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Cloudera Enterprise Reference Architecture

By marketing@site-a.com

PSSC Labs continues to bring innovative compute server and cluster platforms to market. Focusing on specific applications where performance and reliability are critical, highlights PSSC Labs strengths. The Apace Hadoop data framework requires substantial compute and storage capabilities coupled tightly together. Cloudera Enterprise adds layers of unification, security and management.

PSSC Labs is the first manufacturer to design a server platform specifically for Hadoop.

Download our Reference Architecture.

PSSC Labs Featured in Cloud Tech News: Four industries where on-premises infrastructure beats the cloud

By marketing@site-a.com

Cloud computing has fundamentally transformed information technology by offering enterprises an allegedly cheaper, more flexible, and relatively maintenance-free alternative to purchasing their own IT infrastructure. However, despite the mad rush to migrate to the cloud, cloud solutions are not always the best or least expensive choice, particularly in industries that work with very large, complex data sets, perform many intricate mathematical calculations, possess invaluable digital intellectual property, or are subject to certain compliance standards.

Let’s take a look at four industries where in-house IT infrastructure still beats the cloud.

Cybersecurity

In the cybersecurity field, the ability to process extremely large data sets as quickly as possible is crucial, especially as cyber attacks shift away from “lone wolf” one-off hacks and towards highly organized, sophisticated operations carried out by well-trained cyber criminals. IBM estimates that the average organization encounters an average of 200,000 security event alerts each day. An enormous amount of computing power is required to run the SIEM systems that not only detect those anomalies, but also analyze them, separate the false positives from the possible attacks, and deliver actionable information to security analysts – way more power than even the most robust cloud solution could possibly deliver.

In addition to latency problems, the amount of bandwidth consumed would become very expensive, very quickly, making on-premises equipment the most cost-effective solution over time. On-premises cybersecurity hardware also prevents chain-reaction situations where client organizations end up getting hacked because the cloud vendor that their cybersecurity provider was using did.

Adtech

The internet has transformed the way in which consumers and businesses shop. Long buying cycles have been replaced by “just-in-time,” last-minute purchasing decisions, and advertising-weary prospects are using ad blockers, email filters, and DVR fast-forward functions to tune out traditional advertising. To reach these elusive prospects, companies are turning to ad tech, which employs extensive market research and big data analytics to deliver highly targeted marketing messages to qualified prospects at the precise time that they are ready to buy.

The complex data sets and high-level analytics that power the ad tech industry require computing power that is already beyond what any could solution could offer. As the industry matures, ad tech firms will require even more power and more storage space. On-premises equipment can be scaled much more quickly than cloud solutions, and latency problems are avoided.

The ad tech industry also faces intellectual property issues. As Amazon, Google, and other cloud providers enter the market research and ad tech spaces themselves, questions arise as to the safety of digital intellectual property stored on a competing company’s cloud service. Dropbox listed Amazon’s move into the file-sharing space as one of the reasons why it decided to ditch AWS for its own equipment.

Life sciences

The life sciences industry is grappling with a “data avalanche” of clinical results, disease states, scientific studies, and individual patient data, which results in stratospheric cloud bills and latency problems. Because researchers work on limited budgets, simply storing all of this data on the cloud could deplete a project’s funding – and that’s before anything is actually done with it.

Cyber security and compliance issues also come into play due to the sensitive nature of this data. Storing patient data on the cloud may result in an organization running afoul of HIPAA and other privacy regulations if the cloud provider gets hacked, even if the hack turns out to be the provider’s fault.

Finally, on-premises hardware, unlike cloud solutions, keeps running even if the internet is down, which makes on-site equipment a must for scientists who are performing research in remote areas where internet access is spotty.

Design and engineering

Much like cyber security, ad tech, and the life sciences, design and engineering involves performing intricate calculations on very large, complex data sets, as well as running memory-intensive software and generating terabytes of new data every day. A cloud solution would be both wildly expensive and far too slow. In particular, cloud servers offer very poor interdomain communication; a physical server equipped with a high-performance communication architecture such as Intel’s Omni-Path is less expensive than a cloud solution is less expensive and offers low communication latency, low power consumption, and a high throughput.

Design and engineering companies also face a constant threat from digital intellectual property theft; everything from new product prototypes to R&D data could be targeted by competitors, cyber extortionists, or even foreign governments. Digital IP is simply too sensitive to be stored in the cloud, especially since hackers are increasingly targeting cloud providers as the industry grows.

Beyond cloud-first hype, a balanced approach

Despite its drawbacks, cloud computing does have a place in many organizations’ IT ecosystems. Many companies use on-premises equipment to handle standard functions and store highly sensitive data and employ cloud solutions when they require additional capacity or to store less-sensitive data.

Instead of migrating to the cloud because it’s trendy, and “everyone” says it costs less and offers more flexibility than in-house equipment, enterprises should take a step back, consider their individual computing needs, and perform an objective cost analysis.

Source: https://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2017/dec/04/four-industries-where-premises-infrastructure-beats-cloud/

PSSC Labs Announces Big Data Clusters with Certification for Apache Metron

By marketing@site-a.com

Leveraging Hortonwork Data Platform, CloudOOP Rax delivers turn-key, ready to use platform for deployment of cybersecurity solutions

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Nov. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — PSSC Labs, a developer of custom HPC and big data computing solutions, today announced it has certified its CloudOOP Rax cluster for compatibility with Apache Metron.  Leveraging the Hortonworks Data Platform, PSSC Labs can now deliver its signature turnkey, high performance, cost effective CloudOOP Rax platform, preconfigured with Apache Metron. With this new certification, PSSC Labs has created a platform ideal for deployment of cybersecurity solutions.

“Cybersecurity is one of the most important applications for big data platforms, with Apache Metron being a standout framework for cybersecurity solutions,” said Alex Lesser, Vice President of PSSC Labs. “At PSSC Labs, we’ve deployed over 100 petabytes of Hadoop infrastructure, and understand that open source packages like Apache Metron are not easy to configure or get working. By certifying our CloudOOP Rax Clusters for Apache Metron via the Hortonworks Data Platform, we can do both for our customers, delivering a cybersecurity ready big data cluster primed for use on arrival.” 

Benefits of Apache Metron

Apache Metron allows for real-time big data enabled cybersecurity analytics with a tightly integrated solution that provides superior performance. The framework enables a single view of diverse streams of security data, allowing cybersecurity solutions to rapidly detect and respond to emerging threats. The streaming analytics application allows for greater speed, processing and scalability, making it an ideal next-gen solution of security operations centers to perform data analytics and incidence response. It integrates with a variety of open source big data technologies, serving as a centralized tool for monitoring and analysis. 

Built for Big Data and Cybersecurity

PSSC Lab’s CloudOOP Rax is a complete, turn-key Hadoop cluster that is ready to run on delivery. The big data cluster comes with all necessary hardware, software, networking, integrations, as well as support from PSSC Lab’s US-based team of experienced engineers. Each CloudOOP Rax Cluster is customized with the Hadoop distribution of choice, including Cloudera, Hortonworks and MapR. Features include:

  • Hardware with the latest Intel Xeon processor, high speed network backplane
  • CentOS Linux Operating System
  • Optional Hortonworks Data Platform Distribution preconfigured with Apache Metron or Apache Spot cybersecurity package
  • Scalable from 100TB to 10+PB
  • 2x the density and 35% lower power draw for the lowest total cost of ownership on the market

Every CloudOOP Rax Cluster includes a three-year unlimited phone / email support package (additional year support available) with all support provided by our US-based team of experienced engineers. For more information visit https://www.site-a.com/solutions/big-data-cluster/

Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pssc-labs-announces-big-data-clusters-with-certification-for-apache-metron-300558581.html

PSSC Labs Featured in Becker’s Hospital Review: Is cloud computing the best option to handle the life sciences data avalanche?

By marketing@site-a.com

While cloud services are becoming more sophisticated and customizable, they may fall short in handling the “data avalanche” that the life sciences industry is grappling with.

Data sets that are too large and complex for traditional data processing methods to handle are a sticky issue in the sciences, perhaps no more so than in the life sciences industry. From biotechnology to pharmaceuticals to medical device manufacturers, private-sector organizations and research institutions spend their days performing research and development tasks that produce terabytes of raw data gleaned from clinical results, disease states, scientific studies, and individual patient data.

This “data avalanche” must then be sorted, analyzed, and distilled into actionable information so that new medications, biomedical devices, and other products can be developed, refined, tested, and approved for sale as quickly as possible. Because of the gravity of the decisions that depend on this information — human lives are literally at stake – life sciences companies operate under some of the closest scrutiny and strictest regulations in the world.

To cope with the data avalanche and compete in an increasingly hypercompetitive global marketplace, many life sciences organizations are considering cloud computing solutions to increase their data processing power and storage capabilities. However, cloud solutions can often fall short in big data processing capabilities and result in cybersecurity issues, eye-popping monthly bills, and other problems.

Big Data = Big Cloud Bills
Cloud providers are quick to tout the alleged cost savings of using their services over purchasing in-house IT infrastructure. They claim that customers do not have to come up with large capital investments upfront and pay only for what they use, as they go. This works out well for some companies, particularly small start-up firms that are cash-poor and that aren’t dealing with very large data sets or highly complex computations.

However, cloud services such as AWS are notorious for sky-high monthly bills filled with hidden “gotchas,” especially for companies that require a lot of computing power. Deep Value, which develops complex research-driven trading algorithms, decided to run some numbers once their AWS bills began to exceed $70,000/month. In the end, they discovered that using AWS was 380% more expensive than purchasing their own high-performance computing equipment.

In addition to unexpected line items on their monthly invoice, cloud customers can also be hit hard by the indirect costs of performance problems and cyberattacks.

Cloud Performance May Not Be Up to Par
In the life sciences, the reliability and uptime of mission-critical systems are paramount, and a key marketing point of cloud services is the idea that customers don’t have to worry about maintaining their own equipment. Yet as cloud computing grows in popularity, cracks are appearing in its foundation. In February 2017, AWS suffered an outage that was so bad, it couldn’t get into its own systems to communicate with the throngs of customers that were knocked offline – all due to a misconfiguration on the part of an AWS employee.

The cloud doesn’t necessarily beat in-house infrastructure in the performance category, either, especially when processing enormous data sets. Cloud service providers typically run multiple servers in different locations, which can cause very serious latency issues when transferring large data sets and performing the highly complex calculations that life sciences companies run all day long.

The Dark Cloud of Cybersecurity Concerns
Over the past few months, an epidemic of AWS breaches impacted organizations large and small, including Verizon, the Republican National Committee, and a company called Talent Pen that processed job applications containing the personal information of thousands of Americans who held Top Secret security clearances. All of these breaches were due to the affected organizations (or their third-party vendors) not having configured their AWS security settings properly.

Cloud security settings can be very tricky, but even if an organization gets them right, they can still be hacked through no fault of their own. Because so much valuable data from so many different organizations is being migrated to the cloud, data centers have become highly attractive targets for hackers. Financial regulators and the tech industry are so concerned about the possibility of a major attack on AWS that in the wake of the February outage, they sounded the alarm over what they deem an over-reliance on the AWS service by the organizations that form the bedrock of American society, particularly financial companies.

The cloud security risk to life sciences organizations is three pronged: a cyberattack that brings down their cloud could leave them unable to operate; invaluable market research and digital intellectual property could be stolen by competitors or foreign governments; and a hack could mean running afoul of a myriad of government regulations and being hit with millions of dollars of fines and lawsuits.

In-House IT Infrastructure Means Optimum Customization & Control
Finally, cloud services suffer from customization and control issues. When using a cloud service, the ability to make changes is quite limited. Services such as AWS offer a menu of items that fit most organizations’ needs – unless those needs are highly specialized. Organizations that own their own computing equipment have complete control over their data environments and can act quickly to make adjustments or implement new features.

Rather than rushing to migrate to the cloud, certain life sciences organizations might be better served by investing in their own high-performance computing equipment to reduce their costs, improve their cyber security, and make the data avalanche work for them to accelerate innovation. Only a true comparison between the two can shed light on which option works best.

Source: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/is-cloud-computing-the-best-option-to-handle-the-life-sciences-data-avalanche.html

PSSC Labs Named a 10 Best Hadoop Solution Provider Companies to Watch

By marketing@site-a.com

Providers of custom turnkey platforms built specifically for Hadoop recognized in leading industry magazine

LAKE FOREST, Calif., Oct 18, 2017 /PRWEB/ — PSSC Labs, a developer of custom HPC and Big Data computing solutions, today announced it has been named to Insights Success Magazine’s 10 Best Hadoop Solution Provider Companies to Watch. Providing industry leading server platforms engineered specifically for Hadoop, PSSC Labs is a leader in providing turn-key solutions for enterprise Big Data needs.

Hadoop is a constantly evolving and expanding ecosystem that is disrupting the traditional storage and analytics platforms with more flexibility, speed, and reliability – creating an ideal, low cost, and scalable solution for today’s enterprise market. PSSC Labs’ exceptional record of offering the most powerful Hadoop solutions to its customers around the world has earned the company a place on this year’s Best Hadoop Solution Providers list. Editors at Insight Success Magazine analyze companies large and small to find the most unique and disruptive Hadoop solution providers on the market, choosing PSSC Labs as one of its standouts. To view the complete profile visit http://www.insightssuccess.com/pssc-labs-delivering-hand-crafted-hpc-extraordinary-big-data-computing-solutions/.

Designed for Hadoop

PSSC Labs has deployed over 100 petabytes of Hadoop infrastructure, including small POC clusters to production environments exceeding 10 PB. PSSC Labs’ CloudOOP Big Data Server Line is ideal for organizations looking for Hadoop solutions, and ideal for numerous industries including Ad Tech, Healthcare, Telecom, Media & Entertainment, and Cybersecurity. Designed specifically for Hadoop, Kafka, Big Data and edge computing with IOT devices and sensors, the CloudOOP line is engineered for faster data ingestion and processing.

Proven compatible with leading data platforms including Hortonworks, Cloudera and MapR, the line offers enterprises a platform that will significantly lower both capital expenditure and operating expenses while achieving higher data throughput performance. Utilizing PSSC Labs’ specialized server design and unique, customized solutions, the CloudOOP line delivers high performance, high density, flexibility and scalability while reducing overall footprint and power usage. Offering 2x the density, 35% reduction in power use and up to 50% increase in data throughput, the CloudOOP line allows companies to scale their infrastructure while reducing the need for additional network, rack and power components – reducing total cost of ownership.

All CloudOOP server configurations receive service and support from PSSC Labs’ US-based, expert in-house engineers. For more information and configuration options see https://www.site-a.com/servers/big-data-servers/

Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/10/prweb14808617.htm

PSSC Labs Featured in IT Pro Portal: 7 hidden AWS Costs That Could Be Killing Your Budget

By marketing@site-a.com

Is your organization paying what it should for hosting with AWS?

The AWS Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service has many advantages, including easy scalability, pay-for-what-you-use, as-you-go pricing, and an enormous array of options and upgrades – so many that your AWS bill may become quite complicated. Have you been suffering from sticker shock but have no idea which of the literally thousands of line items on your invoice are the culprits? Here are seven hidden AWS costs that could be breaking the bank. 

1. Unused Instances 

Among the biggest contributors to inflated AWS bills are unused or underutilized EC2 instances, which result in your organization paying for resources it is not using. Be sure to terminate all instances as soon as you are finished using them; note that this applies separately, to each world region. Also make sure to monitor your EC2 usage data for low CPU usage, bandwidth, and I/O, which are red flags that may indicate underutilized servers that could be shut down. 

2. Unneeded Orphaned Snapshots 

Terminating an unused or underutilized EC2 instance isn’t enough. Even though the attached EBS volumes are automatically deleted along with the instance, your snapshots will remain stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), and you will continue to be charged monthly for them. Deleting these orphaned snapshots will save as much money as deleting the original EBS volume, so unless you’re certain you’ll need them again to create future EBS volumes, make sure to get rid of them. 

3. Unattached/Unused EBS Volumes 

It’s good practice to delete EBS volumes, except for root volumes, that are not attached to EC2 instances. Not only do these unattached volumes add charges to your AWS bill – whether they are being used or not – but they also pose cyber security risks to any sensitive data stored on them. Even when an EBS volume is attached to an EC2 instance, it’s billed for separately, so make sure to delete volumes you no longer need. Just make sure to back up the data first; once the EBS volume is deleted, the data is lost. 

4. Underutilizing Reserved Instances 

Many AWS users pay as they go and never consider purchasing reserved instances (RIs), which are pre-booked resources and capacity for a one- or three-year term. Because you are committing to pay for all of the hours during your term, your hourly rate is deeply discounted. RIs can save your organization a lot of money – if you actually use all of the time you’ve bought. Calculating your usage that far in advance can be difficult, and if your needs are lower than you anticipated, RIs can be a money pit. If you’ve bought RIs that you have no use for, consider selling them on the AWS Marketplace. 

5. Data Transfer Costs 

Most of the time – but not always – transferring data into EC2 is free, but transferring data out will always cost you. How much you will be charged depends on how much data is being transferred and where it is going, and these costs vary by Region. Moving data across services within the same Region is usually less expensive than moving data across services outside your Region, and some Regions have higher costs than others. To minimize data transfer costs, you must pick the least expensive route for your data to flow through, depending on what it is and where it is going; because of the wide variations in prices, this is easier said than done. 

6. Unused Elastic IP (EIP) Addresses 

EIPs are static different EC2 instances. They allow users to mask an instance or software failure by rapidly remapping the address to another instance in their account. AWS users are allotted one free EIP address with each running EC2 instance, but they are charged hourly if they attach additional EIPs to the same instance. Additionally, users are charged for any EIPs that are not associated with a running instance. As with instances, orphan snapshots, and EBS volumes, you should monitor your account for EIPs you are no longer using. 

7. Unused Elastic Load Balancers (ELBs) 

ELBs, which are commonly put in front of your web servers, automatically distribute incoming application traffic, scale resources to meet traffic demands, and are designed to keep a minimum number of EC2 instances running. You are charged monthly for each ELB, whether you’re using it or not, and per GB transferred. If any of your ELBs are not attached to back-end instances, consider registering instances or deleting them. In a similar vein, if an ELB is not attached to any healthy backend instances, consider troubleshooting the configuration or deleting it. Additionally, before you can terminate an EC2 instance, you must delete any ELBs associated with it. 

Other Hidden Costs 

Other potential “gotcha’s” that could be inflating your AWS bill include unused services started in AWS OpsWorks, unhealthy instances, and fees for excessive API calls. There are also numerous indirect costs associated with AWS and other cloud solutions in the form of performance, reliability, and cyber security problems. Misconfigured AWS servers were at fault for the recent data breaches at business associates of Verizon, the Republican National Committee, and private security firm TigerSwan. In February, numerous large websites were knocked offline due to an error by an employee at AWS, and the tech community recently expressed grave concerns about widespread chaos if AWS were to have another, larger failure, particularly since so many financial institutions rely on it. 

The Cloud Isn’t Always Cheaper 

Despite sticker shock and concerns about these hidden and indirect costs, many organizations continue to grumble and pay their AWS bill due to the misconception that cloud computing is always cheaper and more efficient than purchasing their own IT infrastructure. This is a myth. In many cases, an organization’s monthly AWS bill alone costs more than an in-house solution would. If your organization processes large amounts of data, it would probably be more cost-effective to purchase and maintain your own infrastructure. 

It’s not always necessary or beneficial to abandon the cloud completely. Many organizations would greatly benefit from a hybrid approach, where they use their own infrastructure for certain tasks and utilize cloud solutions when they need additional capacity. 

Don’t feel like you’re locked into paying AWS or another cloud provider forever. If you can’t seem to get your AWS bill down to a reasonable level, purchasing your own equipment is worth looking into. 

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/features/7-hidden-aws-costs-that-could-be-killing-your-budget/