and private clouds. Suitable cloud model is utilized based on purpose. Hence costs are reduced without compromising on security. Many organizations follow this trend in hosting critical applications and the relatively less important applications are hosted on the public cloud.

The only downside is in keeping track of all the cloud security platforms and managing them properly for them to communicate with each other effectively.

Also Read: Difference between Cloud Computing and Virtualisation

Also Read: Differences between Managed Cloud and Unmanaged cloud

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Cloud

These are the 5 Best Cloud Storage Services of 2015

cloud storage

Cloud storage has already become an essential part of our present and mobile lives. Services like the Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud etc., have been storing our data on their servers for a while, but which of them suits you the most, is the billion dollar question. So, we present to you some of the best cloud storage services of 2015. The takeaway from this article is that you will understand why these cloud services are on top. But before that here’s appreciating the cloud.

 

Today laptops, smartphones and tablets have all become the basic need of everyone and are hence owned by greater sums of people. The scheme that your data locked away in your desktop hard drive seems quite outdated. Cloud storage has emancipated from these problems, providing access to files we require anytime from anywhere. By these email servers sharing of larger information with others has become easier than ever. By simply sending a link of files stored within the server to your colleagues or friends, they can have immediate access to that information.

 

Dropbox

It is the only cloud storage service which offers services to users from various platforms i.e. Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Blackberry, iOS and Android platform, the only exception is the Windows Phone app which is still elusive. The basic free account provides 2GB of data storage and you can upgrade to the 1TB (Tera Byte) plan with £7.99 per month. Recently, Samsung offered 50GB of free Dropbox storage on purchase of a new handset.

 

Dropbox functions by creating a local folder on your device or PC which syncs with an online version. Immediately after placing the files in the Dropbox folder of your PC, they appear online quickly, and you can also choose the option of making the selected files offline on your tablet or smartphone.  The Dropbox servers are encrypted by 256-bit AES encryption.

 

Google Drive

It is very much similar to OneDrive, which is going to be discussed below. It links iCloud to Apple and Microsoft products. Google Drive is at the center of various online services offered by Google. It provides 15GB of freely available space as soon as you setup your Google account or link to an existing account.

The cloud storage is shared across all these services, like Gmail, Google Calendar, or even YouTube.  Unlike Dropbox and OneDrive, Google Drive doesn’t have any way of adding extra storaging details though any way. Google Drive works similar to most of the cloud storing service solutions, with a local folder on your desktop which is linked to a duplicate cloud version.  The newer version is supported, as is real-time alliance on documents via the Google Docs app. The storage is encrypted in 128-bit AES encryption,

 

OneDrive

OneDrive which is previously called as SkyDrive has most of its functionality similar to that of Dropbox, whose apps are available to Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, naturally Windows phone users. It offers additional 3GB storage when you link OneDrive to your mobile phone’s camera roll, enabling it to automatically backup your photos online.

 

This cloud storage solution also offers 15GB data storage like Google Drive and the referral system is limited to 5GB, which means OneDrive can offer up to 20GB of storage space. There is also a social element to the web version, as popular social networks are available to be linked to your OneDrive account. There’s also a feature which allows you to remotely access files on another Desktop via the OneDrive website. The OneDrive servers are encrypted by 256-bit AES encryption.

 

Apple iCloud

As of October, Apples’s  iCloud has become decidedly  the alternative cloud service people like.This is owing to the expansion of its services allowing you to store any document, even if it wasn’t  crested in an Apple app and that can accessed from PC rather than iOS and OS X devices (PC : iCloud.com or iCloud for windows).

Now it is possible to store any file in iCloud drive and apps like Pages and Numbers can now create their own folders in iCloud drive. By syncing your safari bookmarks across devices, you can see a list of all open web pages on other idevices. The con with this cloud storage is that  there is no app yet for Android, Blackberry or Windows phone. So, it’s not a good option for those who use  tablets or smartphones anything running other than on the iOS. Even with iCloud the there is a AES 128-bit data encryption.

 

Box

This Cloud storage solutions are started in 2005. This is less well known cloud storage because its company’s mainly aims on business sides of market and build up an impressive enterprise reputation. It allows 10GB of cloud storage for every new account, but it has a problem that is, it only allows files sized less than 259MB.

It provides you an option to upgrade to the personal plan by paying £7 per month which allows a storage of 100GB data and it gives you a max file limit of 5GB. The other plan for upgradation i.e.the smart plan is worth £3.5 per month which allows you to store 100GB data and maximum size limitation as 2GB. It has mobile applications for Windows phone, Android, iOS  and Blackberry models whose interface is well designed. The data is encrypted using AES 256-bit encryption.

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Cloud

The Myths Of Cloud Computing Are A Risk To The Market

The Myths Of Cloud Computing Are A Risk To The Market

The Myths Of Cloud Computing Are A Risk To The Market

The cloud is on everyone’s lips , transcending the boundaries of specialized IT environments. It is the result of an increasingly accelerated expansion of the cloud solutions, powered by constant advertising campaigns.

However, just as with everything that becomes popular, that notoriety has also led to frequent errors and confusion when interpreting what cloud computing really means, and to identify their advantages and disadvantages. In many cases it is advertising itself, whose commercial intentions are sometimes well above the offer honest service to potential customers, which leads to misconceptions.

The customer disappointments can lead to mistrust, and ultimately this would be a distraction to the results, progress and innovation. That’s why the analyst firm of Gartner has recently published a report to demystify all those made ​​statements about the cloud , which have contributed so much ambiguity.

The vice president of Gartner, David Mitchell Smith ,stated that ” cloud computing, by its nature, is particularly vulnerable to the risks of myths. It’s about capabilities delivered as a service, with a clear boundary between the service provider and the consumer. From the consumer perspective, ‘cloud’ means ‘where the magic happens’ where implementation details are supposed to be hidden “.

The issue becomes particularly severe on the understanding that by now most have already accepted a formal definition of cloud computing. And nevertheless still many perspectives and opinions that seem bent exist which feed the myths.

Gartner has listed the following ten myths about the cloud :

1. The cloud is becoming cheaper again : This, like most, is a half truth because it is true that in many cases cloud computing saves more and more money, not all prices lower cloud services, as in the case of SaaS (Software as a Service).

2. To be good you have to be in the cloud : Gartner denies that this is necessarily true, as many organizations can get better benefits with other solutions, such as its own data center to a company operating in places with strict data protection laws .

3. Cloud computing should be used for all : Its not at all it! There are applications and workloads that do not benefit of cloud services.

4. Call cloud strategy to what he says CEO : Cloud is a means to an end, not an end in itself; therefore, you must first define the purpose and not the CEO dictates cloud computing as a strategy, nothing more.

5. Believe that you should only have a single strategy cloud : Each type of business objective will be better supported by different cloud models, such as IaaS, PaaS or SaaS , and different types of clouds (public, private or hybrid), which should lead to various strategies.

6. The cloud is less secure than the facilities themselves : As some of the above myths were the “overly positive” type, there are those who give negative ideas and induce fear of customers, as is the case of the latter, based on the idea that accommodates valuable data to third party infrastructure increases the risk for them. It is something that Gartner believes more based on distrust in the facts, since if the cloud provider meets the requirements of security required, the result should be less reliable than using own infrastructure .

7. The cloud is not suitable for mission-critical applications : Although there are cases where this is so, more and more organizations using cloud workloads for mission-critical, and even those that fully utilize the cloud environment entire business; not for nothing that many are “born in the cloud”, and are not just small startups.

8. Cloud = Datacenter : In most cases, the outsourcing of data centers , updating and strategies should not be construed as equivalent to cloud computing strategies.

9. When migrating to cloud are achieved all its features : Since each cloud type has its own characteristics, they are not completely portable, and therefore no benefits.

10. Private Cloud Virtualization : Virtualization is only the first step in developing a private cloud, but then you have to implement solutions with ability to provision resources on demand , adapt to processing needs , and monitor and measure usage .

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Cloud

Here’s What 2015 Has In Store For Storage Virtualization

Storage Virtualization

Virtualization continues to be one of the more reliable ways of effective resource utilization as we enter into 2015. Anyways, 2014 was no exception with IT companies getting into the act and making use of virtualization solutions.

 

It’s obvious that with huge data and applications, raised the overwhelming need for storage systems and storage virtualization is an alternative which could not be resisted. In this article we talk about what exactly Storage Virtualization is and a brief introduction of the world’s best virtualization solution provider, VMware.

 

What Is Storage Virtualization?

Storage virtualization is the apparent mixing of multiple storage devices which then pose as one storage unit which can be managed through a central console. This virtualization, however, is implemented by software applications and many solution providers have emerged with time. The overall essence of Storage Virtualization is not only to create more storage for large scale IT firms and organizations but also to improve reliability and control over data stored.

 

In the world of big data where more and more firms are into collecting, analyzing and even generating loads and loads of data; for the benefits storage virtualization offers, it only could reach greater heights in 2015.

 

This is not the case only with Storage Virtualization; the other types of virtualizations are also more likely to see immense implementations across various firms. With the solution providers like VMware on the raise, the future looks bright for all these virtualization technologies.

 

VMware – The Leading Virtualization Solution Provider

VMware, undoubtedly dominates all the remaining virtualization solution providers with most efficient services in server virtualization and desktop virtualization. Let me put it this way, there aren’t many data centers in the world which prefer other solution providers than VMware; such is the dominance this U.S software company could establish after it was founded in 1998.

 

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Security Web Guides

Network Security 101: The Evolution of Different Firewall Types

firewall types

Network Security, with time, has become a more prominent term to individuals, institutions, and businesses. With the number of attacks from the public networks over private network firewalls increasing, there has always been the necessity to set up stronger and better security systems.

In achieving this, firewalls have gone through quite a lot changes in the recent past. In this article, we show you the evolution of different firewall types which focus merely on providing better ‘security’ to your private networks.

The Different Types Of Firewalls:

#1 Access Control Lists

The ACLs were the basic and the earliest firewalls that ever existed on routers. They are so different compared to any modern day firewalls but the basic idea on which they were built has been carrying forward ever since, i.e. packet filtering.

These are particularly good for scalability and performance but unfortunately, can read nothing more than the packet headers.

As traffic enters, these ACLs screen them based on protocol, source/destination IP Address etc, and permit or deny each individual packet.

#2 Proxy firewalls

The Proxy Firewalls are indeed the most secure types of firewalls. The way a proxy firewall works is different from all the other firewall types.

These firewalls are employed at the application layer of the OSI model. Hence a proxy firewall can also be called the application firewall.

Proxy firewall, just like any other firewall accepts or denies traffic considering each individual packet separately. The reason for heightened security in this type of firewalls there is no direct contact between network systems.

The proxy server manages, or in other words brokers all the connections between the network and the outside world. Thus there’s no harm to a particular network either from a public network or any other wing of the private network.

The added security capabilities mean that these firewalls slow things down. Also their complexity of not allowing more than a few popular network protocols could give us a real headache!

#3 Stateful inspection firewalls

The Stateful Inspection Firewalls are sort of advanced versions of the ACLs. They are also referred to as dynamic packet filtering firewalls.

As opposed to static packet filtering firewalls, these firewalls instead of just checking the headers of packets can also monitor the exact state of all active connections.

These firewalls monitor both the incoming and outgoing packets for a period of time. In the process of tracking the outgoing packets, the required incoming packets are identified and only those packets are allowed through the firewall.

Their ability to prevent port scanning, by keeping the ports closed unless requested by incoming packets adds additional defense.

#4 Unified Threat Management (UTM) Firewalls

These are the best security solutions, where in the firewall is included with an antivirus, data leak prevention, load balancing, anti-spam, VPN etc.

The resultant product is a single console through which the entire complexity is reduced. With an UTM in hand, you can forget about installing all the software separately and then their maintenance.

All you have to do now is understand this one product in detail and that’s all it takes in establishing the entire security system for your private network.

There are disadvantages also though with this approach, where the single point of failure comes in.The Unified Threat Management solutions are also referred to as Next Generation Firewalls.

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PC Guides Web Guides

Understanding The Seven Layer OSI Model In Detail

seven layer OSI model

OSI or Open System Interconnection model represented in seven different layers forms the basic definition for the standard networking framework. Every network today abides by the OSI model, stipulated by International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This method is nothing more than a conceptual framework and has no part to play in the networking process.

The OSI model was created with the primary aim of laying a reference path for all the different product vendors to work on common lines. The seven layers are associated with a particular set of tasks and protocols and are directly linked to each other. In this article, we talk about each of the seven layers of OSI model.

OSIModel

Physical Layer – Layer 1

The physical layer is the lower most layer of the OSI model. This layer is concerned with the hardware and its entire operation is limited to sending and receiving bits (1s and 0s).

The physical layer describes the electrical, mechanical and various functional requirements for undertaking all the communications (i.e. data transfer) between systems.

 

Data Link Layer – Layer 2

The data Link layer is on top of the physical layer and ensures transfer of data between various modules via the physical layer. The encoding of bits while moving down the layers and the decoding while moving up the layered stack to reach the destination is controlled by the data link layer.  Internally this layer is further divided as Media Access Control (MAC) layer and the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer.

 

Network Layer – Layer 3

This layer particularly determines the way in which data is to be sent to recipient devices. This layer knows the addresses of all the neighbor nodes, within the network.

The various operations such as routing and forwarding, addressing, error handling and packet sequencing are taken up at this layer. It is in the network layer, protocols like IP, DHCP, RIP, MARS etc. work.

 

Transport Layer – Layer 4

This layer allows the transparent, lossless, error-free transfer of data. It also has the ability to split the message received from the above layers into smaller units before passing on to the network layer.

Of the various protocols the UDP and the TCP are the most commonly known protocols that work in this layer.

 

Session Layer – Layer 5

The session layer controls all the connections between applications. It establishes, manages and also terminates these connections. Each such connection is called a session and hence the name, session layer.

The common protocols within the session layer include the DNS, SQL, NFS etc.

 

Presentation Layer – Layer 6

This layer translates the data from the lower layers into standard form which the application layer can understand and vice-versa. This layer completely offers translation services and helps the application layer communicate with the other layers below it properly.

The other notable functions that are present within this layer help in data compression and decompression, data encryption and decryption.

 

Application Layer – Layer 7

This is the layer which interacts with the operating systems or applications in computers. This layer is the top most layer of the entire OSI layer model and is probably the more sophisticated one among the lot.

 

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PC Guides PC Hacks Security Web Guides

Computer Security : How To Stay Hidden In A Computer Network

Computer Security : How To Stay Hidden In A Computer Network

Whenever you surf the Internet, you leave pieces of information through which one can track your activities. All this information is recorded by your ISP.

What can we in order to leave no trace at all? One of the options would be browse TOR ( The Onion Router ), a large network of computers that are completely anonymous. But the only risk is that any registered computer in that network can sniff your information.

Another option would be through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) , even here we can not ensure hundred percent security as they have some security flaws , and also payment are too faces.

To overcome this problem, we are introducing a simple and quick way to surf the net by hiding your presence. That is by using the application Hotspot Shield. This program acts as a VPN to mask your IP address, and here we explain how.

Also See: All The Other Means To Hide Your IP Address

Steps To Hide Your Trace By Using Hotspot Shield :

1. Download Hotspot Shield program from their official page here and install it.

2. Once installed it will automatically proceed to the configuration.

Computer Security : How To Stay Hidden In A Computer Network

3. Now you will be directed to the ” Tab Detection Network ” where you can configure the behavior of Hotspot Shield to detect internet connections. By default, the VPN tunnel is activated when you connect to a new or an unknown network, so it is advisable to leave it as same.

4. General Menu, here you can configure some of the common settings like display in notification panel, add as a start up program and many more.

5. To enable protection, just click on connect and begin the process of VPN connection. After a few minutes it goes from yellow to green which confirms everything went well. If you want to stop then just press the red button.

6. To choose the country from which you want to connect, just move on to the main screen where you can set your Virtual location (select the country from which you want to connect). By this you can even access the websites that are restricted in your country keeping your identity safe.

 

After this last step we can extend our VPN where we can navigate without a trace. Hotspot Shield has a free version and also a paid one. Other similar programs for this purpose are Spotflux and TunnelBear.

Also See: How To Find The IP Address Of Your Computer

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Security Tech News Web Guides

The Story Of The Blooming Web Application Firewalls

what is firewall and how it works, web application firewall

We start our year long journey into 2015 with many technological enhancements in the field of Computers. Like any other revolutions of the past, the Information Revolution building up concretely based on the power of Internet is affecting each of our lives, whether we choose to accept or not.

 

The only downside is unlike the Industrial Revolution or the Agricultural Revolution, the Information Revolution is statistically destroying more lives than ever. With every year, there is greater percentage of computers being effected and lots of businesses taking the hit. All this, like we choose to put it is the unavoidable consequence of the Information Technology Development.

 

The Hackers, Crackers, Code Kiddies they are all there out in the wild trying to exploit any vulnerabilities they sense. The innovations in these black hat techniques have strongly brought in the need to develop software and systems with not just a 90 %or 99% efficiency, but also with the ability to foresee impending attacks. One step into building that perfect system is the blooming Web Application Firewalls.

Learn About: What a Firewall Actually Means

So what is an application firewall??

An application firewall sits on top of all the firewalls in the OSI layer, and grants or denies permissions to applications in accessing the operating system. It is way more sophisticated than the other firewalls which merely examine each packet and determine whether to forward it to the destination or not. Apart from doing just that, an application firewall also controls the execution of files.

 

This simply means, even if a hacker could get through the conventional firewalls, his act will be foiled at the application firewall level where any suspicious malicious code will not be executed without the users’ permission.

 

A Web Application Firewall does more than a computer’s application firewall. Generally, a Web Application Firewall is expected to offer extra protection as it has to deal with applications like Apache or WordPress where there’s a lot at stake. The Web Application Firewall achieves it by carefully analyzing all the data which passes through it and by verifying it with pre-set rules.

 

Though the functionality appears a lot similar to that of the application firewall, like mentioned the game is wide open when it comes to dealing with the aforementioned applications and there’s a lot at stake. So, it takes care of both the web users’ internal and public web applications.

 

The future with Web Application Firewalls

With the success rate in getting through complicated security systems is alarmingly increasing, there is a call for businesses to protect their websites from going down and their customers data being compromised.

 

With this primary objective in mind, web application firewalls are being developed to pave off any such unauthorized access and destructive attacks. For this the traditional in-depth inspection of packets is unfortunately not enough. There is a need for the Web Application Firewalls to dig deeper and that too far beyond the code. They need to actually evaluate the code, and check for any flaws just like a human being would.

 

With that in mind, the modern Web Application Firewalls are being deployed with the ability of risk evaluation and the tracking of visitor behavior. This intelligence will help shed any attacks even before they start. Also encompassing the abilities of integrating with other network securities across the internet, the efficiency of these systems will be something to watch out for in the days to come.