File Transfer using Puppet

Installation

Server:

       sudo apt-get install irb libopenssl-ruby libreadline-ruby rdoc ri ruby ruby-dev

       sudo apt-get install puppet puppetmaster

   

Client:    

       sudo apt-get install irb libopenssl-ruby libreadline-ruby rdoc ri ruby ruby-dev

       sudo apt-get install puppet  

Configration

 1)  Both side: server and client

 1.1) Edit: gedit /etc/hosts

Set syntax below:

Server ip:

192.168.10.56  puppetserver.example.com   

Client ip:

192.168.10.14  puppetclient.example.com     

  2) Puppet server

      2.1) Edit puppet.conf:

gedit /etc/puppet/puppet.conf

  

Set syntax below:

       

pluginsync=false

certname = puppetserver.example.com 

(This name will be puppet server name for certificate)

                      

2.2) Create Folder in Puppet:

2.2.1) Step - 1:

make folder in /etc/puppet/ which name is 'files'

At cmd:

mkdir /etc/puppet/files

     

2.2.2) Step - 2:

make folder 'testing' in 'files' folder which will clone at client side

At cmd:

mkdir /etc/puppet/files/testing

    

Copy testing source and paste /etc/puppet/files/testing

At cmd:  

cp  -r / tesing /  /etc/puppet/files/testing

2.3)

Edit  fileserver.conf

gedit etc/puppet/fileserver.conf

Set syntax below :

   

[files]

 path /etc/puppet/files

 allow *

 #  deny *.evil.example.com

 allow 192.168.10.14

[plugins]

 allow *

 #  deny *.evil.example.com

 allow 192.168.10.14

2.4) Create 'site.pp' file in /etc/puppet/manifests/

Add below code :

                  

  class sudo {

   

    file { "/ tesing ":

     mode => "644",

     owner => 'root',

    group => 'root',

        

   ensure => directory,

   recurse => true,

   purge => true,

   force => true,

   

  source => 'puppet:///files/ tesing’

}

}

node puppetclient {

    include sudo

} 

Restart puppetserver

cmd:  /etc/init.d/puppetmaster restart

  

3) Puppet client

      

3.1) Edit puppet.conf

gedit /etc/puppet/puppet.conf

Set syntax as given below:

certname = puppetclient.example.com

(This name is puppet client name for certificate)

server = puppetserver.example.com

runinterval = 60  

            

3.2) Restart puppet

cmd:  /etc/init.d/puppet restart          

4) Connect server and client

Client side

As a command, for certificate request:

puppetd --server  puppetserver.example.com  --waitforcert 60 –test

  

(You should see the following message.)
err: No certificate; running with reduced functionality.

info: Creating a new certificate request for pclient.example.con
info: Requesting certificate
warning: peer certificate won’t be verified in this SSL session
notice: Did not receive certificate

Server side

Use command as shown below:

puppetca --list

Then Display client request like below:

puppetclient.example.com

          

Then sign the certificate.

To sign the certificate, use below command 

puppetca –sign puppetclient.example.com

Signed puppetclient.example.com
                            

If everything went OK you should see this message on puppetclient.

info: Requesting certificate
warning: peer certificate won’t be verified in this SSL session
notice: Ignoring –listen on onetime run

info: Caching configuration at /etc/puppet/localconfig.yaml
notice: Starting configuration run
notice: //puppetclient/test_class/File[/tmp/testfile]/ensure: created
info: Creating state file /var/lib/puppet/state/state.yaml
notice: Finished configuration run in 0.11 seconds

if everything is ok, client have folder named liferay-tomcat in filesystem.

5) If any problem to verify certificate, use below command

find /var/lib/puppet -type f -print0 |xargs -0r rm

restart client and send request by going again to step (4).     

Happy To Announce My Another Book - DynamoDB Applied Design Patterns

About This Book

Create, design, and manage databases in DynamoDB

Immerse yourself in DynamoDB design examples and user cases, be it for new users or expert ones

Perform sharding and modeling, to give your applications the low cost NoSQL edge

Who This Book Is For

If you are an intermediate to advanced DynamoDB developer looking to learn the best practices associated with efficient data modeling, this book is for you.

In Detail

DynamoDB provides fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability. If you are a developer, you can use DynamoDB to create a database table that can store and retrieve any amount of data, and serve any level of request traffic. DynamoDB automatically spreads the data and traffic across multiple Availability Zones in a Region to provide high built-in availability and data durability. As a database administrator, you can create, scale up or down your request capacity for the DynamoDB table without downtime or performance degradation, and gain visibility into resource utilization and performance metrics.

Designed as a complete solutions guide for AWS DynamoDb, this book is a fully managed proprietary NoSQL database service pattern that is offered by Amazon.com as part of the Amazon Web Services portfolio. You will learn how to create, design, and manage databases in DynamoDB, using the AWS SDKs, APIs as well as the AWS Management Console, followed by designing a browser-based graphical user interface for interacting with the service.

The book will include a significant number of examples that can be used by new users and experts alike. The book begins with a description on the concepts of data model including tables, items, and attributes, primary key, indexes, and design patterns. You will learn to access DynamoDB in the Management Console, command line, and eclipse plugin. You will also gain insights into DynamoDB locals and CLI commands. Furthermore, global and local secondary indexes and its importance in DynamoDB will be looked into. You will then learn how to use Query and Scan operations in DynamoDB tables, along with DynamoDB APIs and their formats. The book ends by covering the best design use cases DynamoDB architectures along with real-time problem statements and their best solutions.

By the end of the book, you will have all that it takes to efficiently use DynamoDB to its utmost capabilities.

Book Details - DynamoDB Applied Design Patterns

ISBN13  9781783551897

Paperback  179 pages

Even you can checkout my other titles on https://www.packtpub.com/books/info/authors/uchit-vyas

Cloud Computing as an Alternative to Super Computers

Cycle Computing Company, which provides technical solutions for high-performance computing (HPC), set a new record. The maximum power of a combined cluster which is based on eight geographically distant data centers by Amazon running on CycleServer exceeds 1.21 Tflops for eighteen hours. Each virtual machine had about 9.3 of a processor core. It seems that the performance of such a cluster could compete with the Japanese supercomputer Helios, it is at 20^th place in the Top 500. However, the Executive Director of Cycle Computing Jason Stowe explains that now we are talking only about overcoming the barrier within the theoretical common performance of all data-centers of Amazon.  To demonstrate more than a quadrillion operations per second on a specialized test programs like Linpack, it requires high speed of data transmission and compute nodes which are physically close to each other. 

However, the purpose of a cluster is not to provide all available power for solving a single task, and ensuring high performance for thousands individual virtual machines, which do not require high-speed connections.

According to the classical evaluation methodology the main cluster of Amazon (EC2) takes "only" 127^th place in the last edition of the list of 500 the fastest supercomputers in the world. It consists of 2 128 8-nuclear CPUs Xeon and demonstrates in Linpack 240 Tflops.

Even with such result cloud computing looks more attractive for most companies and scientific institutions service, such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, than using supercomputer of any classical architecture.

To get an opportunity to download one of such machines with the help of their computing tasks is really difficult. You need to ground their importance and await your turn (it is about six months). Then you need to rewrite your code together with the programmers of the Supercomputer Institute and pay all working days, without reference to the actual amount of computing. Cloud platforms are available immediately; they are easily scaled and are much cheaper.

Mark Thompson (Professor of Chemistry) comments his scientific needs in the high-performance computing to the ArsTechnica magazine (his research team develops new coatings for solar cells in order to make alternative energy more efficient).

Computer simulation of the molecules’ properties of different compounds reduces the time and sum of expenses a lot; it filters out less suitable substances at an early stage without any need of physical work with them.

Thompson’s Group used Schrödinger software package and cloud computing platform. Defining the properties of 250 thousand potential candidates to the role of new cover for solar panel took a week and cost $ 33 000. This work would require 2.3 million hours using traditional approach. In other words, it would be simply impossible.

This post has been initiated by my dear friend Paul Smith who is an experienced writer, and also good at various things. Writing is his hobby. One can see his posts on popular sites and writing essays services. He likes to spend time in the open air.

How Cloud Will Look Like in Future

Cloud computing is turning to be the next big thing that is capable of handling information technology among companies, individuals and most governments. It has become the basic business innovation mechanism that is responsible of bringing significant improvements to businesses that rely on information technology. Businesses utilizing cloud computing aim at improving their profits, overall success and scalability. Due to the radical changes affecting technological departments, it is expected that cloud computing is likely to take a different direction in a bid to effectively serve businesses.

Enhanced democratization of technology

Currently, cloud computing allows individual computer users to collaborate with everyone else in the virtual computing world. Future trends are expected to simplify these trends more by allowing people with little IT knowledge handle their duties effectively using special programs designed to control all the activities. Connection speeds to the cyberspace world are expected to be enhanced through introduction of cloud computing on similar computing devices. It should become very easier to access information from any institution you desire to collaborate with unlike it is now. Some of the expected technological advancements may appear technical and only applicable in scientific fiction movies but will certainly become reality at their ripe time.

High expectations among employees

Since technology will aim at simplifying everything in the business perspective, there will certainly be a rise in the type of employees that will come about. The future of cloud computing perceives the development of a different type of employees commonly refereed to as Millennials. They have extraordinary expectations about what they can achieve for their organizations. The regular cultural parameters will no longer constrain their performance. Extra characteristics such as cooperation and talent will be a major determining factor on the level of success a business attains.

Input vs output ratio

Operation in most organizations is based upon some form of agility. This is partly occasioned by the radically changes affecting our economy. The rising economy demands that business operations be handled with uttermost care. A careful analysis of every business operation is required in order to determine how they could be enhanced. An efficient business should be capable of delivering more than the input incurred by the operators. The only way to achieve these is by making use of stronger cloud computing platforms.

More economical growth

Economic constraints have been the major hindering factor in the adoption of cloud computing platforms in most businesses. This is the reason why the economy has performed poorly for a very long time. Many people safeguard their investments in traditional industries that risk the value of investments. Cloud computing is capable of creating a new generation of virtual economic powerhouses that will shift wealth acquisition from traditional industries to global markets that provide an enhanced market industry for the sale of products. The world is expected to be a better place with such quality marketing.

There is a general push for adoption of cloud computing by most businesses. Cloud computing comes in different types and choosing the appropriate can at times be a complex process. Future trends are expected to come with hybrid systems that are likely to be cheaper to handle and migrate to. Hybrid systems will balance a range of requirements covered in individual systems.

Why Vertical and Horizontal Integration of Business Technology is Imperative?

Technology is arguably the tool that has enabled global business to reach the level it’s at today. We as a population have created devices, applications and networks that present nearly limitless potential when it comes to providing products and services. Communication within business is at a place it’s never been before.

However, our economy is also competitive, with each entity vying to gain traction on the next. Most successful businesses have state of the art technology, so it’s not a matter of who has what, but how they utilize those resources to be successful in a particular market niche.

It all boils down to how well a company integrates technology both horizontally and vertically throughout its structure. The more multidimensional an employee base is with regards to technology utilization, the better off the company will be in this society. From there, people can do their jobs most effectively and better help the customer receive and enjoy the offered product or service.

Below are the ways that widespread knowledge of a company’s technology amongst employees can help a business, and how tech influences operations overall.

Customer communication

Technology helps businesses communicate with customers and create transparency. In today’s world people want to know how a business is doing things, why they’re doing them that way and how quickly they’re executing. This creates a natural demand for technology that enables all business areas to communicate with the customers and partners being dealt with on the front line.

If employees in the financial department of a large corporation understand when the batch processing in the data center happens each week, they can better explain billing delays and similar situations to customers. The same goes for all departments across any company. If one business sector understands the technology in another unit, the efficiency of that particular frontline in their experiences with customers and each other will go much more smoothly.

Capability of operations

Technology is the oil that has made operations across the international economy run so well, and it’s no different on a micro level within a business. The more an employee base knows about technology, both vertically and horizontally across a company, the better they understand the operation as a whole. A team is best when all players know each other’s skillset, and the same goes for a business. If the marketing department understands what software development projects the IT professionals work on each day, everything makes more sense.

Business atmosphere

Technology integrated at all levels of a business creates an atmosphere that’s just better for everyone. If business executives in the headquarters can communicate instantaneously with the factory supplier two states away, clarity is inherently a priority in business procedure and people are more comfortable with one another. It used to be sufficient for a representative to speak and communicate for an entire department, but it really doesn’t work that way anymore. All touch points of a business need to relate to one another to create a forum-type atmosphere. Technology does this.

Most thriving businesses have technology, but it’s what they do with it that separates them and creates something special. The more intricately a company’s tech is orientated throughout the business model, the greater success it will find in this marketplace.

Company Communities – Bringing a Breath of Fresh Air to Corporate Communication

Business organizations these days are constantly striving to build a transparent and pervasive network for all their employees in order to facilitate better corporate communication. Keeping this challenge under consideration, cloud software juggernaut Salesforce recently showcased an ingenious new product called Company Communities that is designed to overcome the one-dimensional, limited nature of corporate intranets.

It aims to bring a much-needed personalized experience by putting a strong emphasis on the mobile and social features of corporate communication models.Salesforce hopes these features will encourage and enthrall employees in their work. Just like smoking Saffire Vapor from your e-cigs is a much healthier option than smoking cigarettes, Company Communities promises to deliver exactly the same kind of efficient functionality for your corporate communication platform.

How Company Communities Is Better Than Your Corporate Intranet

Recent research studies have shown that nearly 80% of employees in major organizations get their own mobile device for work, and 68% of them are actively using it for social purposes in the workforce. Hence, the demand for corporate mobile apps has drastically shot up, since employees feel their work efficiency is maximized with the help of these tools.

Company Communities is aimed particularly at businesses that heavily invest in corporate intranet services, but are held back due to the poor participation levels of their employees. It takes a departure from the mundane and highly formal corporate communication model and engages employees on the social front. This is accomplished with the help of a diverse set of Android, iOS and Windows apps that are tailor-made to give your network of employees the best possible social interaction platform.

Many cloud experts and established Salesforce customers have called Corporate Communities a deeper extension of its popular enterprise-networking platform, known as Chatter.Company Communities does indeed capture the essence of Chatter; however, it takes its service to a whole another level with the help of a nifty set of tools that helps you accomplish the following tasks with great finesse:

·     Efficient Distribution of Content – Your employees can now publish, review, approve and upgrade content they intend to share with certain co-workers according to their organizational roles.

·     Engaging Experts – The provision of a social profile for all employees ensures that anyone can easily interact and seek information from other employees whose field of expertise matches with the content required.

·     Proficient Teamwork – Corporate Communities allows all employees to conveniently access and share content as well as obtain suitable advice on it. It facilitates better collaboration on work projects and helps you assign them to the right experts in your organization.

·     A Rich World of Apps –Salesforce provides access to a strong suit of corporate apps as well as third-party tools that can easily be downloaded by employees to cater to their specific work requirements.

My best friend Michelle is a blogger and freelancer. She’s written about almost every topic under the sun, and loves constantly learning about new subjects and industries while she’s writing. In her spare time she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs. 

Data Recovery and Cloud Hosting

Recovering data in a cloud environment may be new to those who have recently made the switch to cloud computing.  Because more and more organizations are migrating to the cloud, it is important to understand how to recover data in an event that any data is lost due to a security incident.  There are a number of methods to go about recovering data, and understanding each method is the first step in knowing what to do in case you have a security problem.  Below are three methods of data recovering as it pertains to cloud hosting.

Replication

Replicating data is one of the simplest and most relied on form of backing up data.  When you replicate data, you are simply placing your data on another system.  Doing this will give you backup data should anything be lost on one system.  Although this is one of the most popular methods of backing up data, it doesn’t necessarily translate to 100% of your data being able to be recovered.  Some data may be lost.  Talk to a cloud computing professional about what you can do to protect yourself using this particular method.

                                         

Outsourcing

Many organizations will elect to outsource their disaster recovery to a managed service provider.  There is obviously a cost associated with this method, but managed service providers are equipped to handle data recovery.  There is a great peace of mind knowing your data can be recovered from professionals that focus primarily on this task.  If you make the decision to go this route, make certain you understand the timeframe it generally takes to recover data from the managed service provider you are considering. 

Restore from Backup

There is an automated process of backing up data to the cloud that can be taken advantage of.  This particular method is relatively safe and inexpensive, but backing up the data can take hours depending on what was lost.  If you consider this method, talk to a cloud computing expert about the differences between interval backups and synced backups.  Each is different types of backup solutions with pros and cons to consider.

Regardless of what method you choose any route you decide to take a wise choice.  You want to make sure you backup your data and understanding what your options are is a great first step at making the right decision for your business. 

Maintaining a Safe Cloud Computing Environment

One of the most popular misconceptions about cloud computing is that data on the cloud is not safe and secure.  Although no storage data is 100% safe, regardless of platform being used, cloud computing has proven to be just as effective, if not more, than traditional hosting when it comes to security.  As long as there are people making every attempt to hack into systems to obtain information, there will always be a focus on security, rightfully so.  If you are considering using the cloud to store your data, we provide a handful of tips for maintaining a safe cloud environment.

Use Email Wisely

Email is a fantastic tool to communicate, but it is also a focal point for those looking to hack into systems and obtain sensitive information.  If you need to relay a username and/or password to another person, avoid using email.  Simply call the person and let them know what that information is.  Emailing sensitive information out such as usernames and passwords is a great way to have your information compromised.

Be Clever

You would be surprised just how many people choose “password” as their security password.  Be clever when it comes to accessing your information.  Create passwords that are unique.  Also, when it comes to security questions and answers, think outside of the box.  Don’t answer the question of “what is your favorite color?” with “blue”.  Instead, use another name such as “football”.  An unrelated response can tighten your security measures considerably.

Be Aware

A simple way for someone to steal your information is to simply look over your shoulder.  If you are logging in from a remote location, be aware of what and who is around you.  Avoid any high traffic areas and try to do work with your back against a wall.  This can help reduce the chances of your information being stolen.

Cloud computing is safe and reliable.  However you want to make sure you don’t leave yourself open to having your data stolen and following the tips above will help.  Before you make any computing decision, be sure to do your research and understand the facts, especially when it comes to cloud computing. 

How physical servers are different from virtual servers?

Most of the hosting network services have two types of offers for dedicated servers of which the first one enables users to order a physical one. As soon as it arrives, it is setup on the racks and its operating system is installed. Now, it is fully available to be accessed remotely. In the second case, the virtual servers come into view wherein the physical layer is abstracted. This type dedicated server enables users to get their very own servers which they can start using immediately. Both these types of dedicated servers have their own advantages which have been highlighted below.

Physical Servers
Users can get physical servers by following some simple steps that include hiring a hardware provider who will install the hardware for the users. The free rack unit will later be located by the technicians who will install the server and connect the cables and power supply. Later, the desired operating system is installed after consulting the user.

Once the operating system and basic diagnostics are ready, the credentials are delivered to the user. This will enable the users to access their server remotely as well as to start installing the softwares that are needed by the user. The hosting provider is responsible only for offering reboots and hardware changes while the overall control of the server lies with the user. Apart from that, they also provide fast connectivity of the network due to which the server runs non-stop without any kind of problems.

Virtual Servers
The virtual dedicated servers or Infrastructure as a service is a way for the users to get their very own machines. In order to get such virtual dedicated servers, the users need to register their account with the hosting service provider and confirm their email and identity. Once the users have registered, the service provider’s control panel will be accessible to them. On the control panel, the users have to click on ‘New VM’ after which they need to select the operating system and wait for some time.

This process will enable the users to get a new virtual machine by accessing it through SSH or VNC. Since the IP address for the system is assigned automatically, the users will be able to start installing the softwares on it. The servers run at all times unless the users turn them off manually so the users will be able to clone, erase, turn back on or even leave the server paused. The users not only have the facility to pay for the usage of the server by hour or capacity but are also able to increase or decrease power and cost between minutes. The usage of this facility is fully based on the user or the application being used. So, the users can choose whether they want this facility to be automated. Click here to know more about virtual private server hosting.

The right tool
There have been lots of advantages of the cloud computing platform but that doesn’t mean that a complete switch-over to the cloud servers should take place. Since, there are times when a physical server needs to be used, it is essential to get a really powerful server that will not cause any kinds of overheads. Many examples of such situations are available wherein a big database server is used for extensive data operations. Similarly, the game servers also handle thousands of users at the same time with ease.

Since, a physical server enables users to know the exact location of the server due to which the server is completely free from any overhead as well as the underlying softwares. The cost-effectiveness of the cloud servers serves as a great advantage for medium or large companies that need to scale. This will ensure that the users are able to easily manage their own private dedicated servers as remote systems. Due to this, the users will be able to check problem by sitting at a virtual console. Most of the changes to the servers can be done by the user which otherwise would be solved only with the help of a technician.

Wrapping it up:
Recently, people have started following a trend wherein they are switching to cloud servers which maybe private or public. Some others also prefer to use virtual servers directly. It is recommended to use virtual servers as they tend to give users more control over the resources. The main difference between both these servers is that physical servers need users to pay even when they aren’t accessing the web server. Conversely, the users need to pay for only those resources that they want to access using the virtual servers.

How To Connect Your Network to the Cloud

1.Welcome to the Cloud!

Cloud computing is a storage utility which is quick, engaging and enlightening. Building a network will be potentially unique to the requirements of a. your company and b. the connection to the user as and when needed.

You may have seen commercial applications such as iCloud and Drop Box providing simple, deployable solutions that work on your desktop, tablet and smartphone.An office based system is not too different to these applications; however the enterprise will want to often integrate its own IP Address Management (IPAM.) to maintain a tight level of control on its own server.

2. What can I expect?

A lot of business applications are now moving to the cloud, it’s a shift from traditional software as the internet has become more acceptable and advanced over the last 10 years.  Cloud computing will simplify the technology and eventuallyoverlap the network, because of its interconnectivity with phones and tablets, and any other further potential computing devices that may come around.

Cloud-based apps are also very quick and easy to set up. Getting them up and running in weeks and costing less than a network or a CRM tool for research, project files, progress charts etc. The cloud app will let you create projects, reports and manage data in a dynamic format, with charts, graphs and plenty of other formats that other CRMs charge much more money to use.

3. Public cloud access networking

Public cloud access networking, such as Oracle CloudWorld, Cloud Pro and vCloud by VM Ware are all examples of internet cloud access.  These cloud providers are able to support virtual private networks (VPNs) for large customers as well. It’s important to note that not all computing providers will support encrypted tunnels, so there will always be a security issue while your information is sent over the open internet. There are drawbacks to encryption as well, because this often delays data trafficking, slowing your transfer speed.

The more recent innovations in cloud computing are making our business applications more mobile and sleeker to collaborate with. As consumers we expect to be able to deal with information in real time, and business applications in the cloud are heading towards that direction now as well.

4. Will cloud computing continue to grow?

The future of cloud computing seems to be positive, with lots of growth, if not a little enterprising and prosperous as well. A new report from Visiongain entitled ‘'World Cloud Computing Market 2013 - 2018' cites the prospect of cloud computing for the years ahead, painting a starry picture for the industry.

Market revenue for Cloud computing services will grow to $35.6 billion by the end of 2013. This worldwide phenomenon in growth is evidence of the success cloud computing has in industry. It is undeniable that cloud computing is changing the business landscape, and is seen by many as the solution to the problems seen in slow deployment of applications, with limited resources and unpredictable system configurations that can occur in existing IT infrastructure.

5. What we do at my company

Working at The Genuine Gemstones Company a company which has brands selling jewellery live on television, we like to be innovative with ideas and embrace new technology. Our brands Gems TV and Rocks TV are televised in the UK and USA respectively to a TV audience who are shopping savvy and fashion-conscious.

Using cloud technology enhances our reach within the company. With many departments reliant on data, it is useful to keep some low key projects on the cloud and store away data in CRM based charts, processing private data used in the operations for day to day usages.

One example is so we can see what our customers like ordering, such as diamond earrings, silver pendants or a bright blue gemstone sapphire ring for example.  Once we can collate this data on the cloud, we can log in on any digital device connected to the internet, analyse the data and create charts instantaneously, making our own all in one CRM for order frequency and filter out variables effectively.

Our team are always working to keep up to speed with the latest technology, as it is in the nature of the business to excel and achieve and grow year on year.

This post is written by my dear friend Edward Meeks, digital marketing executive at The Genuine Gemstones Company

Mining Email Clutter in Salesforce.com

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, has an aversion to email.  At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013, his keynote speech was entitled “How are you connected with your customer, your partners, your employees.  Email?  Those days are over.”   Marc should pick up a copy of this month’s Foreign Affairs and carefully read the article written by Kenneth Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger entitled “The Rise of Big Data”.  Their key insight is that “Large amounts of messy data trumped small amounts of clean data”.

Marc needs to think beyond the current fad of social networking and realize that the next $1 billion of revenue is in making use of big data.   With big data in his pocket, Salesforce.com’s current overblown valuation might actually be sustainable.

Currently, the big data component of customer relationship management is email and voice; two old technologies that make up 99% of customer interaction.  Think about it, what else is there?    Currently, cloud integration technologies exist that can consolidate all voice and email interactions inside a CRM system and make them available for data mining.

Using that mountain of raw and messy data, sales executives can apply data analysis techniques that can unlock patterns in customer behavior and use those trends to monitor and optimize the sales process.  On a simple level, daily sales rep activity can be measured.  How many emails and calls did a sales rep receive; how many emails and calls did he or she send/make?   More specifically, identify those Leads and Opportunities that are hot and those that are cold.  Look for linguistic clues in the email bodies and voice-over-IP transcripts as to why certain deals closed and other deals were lost.    Look at correlations between won deals and email subject lines to determine which phrases led to commercial success.

But to gain the benefits of big data in a CRM system, Salesforce.com needs to adjust its thinking.  Up until now, Salesforce.com has been about a small set of clean data.  Salesforce.com account reps are trained to create FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about email and voice-over-IP clutter.    More importantly, Salesforce.com pricing nudges customers away from big data concepts because storage is limited to absurdly low levels:  Enterprise Edition users get 20 MB of Data Storage, only enough for a few months of email and voice-over-IP data; Unlimited Editions users, which in fairness are used by the majority of major corporations, get enough storage for about 18 months.   Salesforce.com needs to unlock these constraints and give customers the space to import big data and analyze it.

There are two cloud services on the AppExchange that can be used as the foundation for email and voice-over-IP big data in Salesforce.com.  Match My Email offers automated Salesforce Outlook integration.  It is different from the other tools and services on the market because it creates a 100% complete and accurate email log in Salesforce.com with no user intervention.  This comprehensive data is then available for analysis.   Shoretel offers a voice-over-IP integration cloud for Salesforce.com.  The Shoretel service logs every voice interaction to Salesforce.com together with a transcript of the telephone call.  Because it works completely in the cloud like Match My Email and Salesforce.com, it captures every phone call regardless of where it is made – mobile phone or office phone.

Making use of apps such as these, Salesforce users can begin to harness the power of big data on their own, and maybe Salesforce will then move in that direction.

How Easily Hackable Are My Cloud-Stored Files?

Cloud computing, the practice of storing information on networks (usually the Internet) instead of yourdevices, has garnered a significant degree of criticism for being unsafe and easily crackable. However, is data fundamentally less safe when stored outside ofyour computer system?

The Pros and Cons

Storing data in the cloud is an easy and convenient solution to the constant need for more space and instant access to one’s accumulated data. It also keeps things safe in case of hardware failure. A computer is vulnerable to water damage or a cracked hard drive, but when a user’s pictures, videos, emails and other information are stored in the cloud, they are kept safe by the protection of many powerful servers.

Local storage has some advantages too, however. When the files are stored within the device itself, the device is able to access them instantaneously. In contrast, if there is network interference — even if it has nothing to do with the user — retrieving data may be slow or impossible. A UK private investigator, for example, could be cost precious hours in retrieving a criminal’s data simply because of a storm in New York.

Which to Choose?

To examine whether cloud storage is safer than hardware storage, the very term “safer” must be examined. Is password protection enough to be considered “safe,” or must the data actually be encrypted within the storage device? Should the files be accessible from the root user, or must they be completely hidden within the system? Determining what, if anything, can keep malicious users out of a personal machine is more complex than it sounds.

To complicate matters, the tactics used to hack passwords are the same whether the password applies to a cloud system or to a local machine. Dictionary or brute-force attacks can ping thousands of potential passwords at the system per second. If the hacker gets a lucky guess, it’s game over for your private data.

While it may sound like the two are equally matched as far as security, there is an added complication to cloud computing: the fact that data can be intercepted en route. Viruses and malware can hang in an operating system without the owner’s knowledge, silently transmitting data back to its source. Therefore if a personal machine isn’t safe, then neither is anything in the else in the cloud that that machine might connect to.

What to Do to Keep Safe

Whether you choose to entrust the cloud with your personal data or keep it on your own computer, there are a few basic safety tips to practice. Always choose passwords that are hard to crack, such as long strings of random numbers and letters. Removing the vowels of a phrase or substituting in numbers for letters can make this easy.

Additionally, when using the Internet, make sure that any personal data goes to a site with the https:// prefix, instead of http://. This indicates that it is a secure connection.

With the options available to today’s computer users, unlimited data access has never been easier. Just make sure your storage method is safe and takes advantage of these advancements to itsfullest potential.

My dear friend Michelle who wrote this for me is a blogger and freelancer. She’s written about almost every topic under the sun, and loves constantly learning about new subjects and industries while she’s writing. Whenever she’s able to step away from her computer she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs.