WebSite Malaysia.Net

By ZAM KARIM
bytz@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cloud needs to be federated, automated and most importantly, client-aware, to truly deliver full benefits to its users, according to chipmaker Intel Corp.

These three key elements are part of Intel's Cloud 2015 Vision and will help make cloud-based computing more interoperable, secure and simplified.

According to Intel Technology Asia Pte Ltd's APAC enterprise solution sales director Chak Wong, a "federated" cloud enables enterprises to share data across internal and external Clouds where identity is seamless and interoperability is without question.

An "automated" network will automatically allow the secure movement of applications and resources to significantly improve energy efficiency in datacentres.

The third element - a PC and device-savvy "client-aware" Cloud - represents one of the most significant challenges and in many ways represents the emergence of the intelligent network, he said.

In this instance, the device and the Cloud are optimised to work with each other - the system knows a user's device capabilities and tailors the application, as well as the services, accordingly.

"Technology today dumbs the system down to the common denominator and does not take a user and a specific device's unique features and connectivity options into account, to fully optimise the online experience," he said.

Not a cloud provider

However, everyone needs to be clear on one thing, the semiconductor giant does not sell cloud-computing solutions directly to consumers, Wong said.

"We are providing the building blocks (in CPUs, software tools and silicon technologies) to cloud builders, on which their solutions rely on," he said.

As a step toward its Cloud 2015 Vision, Intel will create software and build new capabilities into Intel Xeon processors, which include features such as Intel Virtualisation Technology and Intel Trusted Execution Technology that form the basis of cloud computing today.

Also, the company has helped to set up the Open Data Center Alliance, a coalition of more than 300 members that lays out future hardware and software requirements that will lead to more open and interoperable cloud and datacentre solutions.

Intel serves as a technical advisor to the alliance.

While the alliance will determine future requirements for cloud infrastructure, the Intel Cloud Builders programme - part of its Cloud 2015 Vision initiative - will help bring these requirements to life with full solutions, according to Wong.

The programme was created with leading cloud independent software vendors, including Canonical, Citrix, Enomaly, Microsoft, Red Hat, and Univa, to come out with cloud reference architectures or "cloud recipes," to ease cloud deployment for service providers, telcos, hosting companies and enterprises.

These recipes act as a starting point to build a cloud environment based on a basic hardware blueprint and today's available cloud management software, he said.

"To date, the programme already offers 25 reference architectures, with another 25 expected to be made available by year end," said Wong.

Intel also pledged to continue working with the industry to develop an effective and open-standards Cloud.

"We are all working together so that the future of Cloud won't be "cloudy," he added.