Hosting/Cloud Index outperforms NASDAQ Nearly 4x

Exactly a year ago, in 2009, I started looking into whether the market for Hosting and Cloud Computing could be measured in the stock market - with my first Blog on the topic. I revisited again in January 2010, and later in February 2010.

I created a number of model portfolios based on leading public hosting companies. The list included: Digital Realty Trust; DuPont Fabros; Equinix; Internap; Iomart; Macquarie Telecom; Navisite; Rackspace; Savvis; Switch & Data; Telecity; Terremark. During 2010, this index has gained 45% to the Nasdaq's 17%

I also created a sub-group of those companies with explicit cloud computing offerings. That included Equinix; Navisite; Rackspace; Savvis; Terremark. During 2010, this sub-index has gained 57% to the Nasdaq's 17%

I'm not surprised by either outcome... Assuming the market doesn't lie because it takes into account valuations and expectations, I draw a few personal conclusions:

• More enterprises are turning to outsourcing their IT. Whether or not it involves cloud computing, I suspect enterprises find it advantageous to hand-over IT (management, or at least co-location) to businesses where this technology is core. It may also indicate the skyrocketing consumption of computing power by enterprises.
• It would appear that hosting firms with Cloud Computing offerings are being valued higher than their counterparts. I haven't looked at cashflows or balance sheets (yet) to determine whether this is actual value, or speculative value.

What's next for 2011?  I'm going to guess more of the same, if not an acceleration as more companies move to outsource non-core IT operations.  I'll also be watching consolidation of data center operators, as recently evidenced by Rackspace acquiring cloudkick, and Cologix acquiring Navisite. 'Guess I'll have to update my portfolio companies...

Rumer Willis became the face of fashion label Badgley Mischka...

Face of the new collection spring-summer 2011 the famous fashion brand Badgley Mischka will Rumer Willis - budding actress, best known as the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis 22-year-old Rumer, according to the founders of the brand Marc Bedgli and James Mishkaperfectly embodies the spirit of the spring collections of Badgley Mischka - and especially the recently introduced line of design duo Youth Mark + James.

The advertising campaign Badgley Mischka, which is scheduled to start March next, in 2011, Rumer Willis, an example not only luxurious evening gowns from the latest collection of brand, but also shoes, accessories and beachwear. While Rumer Willis - rather unexpected choice for the campaign, Badgley Mischka, fashion brand owners previously were other representatives of Hollywood - Olsen sisters, Sharon Stone and Eva Longoria.
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Robyn drew large audiences at the Music Help...

Robyn Just Robyn she is BIG in Music...
Music Help in Sweden raise money for the fight against child trafficking

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IO Virtualization: The “Hypervisor” for Your Infrastructure

An Explosive Technology, But Don't Treat as a Standalone Product
  
More than ever in 2010, IO Virtualization (IOV) has been showing-up in products, written about, spoken about. Because I’ve had a few years’ experience with this technology, I wanted to give a very brief explanation of the concept, and focus more on why it will be increasingly important.
 
In particular, I want to draw an analogy where you should view IOV as a critical enabling feature of future IT Management…  but not as a stand-alone product. Why? It's similar in concept to how the hypervisor is an enabler (but usually not used as a stand-alone product) of data center management services. 

This blog is related to my 2009 installment on Fabric as an IT Enabler.

What is IOV?

Today's Physical Infrastructure

IO Virtualization is an approach whereby physical IO components such as Network Interface Cards (NICs) Host Bus Adaptors (HBAs) and Keyboard/video/Mouse ports (KVM) are reproduced logically rather than physically.  In other words, a physical IO port (Ethernet, Infiniband, PCI, etc.) might logically represent itself to the O/S as different configurations.

Clearly this is convenient because it (a) eliminates multiple costly IO devices that also consume power and installation time. But it’s also convenient because IO – and it’s associated addressing such as IPs, MACs, Worldwide Names, etc. – can be instantly configured with a mouse.


The other consequence of IOV is that a single physical port means a single physical cable.  In essence, a server’s logical IO is consolidated down to a single (physical) converged network which carries data, storage and KVM traffic.   So this means that no matter how many logical IO devices you configure for a server, there is still only a single cable out the back.  So IOV yields the ideal “wire-once” server environment that’s still infinitely re-configurable.

The overall value of IOV becomes clear fast:  Fewer physical IO devices to buy, fewer cables to install, zero re-cabling, fewer physical ports to buy, and instantly re-configurable IO. 

Differing Implementation Approaches

Infrastructure With
IO Virtualization

In brief, there are a few differing approaches to IO virtualization:

• Existing on-board Ethernet with new IO drivers: (e.g. Egenera)
• Converged Networking Adapters (e.g. Qlogic, Emulex)
• Appliances + high-throughput IO devices (e.g. Xsigo)
• Existing physical IO but with address hardware-based mapping/virtualization (e.g. HP VirtualConnect)

Putting IOV in Perspective

You should think of IOV using the following analogy: The way in which the hypervisor abstracts software in the application domain, IOV abstracts IO and networking in the infrastructure domain.  (However, to be clear, IOV is not a software layer as-is the hypervisor)

This analogy leads to a few more observations:

1. Where the hypervisor added software portability in the software domain IOV will do the same for the infrastructure domain.  Higher-order services like HA and consolidation were made possibly by the hypervisor.  Similarly, HA, DR and migration can be accomplished with IOV. And what’s more, a hypervisor is not required for IOV, so you can use IOV with native applications too.
2. The hypervisor used to be the focus, but now it’s merely an enabling feature embedded within higher-level IT management products. Those products leverage the hypervisor to perform tasks such as migration, fail-over and consolidation. You should view IOV similarly: it is an enabling feature that will allow for analogous IO consolidation, migration and fail-over.
3. Where hypervisor implementations and performance used to be hotly-debated, nobody really cares anymore.  Today the real *value* is not in the hypervisor, but in the management tools surrounding it.  Similarly, IOV should be judged less on how it is implemented, and more on the management tools and automation which manage it.

Forrester analyst Galen Schreck made a similar observation recently:

….Aside from benefits like reducing cabling and switch ports, I think the most interesting aspect of virtualized IO is the ability of a physical server's personality to be moved to any other server in the data center. In addition to the underlying network technology, the thing that makes this possible is integrated management of the server and data center fabric. In most cases, this won't be a stand-alone product that you acquire (though you can build your own solution from InfiniBand and PCI Express products on the market). This capability will most likely be an integrated part of whatever server and network environments you select, but now is the time to begin planning how you'll tie it in with the rest of your system management environment.

IO Virtualization in the IT Management Landscape

How might IO virtualization be used as part of the IT ecosystem in an integrated manner?

In much the same way that the hypervisor has since been embedded in tools like VMware’s vCenter, IOV can (and has been) embedded with higher-level management tools.

Taking an example I’m rather familiar with, Egenera’s PAN Manager Software surrounds IOV technology with facilities such as integrated with converged fabric networking, server boot control and storage connectivity.  When used alongside these and other services, IOV enables:

• Server High Availability– In the case of hardware failure, a server’s infrastructure state (IO addressing, storage naming, network topology and workload) can be re-instantiated on another bare-metal server. This provides a ‘universal’ style of failover that doesn’t require clustering software. And what’s more, the failed-over server workload could be a native OS, or a VM host.  IOV is agnostic to the workload!
• Disaster Recovery – expanding on the example above, if an entire domain of servers fails, the entire group of server IO states, networking states, etc. can be recovered onto another domain (assuming shared/replicated storage).  This approach to DR is elegant because it fails-over not just workloads but  the entire logical server/environment configuration as well.
• Scaling-Out – where a series of server profiles can be instantly replicated into an instant cluster. Workloads, NICs, HBAs, networking addressing and storage connections (complete with fabric-based load balancing) can all be cloned… starting with the IO and networking profiles, made possible through IOV.

In future blogs I’ll dive more deeply into how software-based IOV operates as part of the IT management ecosystem, and why it is a popular approach because of its cross-platform compatibility in a heterogeneous data center.

Katy Perry & Marissa Miller... VH1 Divas Salute The Troops Concert

Katy Perry was one of the performers along with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Nicki Minaj, Sugarland, Keri Hilson and Paramore. Kathy Griffin hosted the event, which included other performances at Army bases around the world.

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SNSD from W Korea...

SNSD From Korea.

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Kanye West at New Yorkers For Children Wrap To Rap Benefit...

Kanye West & Selita Ebanks at New Yorkers For Children Wrap To Rap Benefit
Victoria’s Secret model Selita Ebanks and Kanye West wrap Christmas presents at the New Yorkers for Children Wrap to Rap benefit at The Ainsworth on November 30, 2010 in New York City.

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Nicole Scherzinger launches sports Reebok’s new energy...

Nicole Scherzinger launches sports Reebok’s new energy boosting trainer ‘ZigTech’ at Westfield on November 29, 2010 in London, England.

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Alx Rose Suing Guitr Hero III....

Axl Rose really hates former band mate Slash apparently. When he signed on Guns And Roses to be made into Guitar Hero he added a condition that Slash or Velvet Revolver will NOT be made into Guitar Hero.

He is suing Activision the makers of the game 20 million for violating a deal to not include imagery of Slash or his band Velvet Revolver in ‘Guitar Hero III.’

“[Activision] began spinning a web of lies and deception to conceal its true intentions to not only feature Slash and [Velvet Revolver] prominently in ‘GH III’ but also promote the game by emphasizing and reinforcing an association between Slash and Guns N’ Roses and the band’s song ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’” the complaint stated.

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Kate Perry The Fight Before Chritsmas...

Kate Perry she is in a promo photoshoot for her upcoming episode on The Simpsons And appears in a live-action segment with puppets of the Simpsons.

Season 22, Episode 8: “The Fight Before Christmas” will air in the US on Sunday December 5 at 8pm on FOX and is an edgy, dysfunctional Christmas with the Simpsons featuring some disturbing twists.

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Lindsay Lohan Has A Reason To Smile On Thanksgiving Day...

Lindsay Lohan will be able to spend Thanksgiving with her dad. According to reports she will be free for a period of 15 hours.

She has been granted the permission to visit her family and friends in Los Angeles, a 2 hour drive from Betty Ford, the rehab center where she has been spending her time.

Lindsey Lohan will make the 2-hour journey to L. A early in the morning and will have to be back in the rehab center by late night, in order to ensure that she remains sober.
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Paris Hilton paints a wall at the heels...

I remember, Naomi Campbell (Naomi Campbell) was to serve his sentence for assaulting her maid in an evening gown - Supermodel soap toilets and floors of public institutions, with full military parade.

Paris Hilton



Paris Hilton

 She followed suit and socialite Paris Hilton (Paris Hilton), the other day which started public works in Hollywood.

Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton

On the first day blonde painted the walls of high heels and bemoaned the fact that the paint ruined her hair.
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Ozzy Osbourne The Prince of Darkness...

Ozzy Osbourne The Prince of Darkness is in Montreal tonight and he signed a few autographs for fans outside his hotel, just before going to the Bell Centre to show off! He finally left the St. James Hotel in Black Cadillac.

Ozzy Osbourne Fan

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American Music Awards Whit Miley Cyrus, Kelly Osbourne,Rihanna, And Pink...

Rihanna and Pink were present in the American Music Awards It was not just for his auburn curls that Rihanna has drawn attention on Sunday evening, 21. The singer showed up with very little clothing at the American Music Awards.

Rihanna, who sang the song "What's My Name?" was one of the musical attractions of the premium names in music gathered in Los Angeles, USA.

Rihanna performs with very little clothes on.

Four months pregnant, Pink squandered energy during their performance of the song "Raise Your Glass," the singer was accompanied by her husband, the biker Carey Hart.

Miley Cyrus wore a white dress with a short one enormous tail. Singer Rihanna and Kelly Osbourne were also at American Music Awards, held on Sunday 21 in Los Angeles, USA.

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Wesly Snipes has been ordered to start serving a three-year prison sentence for not filing his tax returns...

Wesley was initially convicted and sentenced back in 2008.

Wesley Snipes

A federal judge rejected the 48-year-old actor’s wish for a new trial on Friday (November 19), saying he “had a fair trial” and that “the time has come for the judgment to be enforced.”

“Wesley is very disappointed but staying strong and positive,” his lawyer Daniel Meachum told the Orlando Sentinel.

It’s unclear when or where Wesley will start serving the sentence.
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Wanessa want to be the new "Gay Diva"....

Wanessa has done shows in gay clubs in Braziland at parties like in Balla Mixta in Sao Paulo and new launches a completely sound Dance...

     
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Kelly Osbourne's Is a beautiful lead pass to his generation...

Kelly Osbourne´s sexy body in a beautiful bikini as she has long sought out Kelly you are a nice lead pass, you get all the young to realize that they believe in themselves, then they can also get it if they set clear goals.

Kelly Osbourne ENews

Kelly Osbourne ENews

Kelly Osbourne ENews

Kelly Osbourne ENews

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Sebastian Bach Bites Bar Owner, Gets Arrested...

Sebastian Bach was arrested in Ontario, Canada this morning, for smashing a wineglass at a bar door and then biting the bar’s owner.

Sebastian Bach Fupark Celebrity

He was reportedly angry that he was asked to leave the establishment during a dispute. When police arrived, they found two grams of pot, so he was arrested for assault, possession of marijuana and mischief.