General Technologies

Let’s start with a brief history of the evolution of application deployment. Traditional Application Deployment Era: In the traditional environment, organizations used to run applications on physical servers. There was no way to define resource boundaries in a physical server and this caused resource allocation problems. For example, if multiple applications ran on a physical server, there were instances where one application would take up most of the resources, and as a result, the other applications would underperform. A solution for this was to run each application on a different physical server. But this had a problem- it gave rise to many physical servers that were not scalable. As a result, resources were underutilized, and it was expensive for organizations to maintain many  physical servers . This problem gave rise to a solution: Traditional Virtual Machines. Figure 1: Traditional Architecture vs Virtual Architecture Virtualization Era:  Virtu...

In our uber-connected, internet world, threats from various sources continue to endanger our data. To stay secure, cybersecurity is a must-have. As a part of cyber-security series, I will try to explain malware. The initial step towards understanding  cybersecurity  is to understand what is malware? Malware stands for “malicious software.” Malware is basically a computer code that takes advantages of technical flaws in your computer system environment. Malware is often brought into the computer environment without your knowledge when you visit certain websites. These can be both — trusted and untrusted websites. Trusted websites can be overtaken by malware creators whereas untrusted websites are created solely for the purpose of distributing malicious software. Most of the malware is designed to disable and control your computer system, usually for the purpose of stealing money, taking control of your system such as deleting files and stealing passwords, robbing bank...

If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The Internet of Things is about to change it all over again!” — Brendan O’Brien, CEO, Aria Systems. ——————————————————————————————————— Not every technology in the past has been able to seep into our lives seamlessly and create a huge impact on the way our lives work. But there are some technologies, that have been able to do it successfully. For example, technologies like smartphones, internet, iPad, Android systems have definitely changed our lifestyles. Another such technology that has integrated seamlessly into our lives is the Internet of Things(IoT). Let us understand- What is the  Internet of Things(IoT) ? IoT is a very simple concept. All devices connected to the internet is called the internet of things. A few years ago, only smartphones, PCs, laptops could be connected to the internet. But with IoT, many other devices can be connected to the internet too. However, just connecting to the int...

Today, the promise of big data to transform business outcomes is immense. Companies trust big data, to gain key insights and competitive advantage since big data create growth in new and unexpected ways. What is Big Data? Your data is simply data unless it is processed. Big data in simple words, is a large amount of data that has been stored in databases, cloud, and other file storage systems. Webopedia defines big data as a large volume of both structured and unstructured data sets that is difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques. This means that Big Data storage can be structured or unstructured. The collection of both structured and unstructured data in digital format is Big data. What is structured data? As the name suggests, this data storage follows a structure. The structure involves storing files in databases based on structured file formats (e.g. relational databases). This makes them very easy to search. Structured Query La...

In contrast to traditional applications where all components are developed in one piece, some types of applications become easier to build and maintain when they are broken down into smaller pieces that work synchronously. Applications that are built as modular components are easier to understand, test and maintain. Naturally, this makes your organization more agile. Organizations can benefit from time reduction, scalability, and resilience. So, what are  Linux Containers ? Linux Containers are a set of one or more processes that are isolated from the rest of the system. Simply put, Containers are software packaging applications that isolate only those components that are needed for its operation. Containers encapsulate software/service, application, all of its dependencies and a minimal amount of runtime applications that it needs to perform its function. Linux Containers  are therefore very similar to traditional Virtual Machines. But then, How are Linux...

Let’s face the fact: Disasters occur. There can be floods, fires or cyclones. There can even be a cyber attack or a ransomware attack. Organizations can’t afford to be non-operational because of regional power outages, cyber attacks or hardware failures. Every minute applications and systems are down translated into lost revenue. 2015 disaster recovery statistics suggest that downtime lasting for one hour can cost small companies as much as $8,000, mid-size organizations $74,000, and large enterprises $700,000. As IT systems have become increasingly critical to the smooth operation of a company, and arguably the economy as a whole, the importance of ensuring the continued operation of those systems, and their rapid recovery, has increased. For example, of companies that had a major loss of business data, 43% never reopen and 29% close within two years. As a result, preparation for continuation or recovery of systems needs to be taken very seriously. You might not be ab...