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    GreenButton Uses WarpDrive to Speed Cloud File Transfers

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    Ten Factors to Consider When Moving to the Cloud

    When it comes to cloud computing, it’s actually some of the basic things, such as how to efficiently get data in and out of the cloud, that tend to hang up IT organizations more than complex issues, such as data governance.

    To make it easier to move files in and out of the cloud, GreenButton has unfurled GreenButton WarpDrive, which leverages the GridFTP technology, which was developed under the auspices of the Open Grid Forum.

    GreenButton CEO Scott Houston says GridFTP enables a file that needs to be transferred to be broken up into multiple segments that can be sent in parallel. Once sent, the file can then be reconstituted on the receiving end by the cloud service provider.

    Initially available for the Microsoft Azure Cloud, Houston says GreenButton also plans to make this capability available for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud and any cloud service that supports the OpenStack cloud management framework.

    The end goal, says Houston, is to give IT organizations a common facility for transferring files into the cloud regardless of which cloud service provider stores them. As an extension of the suite of tools that GreenButton provides for managing heterogeneous clouds, Houston says GreenButton is making WarpDrive available as a standalone product as a way to introduce customers to a broader range of GreenButton products that give IT organizations control over multiple cloud computing deployments.

    Although many processes exist for moving files into the cloud, the sheer size of many of those files means technologies such as basic FTP are no longer up to the task of transferring a large number of sizable files into the cloud efficiently. As a result, many organizations simply wind up using overnight mail services to ship multi-terabyte drives between sites.

    While it’s still early for hybrid cloud computing to gain actual control over the cloud, it clearly starts with the ability to get files in and out of any cloud at will.

    Mike Vizard
    Mike Vizard
    Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a contributor to publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

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