Day: September 13, 2020

Nutanix Launches Kubernetes Platform-as-a-Service for the Multicloud Era

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Karbon Platform Services Provides Managed Offering to Accelerate Container-Based Application Delivery and Operations on Any Cloud

Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in enterprise cloud computing, today announced Karbon Platform Services, a Kubernetes-based multicloud Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) with automated system-managed security, to accelerate the development and deployment of microservices-based apps across any cloud. This offering provides software developers with a turnkey managed services experience, on-premises, in the public cloud, and at the edge, to build and run cloud native applications while enabling them to decouple applications from the underlying infrastructure. It also provides IT operations teams with a simplified and consistent application lifecycle management and security framework. This announcement marks a significant milestone for Nutanix as it looks to expand offerings aimed at accelerating enterprises’ cloud native journeys.

Enterprises, with their sights set on realizing the benefits of digital initiatives, often struggle to unleash the full potential of their software developers and the agile DevOps processes by which they need to operate. Kubernetes, along with its ecosystem of cloud native technologies, continues to rapidly evolve, making it increasingly difficult to implement without extensive technical resources. Furthermore, organizations need to be able to leverage both on-premises and public cloud-based Kubernetes deployments without compromising their ability to manage data, applications, and IT resources simply and effectively.

“IT resources are the engines that power digital enterprises. But as a company scales, adopts hybrid cloud, and manages an increasing number of applications, supporting engineering needs can be challenging for IT,” said Rajiv Mirani, CTO at Nutanix. “With Karbon Platform Services, we aim to simplify application development and orchestration while streamlining the relationship between IT and development teams to support our customers’ DevOps strategies.”

This new cloud native PaaS will help software engineers to streamline application development and orchestration without needing to manage the underlying infrastructure. Karbon Platform Services builds on the core Kubernetes lifecycle management capabilities initially introduced with Karbon as an integrated component of the Nutanix HCI software. This new offering brings automated, system-managed security and multi-tenancy​ to run a wide range of microservices-based applications across multiple cloud infrastructures.

“We were looking for a single PaaS platform that could host our Reflex and Vision Insights on both the edge and in our private cloud, to take advantage of both a distributed architecture as well as support software development and machine training on the public cloud,” said Damien Pasquinelli, CTO at Hardis Group. “Karbon Platform Services delivers the richness of services we need in a PaaS solution, along with the simplicity and ease of management Nutanix is known for — across clouds. Implementing Karbon Platform Services has allowed our Vision Insights development and DevOps teams to go from zero to prototype in less than a quarter of the time it previously took. This software running on Karbon Platform Services is already in production for customers like Schneider Electric, a leading global specialist in energy management and automation.”

Key benefits of Karbon Platform Services include:

  • Rich Managed Services: This PaaS offering enables rapid development and deployment of applications ranging from simple stateful containerized applications to complex web-scale applications by leveraging simple, open abstraction of rich services. Specifically, Karbon Platform Services include:​ managed Kubernetes (K8s-aaS), Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS), serverless Functions, AI, message bus, ingress, service mesh, observability, and security services.
  • SaaS-based Multicloud Operations: Ops teams benefit from simplified operations and uniform application, data, and security lifecycle management, regardless of the underlying cloud, at scale leveraging the SaaS-based infrastructure lifecycle manager. Developers benefit from the rich platform services to write applications once and deploy in the cloud through the SaaS-based application lifecycle manager.
  • Extensible Hybrid PaaS: Karbon Platform Services provides cross-cloud data mobility and hybrid application management through transparent, WAN-optimized data pipelines and extensible data interfaces. This feature gives enterprises the flexibility to bring their own services and leverage the broader Kubernetes ecosystem.
  • Enhanced Security Posture: With Karbon Platform Services, IT operations teams can leverage a consistent security and API model with unified observability for data and applications across cloud. It provides automated, system-managed security with built-in multi-tenancy and role-based access control (RBAC) for the rich services.

Nutanix Karbon Platform Services is now available to customers. For more information, visit here.

In addition to Karbon Platform Services, Nutanix today also announced Calm as a Service [LINK TO BLOG], a hosted version of its application management and orchestration solution to support DevOps teams, which is under development.  

Outside the Four Walls of the Data Centre

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By: Michael Cade, Senior Global Technologist, Veeam

Almost three-quarters of professionals across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region prefer jobs that allow them to work remotely, according to a new survey by job site Bayt.com. The impact of the pandemic is likely to see this trend continue as 90% of respondents said they expect that remote work will increase over the next decade. Now that organizations and employees have seen some of the benefits of remote working, many companies are likely to build more flexible and agile working arrangements into their long-term strategies. For IT departments, the impact of this is huge.

The digital fortress

Formerly, a company’s IT infrastructure was contained within its own four walls. Employees used hardware such as PCs, printers, and phones which remained securely in the office, while software programs and data were stored in on-premises data centres. IT had full control over the performance, maintenance and security of the organisation’s technology stack. Early remote working initiatives were tightly controlled with users connecting to Virtual Private Networks (VPN) so that the only thing that left the data centre was the employee and the limited hardware. Over the VPN, the IT department could maintain visibility of security protocols and maintain administrators’ rights to ensure employees were not installing unapproved, potentially high-risk software.

Along came the cloud, which allowed organisations to scale-up their data storage capacity as well as their ability to back up files to remote locations. However, with the cloud came greater agility and choice for employees. Shadow IT, the phenomenon of employees using applications of their own choosing to store and access company data outside the data centre’s four walls – on personal devices and online accounts – became a challenge to IT departments. Fast-forward to 2020, when at some stages a large number of enterprises in the Middle East have been working remotely, and the four walls of the data centre have fallen as far as many businesses are concerned. Some organisations found themselves supporting remote workers for the first time – many with employees who would not be working from company-issued laptops and smartphones. While figures vary across EMEA, an IBM survey of 2,000 new remote workers in the US found that over half (53%) of were using personal laptops.

From a cybersecurity perspective, this is a critical risk. Previously, the data centre was analogous to a fortress. Everything that went in or out was strictly monitored and the threat from external sources was low. This is why one of the most well-known forms of cyber-attack is a Trojan virus – one that tricks the victim into thinking they are receiving or opening a legitimate file, document, link, effectively inviting in the attacker. Now, not only have the gates of the digital fortress been flung wide open, the people who used to be inside are now distributed. And, every single one represents a possible entry point for a malicious threat. The attack vector hasn’t just increased, it’s exploded.

Increased threat vector

More than half of newly-remote employees were not given new security policies and 45% said they have not received training of how to work from home in a secure manner, according to the study mentioned previously, IT departments often have little to zero visibility of whether or not employees are connecting to the VPN, particularly when employees are using personal devices. Furthermore, personal devices aren’t just being used outside the data centre’s four walls, but in family home environments and shared households. Not only do IT teams have far less control over the apps, websites, content they’re employees are engaging with, there is no guarantee they are the only person using that device. While the organisation might not have visibility of data now being stored and used outside the four walls, it is still ultimately responsible for it.

According to the Veeam 2020 Data Protection Trends Report, the No. 1 challenge that will impact Middle East and African organizations within the next 12 months is cyber threats (31%). Over half (51%) have a “protection gap” between how frequently data is backed-up versus how much data they can afford to lose after an outage.  Given the vastly increased threat vector and risk to data systems in light of the remote working trend, organisations must ensure they have a robust Cloud Data Management strategy in place to ensure data is backed up, protected and recoverable across all devices and applications. Employee best practices and training are vital to this – helping IT teams ensure that users are connected via the VPN and storing company data in secure cloud environments rather than personal accounts or their own desktops. The Veeam report goes on to show that on average, 19% of Middle East and African organizations’ data is not backed up. If data cannot be backed up, it is not protected, and in the event of unplanned downtime or a cyber breach that data will be unrecoverable. Moreover, organisations are adopting Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions in their droves. For example, Microsoft Teams grew from 32 million users to 72 million between March 2019 and April 2020. For businesses using SaaS solutions such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office 365, backups of data need to be conducted on a continuous basis – either on premises or in cloud object storage. This will protect the business against a single point of failure that is outside their control.

As a combination of working from home and from offices becomes increasingly commonplace – even for organisations who previously had little to no track record of supporting remote working – the cyber-attack vector will remain high. It is therefore critical that businesses have a clear strategy for managing data across their cloud and data provisioning. This includes ensuring data is backed up at all times, recoverable in the event of a disaster, outage or cyber-attack, and as protected from external malicious threats as possible.

The Myriad selects Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise for state-of-the-art student accommodation projects in Dubai and Muscat

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Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, a leading provider of communications, networking and cloud solutions tailored to customers’ industries, today announced that The Myriad, a dedicated student housing property developer and operator, has selected ALE to provide converged wired-wireless LAN infrastructure for their modern living communities built for a primarily student population in Dubai and Muscat.

The Myriad Dubai, a wholly owned subsidiary of Strategic Housing Group, is a fully integrated, urban-styled student living community located in the heart of Dubai International Academic City, where over 26,000 students study at 30 universities. Comprising seven blocks with a capacity of 2250 residents, the project is spread over 68,000 square meters and located within walking distance of most universities in Dubai Academic City.

The Myriad Muscat offers accommodations exclusively for young women in the Sultanate of Oman. With a capacity of 2700 residents, the project is spread over 100,000 square meters and located near universities in Al Seeb, Muscat.

The Myriad embodies a world-class student lifestyle and offers a fresh living experience based on in-depth research and analysis of today’s local and global students’ expectations. With students spending more time on the internet for research, homework, assignment submissions, social media, video streaming and gaming, it was important for The Myriad to provide advanced and fast connectivity. Investing in advanced technology to elevate service levels also helps The Myriad stand out in the student housing space.

Haseeb Malik, General Manager – Technologies, Strategic Housing Group

“At The Myriad, we recognize the importance of embracing new technologies to remain competitive. It was crucial to have a solid network foundation and ubiquitous Wi-Fi to offer the very best for our young residents. In addition to their proven technologies that met our needs, we appreciated ALE’s level of engagement throughout all phases of the project, working as a true partner,” explains Haseeb Malik, General Manager – Technologies, Strategic Housing Group.

The Myriad Dubai and The Myriad Muscat deployed a cloud-based converged wired-wireless LAN solution from Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, each comprised of over 70 LAN switches and 1900 wireless access points. In addition, The Myriad Dubai also implemented an ALE Unified Communications solution.

“We aligned with The Myriad’s expectations and provided a simplified, efficient and secure communications and network infrastructure intended to enhance the experience for students and young professionals. The company can also build on the highly scalable infrastructure to meet future needs,” said Rui Silva, Distribution Manager, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise.

ALE has provided The Myriad properties with solutions that are designed to meet the residents’ connectivity expectations at an affordable cost. The switches deployed at both locations, Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch® 6900 Stackable LAN Switches at the core and OmniSwitch 6560 Stackable LAN Switches at the edge, are top-of-the-line, secure and provide easy management. The Alcatel-Lucent OmniVista® 2500 Network Management System provides IT admins with cohesive management and network-wide visibility as well as a full set of tools for converged campus networks. The converged solution is completed with Alcatel-Lucent OmniAccess® Stellar AP1201, AP1201H and AP1251 WLAN Access Points, Alcatel-Lucent OmniPCX® Enterprise Communication Server, and Alcatel-Lucent 8008 Deskphones Cloud Edition SIP.

Post implementation, the unified network offers reliable and secure access whenever and wherever needed, in student rooms or on the move with smart devices. Unique IoT containment technology allows secure, automatic connection of authorized devices, users and applications. The controller-less Wi-Fi architecture enables better performance, high availability and scalability across The Myriad’s premises, while reducing complexity and lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO). In addition, the in-room access points provide four ethernet ports that reduce the amount of cabling required.

To further boost its connectivity and communications strategy, The Myriad has plans to deploy Alcatel-Lucent Rainbow™, the company’s UCaaS platform, in the near future. The cloud-based Rainbow solution will allow The Myriad to integrate real-time communications into its existing business applications and provide residents with a single platform for unified communications and collaboration.

IATA Launches Platform to Improve Visibility on Air Cargo Infrastructure and Capabilities

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The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has launched IATA ONE Source, an online platform which helps the air cargo industry match shipping needs with the availability of infrastructure capabilities and certifications of service providers across the value chain.

This is particularly timely amid the COVID-19 crisis when shippers of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals need accurate information for time- and temperature-sensitive shipments. ONE Source lists the latest operational information on airlines, airports, cargo handling facilities, freight forwarders, ground handlers, shippers, and trucking companies. All critical information contained on ONE Source has been verified by IATA to help ensure its accuracy. IATA ONE Source is free for all service providers across the air cargo supply chain.

“Air cargo has been essential in the global fight against COVID-19, transporting vital equipment and medicines to those who need them most. However, with over 3,500 differently sized cargo handling facilities worldwide, the industry until now has lacked visibility on the capacities and services these facilities can offer. The need for greater transparency is even more critical in the current context. ONE Source addresses this by providing a single reference point for up-to-date infrastructure and certification data, helping save time and keep air cargo moving,” said Glyn Hughes, IATA’s Global Head of Cargo.  

The ONE Source platform offers:

ONE Source is part of the IATA Smart Facility program, an initiative to create transparency in cargo handling services and enhance essential cargo operational capabilities to a consistently higher baseline level across the industry.

For more information or to register, visit http://onesource.iata.org/