Cloud options for IT that IT will love [Video]

Bring cloud computing to your datacenter to extend your IT infrastructure while saving big bucks

Credit: meow_meow / Shutterstock

Back in 1991, before the Internet was a big deal, Ohio State University technologist Jerry Martin signalled the nascent Internet’s value with an official standards document entitled “There’s gold in them thar networks!” (RFC1290) Although simmering as an academic tool for years, the Internet had not yet triggered a significant paradigm shift for commercial computing. Martin’s formal proclamation was an early push to business, which eventually embraced Internet commerce wholeheartedly.

Cloud computing promises a similar, if not equivalent, kick in the paradigm, by shifting fundamental IT infrastructure from on-site, hands-on servers, disks, and networks to off-site, ephemeral cycles, bits, and bandwidth. That transition hasn’t happened yet, but many pundits see it as inevitable. The main barrier is the cloud’s unproven reliability — IT is loathe to put all the corporate computational jewels in a vapor-lined basket.

If …