#explain any two benefits of cloud computing

[manishsharma7217]

Top France cloud server at best price

As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, I don't have real-time information on specific cloud service providers or their current pricing. Cloud server prices can vary based on factors such as the provider, the type of server (e.g., virtual private server, dedicated server), the amount of resources (CPU, RAM, storage) you require, and any additional services or features.

However, some well-known cloud service providers that offer cloud servers and have a presence in France include:

Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS is a leading global cloud platform with data centers in multiple regions, including France (Paris). They offer a wide range of cloud services, including virtual servers through Amazon EC2.

Microsoft Azure: Azure is Microsoft's cloud computing platform, and it provides a variety of services, including virtual machines, storage, and more. Azure has data centers in various regions, including France Cloud Server.

Google Cloud Platform (GCP): GCP is Google's cloud offering with services such as Compute Engine for virtual machines. GCP also has data centers in multiple regions, including Europe.

OVHcloud: OVHcloud is a European cloud provider with a strong presence in France. They offer a range of cloud services, including virtual private servers, dedicated servers, and more.

Scaleway: Scaleway is a cloud provider based in France, offering a variety of cloud services, including virtual instances, object storage, and more.

When looking for the "best price," it's important to consider your specific requirements, including the resources you need, the level of support required, and any additional features. Additionally, cloud providers often have pricing calculators on their websites that allow you to estimate the cost based on your usage patterns.

Keep in mind that the cloud computing landscape can change, and new providers or pricing models may emerge. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, it's recommended to visit the official websites of the providers mentioned above or other reputable cloud service providers that operate in the French region.

[allaboutkeyingo]

SQL Server 2022 Edition and License instructions

SQL Server 2022 Editions:

• Enterprise Edition is ideal for applications requiring mission critical in-memory performance, security, and high availability

• Standard Edition delivers fully featured database capabilities for mid-tier applications and data marts

SQL Server 2022 is also available in free Developer and Express editions. Web Edition is offered in the Services Provider License Agreement (SPLA) program only.

And the Online Store Keyingo Provides the SQL Server 2017/2019/2022 Standard Edition.

SQL Server 2022 licensing models 

SQL Server 2022 offers customers a variety of licensing options aligned with how customers typically purchase specific workloads. There are two main licensing models that apply to SQL Server:  PER CORE: Gives customers a more precise measure of computing power and a more consistent licensing metric, regardless of whether solutions are deployed on physical servers on-premises, or in virtual or cloud environments. 

• Core based licensing is appropriate when customers are unable to count users/devices, have Internet/Extranet workloads or systems that integrate with external facing workloads.

• Under the Per Core model, customers license either by physical server (based on the full physical core count) or by virtual machine (based on virtual cores allocated), as further explained below.

SERVER + CAL: Provides the option to license users and/or devices, with low-cost access to incremental SQL Server deployments.   

• Each server running SQL Server software requires a server license.

• Each user and/or device accessing a licensed SQL Server requires a SQL Server CAL that is the same version or newer – for example, to access a SQL Server 2019 Standard Edition server, a user would need a SQL Server 2019 or 2022 CAL.

Each SQL Server CAL allows access to multiple licensed SQL Servers, including Standard Edition and legacy Business Intelligence and Enterprise Edition Servers.SQL Server 2022 Editions availability by licensing model:  

Physical core licensing – Enterprise Edition 

• Customers can deploy an unlimited number of VMs or containers on the server and utilize the full capacity of the licensed hardware, by fully licensing the server (or server farm) with Enterprise Edition core subscription licenses or licenses with SA coverage based on the total number of physical cores on the servers.

• Subscription licenses or SA provide(s) the option to run an unlimited number of virtual machines or containers to handle dynamic workloads and fully utilize the hardware’s computing power.

Virtual core licensing – Standard/Enterprise Edition 

When licensing by virtual core on a virtual OSE with subscription licenses or SA coverage on all virtual cores (including hyperthreaded cores) on the virtual OSE, customers may run any number of containers in that virtual OSE. This benefit applies both to Standard and Enterprise Edition.

Licensing for non-production use 

SQL Server 2022 Developer Edition provides a fully featured version of SQL Server software—including all the features and capabilities of Enterprise Edition—licensed for  development, test and demonstration purposes only.  Customers may install and run the SQL Server Developer Edition software on any number of devices. This is  significant because it allows customers to run the software  on multiple devices (for testing purposes, for example)  without having to license each non-production server  system for SQL Server.  

A production environment is defined as an environment  that is accessed by end-users of an application (such as an  Internet website) and that is used for more than gathering  feedback or acceptance testing of that application.   

SQL Server 2022 Developer Edition is a free product !

[hardwiredweird]

Can you explain how AI is different from human artists learning from other artists? Or why AI isn't okay but fanart is?

While these are super loaded questions, I will answer this as if you are asking in good faith.

Don't make me regret this.

So, these are two different questions with two different sets of answers. I will answer the second question first, because that is easy and very solidly anchored in the copyright law already:

Fanart, legally, is not okay. Literally, fanart is copyright infringement.

The reason why it is generally considered alright is two-fold:

One because the people making the fanart (so the ones taking the copyrighted characters and transforming them) mostly don't do it commercially and if they do, it usually is on such a small scale and in a way that there is no way that they would compete with the original copyright holder (all of these are points which are codified in the law under Fair Use).

And that brings us to two: While the copyright holder could STILL demand take downs they usually don't (even if it is their legal right) because most companies realise that fanart is free advertisement.

And there is the big crux of the matter: Artists ARE making use of their right as the copyright holders to demand that their copyrighted material is not used for a commercial product (because that is what most image generators are!) which directly competes with them.

Now, to answer your first question:

Even specialists in the field of machine learning will concede that, no, computers do NOT learn like humans. And everyone who says so is either grossly oversimplifying things or actively, maliciously misrepresenting the issue.

Ignoring the fact that the machine does not learn my itself, but that it needs humans to do the learning and classification for it, humans always interpret, while a machine can only ever make copies.

It's the difference between drawing yourself and making a photo collage with random snippets and pasting it roughly where it makes sense.

There is no interpretation, no INTENT behind any machine creation and the results are only given meaning by whoever looks at it. It's finding shapes in clouds.

Here, too, scale is a factor: I, as an artist who studies photos and other artists' works, can only do so at a certain pace. I'm fast, but not billions of images taken in and put out fast. There is no way a single artist, or even a small group of artists, will ever be able to study so many pieces and be able to put out so much work that it puts EVERY OTHER ARTIST out of work.

And that is the issue. It is a borderline monopoly issue that is based in a massive case of billions of copyright infringements.

When we say "theft" we don't mean LITERAL theft. The theft we're talking here is the same as wage theft.

Does an employer actively go in and steal the money out of their employee's pocket? No. But they are taking their labour without the intent of paying them for it.

That is the exact same form of theft artists are facing here.

Against our will, our works are used for a, and I repeat, COMMERCIAL PRODUCT that makes millions and billions of dollars and actively puts entire creative industries out of business.

If you don't see a problem with that, I don't know how to help you.

Image generators SOLELY benefit the already rich. It is monopolising art as a career into the hands of very few.

On the backs of our labour.

That's the difference.

That's the issue.

And we have asked nicely for our work not to be used. We have begged and pleaded with the companies. We have tried to explain the issue and they do not care. Even those companies who allow opt out make it nearly impossible to do so, putting even more strain on those people they have harmed.

The law is working too slowly, slow enough that by the time we have regulations the field of creative work might have forever changed for the worse.

And there really is no "just git gud" argument here, as many are implying. Because companies and the billionaires that run them really don't care about quality as long as they can get it cheap and fast. And no artist who wants to survive can put out enough art to compete with Image Gens. It doesn't matter that the generated pictures have mistakes or plain make no sense. If it's cheaper than a human, they will use it.

[govindhtech]

Atom Computing is Ushering in a New Era of Quantum Research

Atom Computing

Recently, quantum computers constructed from arrays of ultracold atoms have become a major contender in the race to produce machines powered by qubits that can surpass their classical counterparts in performance. Although the first completely functional quantum processors to be programmed via the cloud have been produced by alternative hardware architectures, further advancements indicate that atom-based platforms may be superior in terms of future scalability.

This scaling benefit results from the atomic qubits being exclusively cooled, trapped, and manipulated via photonic technology. Neutral-atom quantum computers can be primarily constructed using currently available optical components and systems that have already been optimised for accuracy and dependability, eschewing the need for intricate cryogenic systems or chip fabrication processes.

A physicist at Princeton University in the United States named Jeff Thompson and his team have been developing a quantum computer based on arrays of ytterbium atoms. “The traps are optical tweezers, the atoms are controlled with laser beams and the imaging is done with a camera,” Thompson explains. “The engineering that can be done with the optical system is the only thing limiting the scalability of the platform, and a lot of that work has already been done in the industry of optical components and megapixel devices.”

Enormous atomic arrays

Many attractive properties of neutral atoms make them suitable for quantum information encoding. Firstly, they are all the same, meaning that there is no need to tune or calibrate individual qubits because they are all flawless and devoid of any flaws that could be introduced during creation. Important quantum features like superposition and entanglement are preserved over sufficiently long periods to enable computation, and their quantum states and interactions are likewise well understood and characterised.

The pursuit of fault tolerance This important development made atomic qubits a competitive platform for digital quantum computing, spurring research teams and quantum companies to investigate and improve the efficiency of various atomic systems. Although rubidium remains a popular option, ytterbium is seen by certain groups to provide some important advantages for large-scale quantum computing. Thompson argues that because ytterbium has a nuclear spin of one half, the qubit can be encoded entirely in the nuclear spin.”They found that pure nuclear-spin qubits can maintain coherence times of many seconds without special procedures, even though all atom- or ion-based qubits havegood coherence by default.”

Examining rational qubits

In the meanwhile, Lukin’s Harvard group has perhaps made the closest approach to error-corrected quantum computing to yet, collaborating with a number of academic partners and the Boston-based startup QuEra Computing. Utilising so-called logical qubits, which distribute the quantum information among several physical qubits to reduce error effects, is a critical advancement.

One or two logical qubits have been produced in previous demonstrations using different hardware platforms, but Lukin and colleagues demonstrated by the end of 2023 that they could produce 48 logical qubits from 280 atomic qubits. They were able to move and operate each logical block as a single unit by using optical multiplexing to illuminate every rubidium atom inside a logical qubit with identical light beams. This hardware-efficient control technique stops mistakes in the physical qubits from growing into a logical defect since every atom in the logical block is treated separately.

The researchers additionally partitioned their design into three functional zones to enable more scalable processing of these logical qubits. The first is utilised to ensure that these stable quantum states are separated from processing mistakes in other sections of the hardware by manipulating and storing the logical qubits, coupled with a reservoir of physical qubits that may be called upon. Next, logical qubit pairs can be “shuttled” into the second entangling zone, where two-qubit gate operations are driven with fidelity exceeding 99.5% by a single excitation laser. Each gate operation’s result is measured in the final readout zone, which doesn’t interfere with the ongoing processing duties.

Future scalability Another noteworthy development is that QuEra has secured a multimillion-dollar contract at the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) to construct a version of this logical processor. By March 2025, the national lab will have seven prototype quantum computers installed, including platforms that take advantage of superconducting qubits and trapped ions, as well as a neutral-atom system based on cesium from Infleqtion (previously ColdQuanta). The QuEra system will be one of these systems.

Replenishing the supply of atoms In order to create a path to larger-scale machines, the Atom Computing team has included additional optical technologies into its revised platform. Bloom states, “They could have just bought some really big lasers if They wanted to go from 100 to 1,000 qubits.” “However, they wanted to get the array on a path where they can keep expanding it to hundreds of thousands or even a million atoms without encountering problems with the laser power.”

Combining the atomic control offered by optical tweezers with the trapping capability of optical lattices which are primarily found in the most accurate atomic clocks in the world has been the solution for Atom Computing. By adding an optical buildup cavity to create constructive interference between multiple reflected laserThese optical lattices can improve their performance by creating a subwavelength grid of potential wells via laser beam interference.”With just a moderate amount of laser power, They can create a huge array of deep traps with these in-vacuum optics,” adds.”They could rise higher, but decided to show an arrangement that traps 1,225 ytterbium.”

Read more on Govindhtech.com

[seodigital7]

Hybrid Cloud Application: The Smart Future of Business IT

Introduction

In today’s digital-first environment, businesses are constantly seeking scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solutions to stay competitive. One solution that is gaining rapid traction is the hybrid cloud application model. Combining the best of public and private cloud environments, hybrid cloud applications enable businesses to maximize performance while maintaining control and security.

This 2000-word comprehensive article on hybrid cloud applications explains what they are, why they matter, how they work, their benefits, and how businesses can use them effectively. We also include real-user reviews, expert insights, and FAQs to help guide your cloud journey.

What is a Hybrid Cloud Application?

A hybrid cloud application is a software solution that operates across both public and private cloud environments. It enables data, services, and workflows to move seamlessly between the two, offering flexibility and optimization in terms of cost, performance, and security.

For example, a business might host sensitive customer data in a private cloud while running less critical workloads on a public cloud like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.

Key Components of Hybrid Cloud Applications

Public Cloud Services – Scalable and cost-effective compute and storage offered by providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP.

Private Cloud Infrastructure – More secure environments, either on-premises or managed by a third-party.

Middleware/Integration Tools – Platforms that ensure communication and data sharing between cloud environments.

Application Orchestration – Manages application deployment and performance across both clouds.

Why Choose a Hybrid Cloud Application Model?

1. Flexibility

Run workloads where they make the most sense, optimizing both performance and cost.

2. Security and Compliance

Sensitive data can remain in a private cloud to meet regulatory requirements.

3. Scalability

Burst into public cloud resources when private cloud capacity is reached.

4. Business Continuity

Maintain uptime and minimize downtime with distributed architecture.

5. Cost Efficiency

Avoid overprovisioning private infrastructure while still meeting demand spikes.

Real-World Use Cases of Hybrid Cloud Applications

1. Healthcare

Protect sensitive patient data in a private cloud while using public cloud resources for analytics and AI.

2. Finance

Securely handle customer transactions and compliance data, while leveraging the cloud for large-scale computations.

3. Retail and E-Commerce

Manage customer interactions and seasonal traffic spikes efficiently.

4. Manufacturing

Enable remote monitoring and IoT integrations across factory units using hybrid cloud applications.

5. Education

Store student records securely while using cloud platforms for learning management systems.

Benefits of Hybrid Cloud Applications

Enhanced Agility

Better Resource Utilization

Reduced Latency

Compliance Made Easier

Risk Mitigation

Simplified Workload Management

Tools and Platforms Supporting Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft Azure Arc – Extends Azure services and management to any infrastructure.

AWS Outposts – Run AWS infrastructure and services on-premises.

Google Anthos – Manage applications across multiple clouds.

VMware Cloud Foundation – Hybrid solution for virtual machines and containers.

Red Hat OpenShift – Kubernetes-based platform for hybrid deployment.

Best Practices for Developing Hybrid Cloud Applications

Design for Portability Use containers and microservices to enable seamless movement between clouds.

Ensure Security Implement zero-trust architectures, encryption, and access control.

Automate and Monitor Use DevOps and continuous monitoring tools to maintain performance and compliance.

Choose the Right Partner Work with experienced providers who understand hybrid cloud deployment strategies.

Regular Testing and Backup Test failover scenarios and ensure robust backup solutions are in place.

Reviews from Industry Professionals

Amrita Singh, Cloud Engineer at FinCloud Solutions:

"Implementing hybrid cloud applications helped us reduce latency by 40% and improve client satisfaction."

John Meadows, CTO at EdTechNext:

"Our LMS platform runs on a hybrid model. We’ve achieved excellent uptime and student experience during peak loads."

Rahul Varma, Data Security Specialist:

"For compliance-heavy environments like finance and healthcare, hybrid cloud is a no-brainer."

Challenges and How to Overcome Them

1. Complex Architecture

Solution: Simplify with orchestration tools and automation.

2. Integration Difficulties

Solution: Use APIs and middleware platforms for seamless data exchange.

3. Cost Overruns

Solution: Use cloud cost optimization tools like Azure Advisor, AWS Cost Explorer.

4. Security Risks

Solution: Implement multi-layered security protocols and conduct regular audits.

FAQ: Hybrid Cloud Application

Q1: What is the main advantage of a hybrid cloud application?

A: It combines the strengths of public and private clouds for flexibility, scalability, and security.

Q2: Is hybrid cloud suitable for small businesses?

A: Yes, especially those with fluctuating workloads or compliance needs.

Q3: How secure is a hybrid cloud application?

A: When properly configured, hybrid cloud applications can be as secure as traditional setups.

Q4: Can hybrid cloud reduce IT costs?

A: Yes. By only paying for public cloud usage as needed, and avoiding overprovisioning private servers.

Q5: How do you monitor a hybrid cloud application?

A: With cloud management platforms and monitoring tools like Datadog, Splunk, or Prometheus.

Q6: What are the best platforms for hybrid deployment?

A: Azure Arc, Google Anthos, AWS Outposts, and Red Hat OpenShift are top choices.

Conclusion: Hybrid Cloud is the New Normal

The hybrid cloud application model is more than a trend—it’s a strategic evolution that empowers organizations to balance innovation with control. It offers the agility of the cloud without sacrificing the oversight and security of on-premises systems.

If your organization is looking to modernize its IT infrastructure while staying compliant, resilient, and efficient, then hybrid cloud application development is the way forward.

At diglip7.com, we help businesses build scalable, secure, and agile hybrid cloud solutions tailored to their unique needs. Ready to unlock the future? Contact us today to get started.

[cloud9technologies2]

How to Choose the Best ERP Solution for Your Business

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is becoming an increasingly exclusive solution for enhancing procedures at the business application level as businesses strive for more effective operations across the board. In a single platform, ERP software unifies various back-office applications, business processes, and workflows. It might bring about fresh benefits like better data sharing, better data quality and accuracy, and greater administrative visibility.

If you require dependable, comprehensive business management solutions, you might want to think about investing in top-notch ERP software. A more sophisticated ERP system with the features and capabilities you require can help you streamline your processes, improve workflow, and add value to your company as a whole.

The following guide will explain what ERP software can do, the benefits of selecting the right ERP for your business, and what to look for in an enterprise resource planning solution for maximum benefits.

What is ERP Software?

An ERP system is software that is made for business management for all kinds of daily business activities, whether it should accounting, risk management, Procure management, or project management accordingly.

Software needs to keep constantly updated so that it can provide real-time data to everyone in the business with access to it.ERP software collects the organization’s shared transactional data from different sources as well as eliminates duplicate data and provides integrated data in a single source.

Nowadays, ERP systems became captious to manage thousands of occupations of all sizes and in all industries. For these companies, ERP is as essential as electricity which is an essential day-to-day factor.

Types of ERP Software Solutions

1. On-premises Software

Lots of companies are using this ERP software to maintain their office premises. It could either physically or internally, Office-used computer systems or servers.

Yet, these software’s aren’t accessible remotely, but complete On-premise ERP software is installed on the company’s personal computers and servers too.

Evaluation of On-premises ERP systems based on the company size and the number of users.

The On-premise ERP system is considered an investment because the whole cost of the one-time license is paid by the company. Accordingly, you will need to pay the price of the periodical training and software updates.

Once the company got access to the on-premise software, will get complete control over the system to use it. Hence, the software can be customized.

But, you will require hiring an IT specialist person for software updates and maintenance.

2. Cloud Software

The cloud-based ERP software can be accessed remotely on any device with the help of an internet connection and is called – Software as a Service (SaaS).

SaaS is a subscription-required service. This service needs a service provider who makes assures training, and customization as well as support.

3. Hybrid Software

This software is an amalgamation of the two software services mentioned above.

It relies upon how the user organization and service provider and utilize these correspondingly.

These types of software are highly flexible and they allow the host to the new addition and implementations in the existing systems.

Benefits of using ERP Software Solution

Intensified Business Reporting: Best Reporting tools with a piece of actual information.

Upgraded customer service: Ease of access to customer information.

Enhanced holder Costs

Increased Cash Flow

Cost-effective

Better Data security

Business Improvements

Management of supply chain.

Steps to Choosing the Best ERP Company in 2023

1. Make a checklist of your requirements.

The company should always go for a change with an ensured proper assessment process. It should check the recently improved business in the market, with the customers gathered information, and check the change in the business cycle from past till current.

While selecting the ERP selection one should always focus on the ERP customizations and requirements that can be scheduled based on the time.

Make sure that you are selecting the right process; create a clear and complete list of your requirements for your ERP software company selection and determine whether the software of the vendors meets up to your requirements.

By considering you are aware of the needs of the software; your created checklist is unique and available in the market.

Before meeting your Software provider, you must listen to your management and your clients to know what they expect.

2. Do a proper Market Research

Market research plays an important role in the ERP software selection process. However, it would be a fun task to research the better ERP software providers.

Because you have to analyze their content to see if they are offering a suitable featured software for your business or not.

In this process, you will get to learn in-depth ERP software information. It may include software functionality, capabilities, add on. You will be able to find the upgraded and advanced software products and the cost of that new software system. Utilize the resources and efforts that you are investing in a software system, to improve the productivity of the software.

3. Need a proper Planning

It sounds general but the companies make their software on the basis of the popularity and publicity of the product. They may feel that any kind of the latest software is able to fit their company and if it doesn’t fit their organization, they will doubt the functionality of the software.

Hence, your selected ERP software should be designed with a focus on its usability by considering with the aspects of employees.

So they become familiar and comfortable operating the system with full comfort and they can utilize the functionality and productivity with the help of these basic planning tactics, your business will make the best-informed decisions on the Best ERP System software.

By considering your requirements, you’ll be in a better state to control the ERP software selecting decisions and it will be helpful if it is implemented on a procedure instead of allowing the software company controls your decisions.

4. Vendor Evaluation

Searching for the ERP Software Company in India that can fulfill all your requirements is a daunting task to do and hence, most ERP buyers can’t deal with finding the right company.

This could happen when you visit the market to find an ERP software company without proper market research and planning. To find the right vendor for your needs do appropriate research on the vendors over the web you need to pay attention to the company reviews to fulfilling your expectations. It will help you to analyze the market insights.

In our opinion, you need to set goals before evaluating vendors, and whether their software products are able to work for your business growth.

You need to evaluate every factor to check if it’s possible to deliver the best result within a time by doing one task instead of multiple tasks at a different time.

Make sure it will provide you the satisfying all regulatory requirements and will be beneficial to gain your market share faster.

Make sure the ERP software will grow your business workflow or not.

Here are some better evaluation factors.

Make sure the ERP product of the vendor works with you in building legacy systems

Check the experience of the vendor in the industry, which leads to the possibility of an easy transition.

Make sure that the vendor completely understands your business goals and hand over to the vendor of your any project plan you’ve marked up to check if he is aware of it or not.

5. Customization and integration

While choosing the Best ERP Software in 2023 for your occupation, you need to confirm the effects will go to have on the other systems. Which are currently in use, in your business?

Find it out whether it has the strength to be the complementary system. It will be unworthy if you buy software that is unable to integrate with your existing ERP systems as they are a vital component of any business. Hence, it could lead to unnecessary cost problems for your business. Generally, Business needs such ERP systems that won’t allow suffering from integration problems to arise.

Well-customized ERP systems allow companies to become more flexible and are essential to improve your business growth.

Conclusion:

The ERP platform you choose and the way your team configures it will have an impact on all key users, applications, and regular business processes. When choosing modules and rolling out the tool across various departments, your company will be well-positioned for success if your team puts the necessary effort and time into finding the ideal ERP system.

The Best ERP Software Company in Pune is PMTRACK ERP, which specializes in ERP implementation. The business helps its customers choose the best manufacturing ERP software to meet their needs and requirements.

We as a company have top-notch implementation techniques at our retention, which can help you save money, time, and effort. Our Manufacturing ERP software solutions will undoubtedly increase your company’s return on investment. Visit our website to find out more about our ERP Solution and its offerings. If you want to improve the efficiency of your business processes and the adaptability of your organization, get in touch with us right away.

[mulesmaster]

Snowflake interview questions and answers

Snowflake provides cloud-based data warehousing that enables advanced solutions for organizational storage, handling, and analysis. Its unique characteristics include high speed, ease of use, and versatility making it stand out from other conventional offerings. Reporting and data warehousing are integral parts of any organization’s IT infrastructure.

To take on these tasks, Snowflake leverages the functionality of an innovative SQL query engine with a flexible architecture natively established for the cloud. This approach enables users to easily customize and start creating ready-to-query tables with little or no administration costs.

Snowflake Architecture:

Q: Can you explain the architecture of Snowflake?

A: Snowflake has a three-tier architecture: Compute, Storage, and Cloud Services. Compute handles query processing, Storage manages data storage, and Cloud Services coordinate and manage activities across the system.

2. Q: How does Snowflake handle scaling?

A: Snowflake can easily scale up or down by adding or removing virtual warehouses. Each warehouse consists of clusters of compute resources that can be adjusted based on the workload

SQL and Querying:

Q: What is the difference between a database and a schema in Snowflake?

A: In Snowflake, a database is a container for schemas, and a schema is a container for database objects. A database can contain multiple schemas, and each schema can contain tables, views, etc.

2. Q: How can you unload data from Snowflake to an external location?

A: You can use the COPY INTO command to unload data from Snowflake to an external location, such as an Amazon S3 bucket or Azure Data Lake Storage.

3. Q: Explain how data sharing works in Snowflake.

A: Data sharing in Snowflake allows sharing data between different accounts. A provider account can share a database or schema, and a consumer account can access the shared data using a share.

Security:

Q: What are Snowflake’s security features?

A: Snowflake provides features such as encryption at rest and in transit, multi-factor authentication, role-based access control (RBAC), and virtual private snowflake (VPS) for additional security.

Miscellaneous:

Q: How does Snowflake handle concurrency?

A: Snowflake’s multi-cluster, shared data architecture allows it to handle high levels of concurrency by scaling out compute resources. Each virtual warehouse operates independently and can be scaled up or down based on workload.

2.Q: Can you explain Snowflake’s time travel feature?

A: Snowflake’s time travel feature allows you to query data at a specific point in the past. There are two types: Time Travel (Data) lets you query historical data within a time window, and Time Travel (Schema) allows you to recover dropped or changed objects.

This course is designed to provide students with a solid understanding of the architecture and functionality of MuleSoft’s integration platform.

Advanced SQL and Performance Optimization:

1. Q: Explain Snowflake’s automatic clustering feature.

A: Snowflake’s automatic clustering optimizes data storage and query performance by organizing data based on usage patterns. It reduces the need for manual clustering and enhances query efficiency.

2. Q: How does Snowflake handle semi-structured data, and what are the benefits of using VARIANT data type?

A: Snowflake supports semi-structured data using the VARIANT data type, which allows storage of JSON, Avro, or XML data. VARIANT provides flexibility and performance benefits for handling nested and dynamic structures.

3. Q: Discuss the role of metadata in Snowflake and how it contributes to performance.

A: Snowflake uses metadata extensively to manage and optimize queries. Metadata includes information about data distribution, statistics, and storage, enabling the query optimizer to make informed decisions for efficient query execution.

Data Loading and Integration:

1. Q: Compare and contrast Snowflake’s different data loading options: COPY INTO, Snowpipe, and External Tables.

A: COPY INTO is used for batch loading, Snowpipe is a continuous data ingestion service, and External Tables allow querying data directly from external storage. Each option has specific use cases based on data volume and latency requirements.

2. Q: How does Snowflake handle data deduplication during data loading?

A: Snowflake’s automatic deduplication occurs during the data loading process. Duplicate records are identified based on the clustering key, and only unique records are stored, optimizing storage and improving query performance.

Administration and Monitoring:

1. Q: Explain the role of a Snowflake Virtual Warehouse. How can you optimize its performance?

A: A Virtual Warehouse (VW) is a compute resource in Snowflake. To optimize performance, consider adjusting the size of the virtual warehouse based on workload, using multiple warehouses for concurrency, and monitoring resource usage to make informed scaling decisions.

2. Q: What tools and techniques are available for monitoring and managing performance in Snowflake?

A: Snowflake provides features like Query Profile, Query History, and Resource Monitors for monitoring performance. External tools, such as Snowflake’s Snowsight or third-party tools, can also be used for performance analysis and optimization.

Case-Specific Scenarios:

1.Q: Describe a scenario where you might choose to use Snowflake’s secure data sharing feature.

A: Secure data sharing can be beneficial in scenarios where two organizations need to collaborate on analytics without physically moving data. For example, a retailer sharing sales data with a supplier for demand forecasting without exposing sensitive information.

2. Q: How would you design a data warehouse schema in Snowflake for a complex business analytics application with diverse data sources?

A: Consider factors such as data normalization, performance requirements, and access patterns. Leverage Snowflake’s features like clustering, semi-structured data types, and secure data sharing to design a schema that meets the application’s needs.

[behindyourbarrette]

like you a latte - matcha latte

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pairing: spencer reid x fem reader

a/n: SURPRISE i felt like dropping this a DAY early!!lololololol but here it is! i appreciate the love on the last two parts so so soooo much :) can’t beliEVE WE ARE HALFWAY DONE!! reblog if u enjoyed

—

Needless to say, Twilight Time isn’t very crowded on Thursday afternoons. 

You rarely pick up closing shifts anymore—for reasons totally unrelated to the doctor who almost exclusively arrives in the morning—but you’re covering for Sally, and it’s a nice day out. The rain has let up in favor of mild weather, the sun just barely peeking through the clouds as people drift past the shop. Despite the fact that there’s more foot traffic on the street, not many people come in to order. You don’t blame them. Why have hot coffee on a day like this?

Your back is turned when you hear a group enter, and your heart soars at the prospect of tips. For whatever reason, most people are more inclined to tip when they know their friends are watching. You call out to let them know you’ll be right with them, and after you’re done fidgeting with the settings of the coffee grinder, you turn. 

It’s Spencer. But he’s not alone.

There are a total of four people before you, each intimidating you in slightly different ways. They’re all agents, as evidenced by their not-so-concealed carries. You recognize a few of the characters. Spencer’s told you about JJ, who you assume to be the friendly blonde, and Penelope, who is a vision in fuchsia. That leaves Emily, who’s whispering to JJ, eyes fixed on you. You try to absorb the sight, them together. Spencer looks at ease, a wide smile on his face as he looks between you and the group.

“Hey, Spencer. These your coworkers?” You crack a nervous smile, knitting your fingers together. He nods, introducing them each in turn. JJ grins in your direction, and Penelope waves at you with a fingerlessly-gloved hand. Emily reaches across the bar to shake your hand. You get the sense that there’s something Spencer hasn’t told you.

“What can I get you guys?”

Spencer shrugs, defaulting to JJ and Emily. Penelope pipes up, eyes bright as she peers at the menu above you.

“Do you have matcha, sweetheart? I’ve been meaning to try that. It’s great for your skin.” You nod, pulling a cup out and inscribing Penelope’s name on it. JJ and Emily both order americanos, exchanging a sheepish grin. After setting their cups aside, you turn to Spencer.

“Genius, you should really try the matcha. It’ll give you brain power. Not that you need any more.” Penelope does jazz hands to emphasize her excitement, and Spencer shrugs. You watch them interact for a moment before you realize he’s turned to you for your approval.

“Oh. I really like matcha. It’s green tea, and a matcha latte tastes light and sweet. I think you’d like it.” He nods, and orders it hot. Penelope orders iced; you smile as you consider that they compliment each other, eventually turning away to prepare everyone’s drinks. They’re all relatively simple, and you manage to include latte art in the hot drinks. Spencer’s is last, and you flick your wrist to finish the design. Crossing the bar, you hand each agent their drink in turn. 

Penelope sips at her drink first, the bright green matching one of her rings perfectly. Spencer eyes his dubiously, poking at it with a wooden stirring stick. 

“It’s very green.” He whispers to Penelope, who cackles in response. 

JJ catches your eye as you watch, lingering between the bar and their seats. With a smile, she waves you over. 

“You’ve totally ruined other coffee for Spence. We had to come try it for ourselves.” She whispers, leaning down. You aren’t sure how to feel about her tone; there’s a glint of something in her eye, something playfully secretive. You’re not sure what part of this you’re not in on.The idea of Spencer mentioning you at all is foreign—sure, you’ve told your roommates, and your coworkers found out that you do, in fact, have a favorite regular. Still, you never considered the idea that you bleed into other parts of his life. You steal a glance at him while JJ compliments her americano. He’s sipping at his matcha, a green mustache left behind. 

“You have a magic touch, Y/N. I don’t think I’ve ever had coffee this good in the states.” Emily flashes you a grin as if she can sense your nervousness. You relax a little, asking her about her work abroad instead of getting lost in your head. She strikes you as a diplomat, and a compliment from her feels like something to be savored. Penelope raves to you about the health benefits of matcha, and you immediately feel welcomed by her. If you were to run a study comparing the approachability between pink polka dots and pantsuits, you're sure that polka dots would win.

“Are you an agent, too?” You ask, stirring your own iced coffee with a straw. Eyeing the clock, you’ve decided that this counts as your break. Tyler be damned. Penelope giggles, shaking her head.

“Oh God no. Well, technically. I’m a technical analyst, so I work on the computer and tech end of things.” She explains, and you nod. It makes a lot of sense. While both JJ and Emily exude the energy of most cops—authoritative, with a critical eye—Garcia does’t fit that mold. It’s this that draws you to her.

You learn that JJ has a son named Henry, a surprisingly Southern boyfriend to match, and that Emily has a cat named Sergio. Despite their highbrow titles, you don’t feel out of place. It’s easy to sip at your coffee, the cup cool against your fingertips, and listen.

“Are you in school? Spence mentioned that you majored in literature.” JJ sets her cup down, flexing her fingers against the air. You feel yourself flush now that the attention is on you. The fact that he chose this detail to divulge sticks between your ribs. You haven't told him much about your work—he insisted on reading your thesis, and even reread the source material to better discuss it with you—but apparently, what you have discussed has made an impression.

“Yeah, actually. I’m in my second year of law school.” You admit. Emily nods in approval, reaching out to high five you.

“Damn. With all the assholes you deal with in customer service, you’ll make a great attorney.” You high five her with a small smile on your face, stealing a glance at Spencer. He seems elated, clearly enjoying the dynamic he’s observing.

“Do you want to go into criminal law?”

JJ asks, eyes wide with curiosity. You shake your head ruefully. They take it well, shrugging their shoulders. To their credit, their branch of law enforcement deals with the process prior to prosecution. You shudder at the idea of what happens after they catch the bad guys.

“No, not really. I’m looking at either the entertainment or environmental sector.”

The group murmurs, and the conversation devolves into small talk about law. You look to Spencer for an escape, and he suggests that they take a walk. Once the girls have trickled out of the room, each hugging you goodbye, you’re left alone with Spencer.

“Hey.”

You laugh at the simplicity of his greeting, turning to toss your empty coffee cup into the trash. Spencer flushes a deep shade of red, raking his hands through his hair.

“Your friends aren’t how I expected. Really cool, though. Especially for like, Quantico professionals.” You wipe the counter down, and the reality that you’re on the clock hits you, a little dizzily. Did his coworkers really just want to meet Spencer’s barista? The realization tastes a little bitter, and you bite back any further questioning in favor of looking up at him.

“Yeah. They’re like family.” He looks out the window, hands deep in his pockets. His whole demeanor is stiff, and you resist the urge to reach out and force his shoulders down from his ears.

“Did you like the matcha? I wasn’t sure you would. I used the oat milk you like.” Slowly, he relaxes. With a small smile, he nods.

“It was good. I like most teas, I’m finding. It wasn’t too sweet.” You add matcha to the mental list you keep, of drinks he likes. It’s become your mission to expand it. In the months since he started branching out, you’ve managed to add a few drinks to his core rotation. 

“You know you’re one of my friends too, right?”

This catches you off guard. You pause in the motion of sweeping the floor, carefully raising your eyes to meet his. While nervous, he sounds sincere. When met with your silence, he continues.

“I just wanted you to know.” 

You nod carefully. The implications of this are something you’ll consider later, when you’re alone. He’s only confirming something you’ve already known, but something about it stings. The word crosses your mind briefly, but it sticks. It’s bittersweet.

“I know.” Your voice is low, soft against the din of the coffee shop. Spencer doesn’t look satisfied, opening his mouth to say something then closing it again. He glances between you and the window.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

taglist:

@everyonesfavoritepipecleaner @coldlilheart @idonotexiste @aberrant-annie @onyourfingertips @bakugouswh0r3 @uptowngotmedown @infinite-tides @chaosconcerns @littlewritersinspace​ @okivia @forever-not-gonna-sink​ @insert-gay-here​ @just-another-persona123​ @winniemjf **if tags don’t work, check your visibility settings

[lazypeachsoul]

i chased you all the way to Riga - h.z.

Request: by @alekssmorozova “Could i request Daddy!Zemo + spanking pretty please ? Have a good day/evening. 🎇❤️”

Warnings: +18. Minors DNI. daddy kink, spanking.

Word count: 2k.

A/N: i'm so incredibly sorry I'm posting this at 2 am. my computer in playing dumb with me. hope you enjoy it 🌼 Gif by @h-zemo

Translations: "Gutes Mädchen" means "good girl"; "gelb" means "yellow"; "rot" means "red"; "Schatz" means "treasure (pet name)".

Masterlist.

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Waving goodbye to the security man you finally got out of the office building after an exhausting day at work. Meetings seemed to be a constant nowadays. Working for one of the biggest law firms in times when tensions are high and disputes seem to be more common, work was never scarce. But that meant free time was.

Normally you would have paid more attention to your surroundings, but the ache in your head and your heeled feet prevented you from really observing the environment. It wasn’t until you were unlocking your car that you felt someone behind you.

Turning around ready to disarm any potential attacker, you were stopped by a hand grabbing your arm. Expecting an attack you tried to free your arm to be able to defend yourself, but the attack never came. Looking up you found a man not much taller than yourself, covered with a long coat and a purple balaclava. It wasn’t until you found a pair of deep brown eyes looking at you that you understood who your “attacker” was.

Shaking off his hand you took a step back, trying to understand what was going on. He couldn’t be here in Riga. Last thing you knew about him he was in a high security prison in Germany, locked in solitary confinement. “Zemo?” Was the first thing that came out of your lips. It wasn’t loud but you knew he heard you when he moved to take the covering off.

"Schatz.” He spoke, accent heavier than you remembered. Probably the result of only using german to communicate during his years in prison.

His hair was still fairly intact for having been covered and his face, although sunken in from lack of normal nutrition, was still as handsome and mysterious as ever.

“You haven’t called me that in a long time Helmut.”

“I would’ve, if you had called or visited me in my imprisonment.”

His voice sounded strained and you then realized he must have not been allowed many visitors during that time. And even if he was, nobody would visit him after what he had done. Well, nobody except old Oeznik maybe.

“You know I couldn’t do it, if they had known we were involved in any way my life would have become hell.” You tried to excuse yourself, even if it was the truth. “how are you here anyways? Not that the visit is not a nice surprise but-”

“I escaped.” He answered but you know that was not the entire truth. Zemo was intelligent enough to know escaping would not grant him the kind of freedom he wanted. “Well, somebody got me out because I was needed in a mission, and now we are here following a lead. It’s a long story and one I don’t think we should have out in the open.”

He was looking around now, confirming his runaway status. He probably shouldn’t even be in the parking lot of one of the biggest office buildings in the city. You unlocked your car and moved to get inside of the car. Helmut stayed still, probably expecting you to run away, but you just pointed to the passenger seat with your head.

Once he was inside you started the car and tried to exit the parking lot as if a wanted criminal wasn’t sitting next to you. Once you were crossing the gates you took a deep breath and you felt your muscles relax. You could feel Zemo’s gaze on the side of your face, clearly not expecting this turn in the night.

“If I hadn’t left the lot Arnis would have come looking for me, he worries.” You tried to explain while keeping your eyes on the road. “And I imagine you don’t want to be seen.”

He nodded and moved his gaze from your figure and looked outside the window. From the small peeks you took, he looked to be deep in thought. You didn’t really understand what possessed you to make him get in your car, or to take him to your house. Maybe it was the past you shared or the remorse of not seeing him in the last years. Maybe even the remorse of not being there to stop him from committing those atrocities.

You parked your car on the street right in front of your apartment building. The less distance you had to travel the less of a chance of being caught. And even with all the precautions you didn’t feel completely safe until you closed the front door of your apartment and locked the door.

Seeing Baron Helmut Zemo standing in your tiny rented apartment felt silly. This man who had grown up close to royalty, who had lived in the best houses and schools in Europe, now stood next to cheap Ikea furniture and bad room decorations.

“Nice house.” He tried to break the ice but it only made you want to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“Not all of us are born into nobility Baron. Now, are you going to tell me what is going on? I have the feeling that whoever broke you out might have no idea where you are right now.”

“Always so intelligent, schatz.” He smirked taking off his characteristing long coat and elegantly draping it over the sofa.

The scene reminded you of the last time you two were alone together, and how the night ended. He started rolling the sleeves of his red shirt and you started to see the old Helmut Zemo. The one who didn’t have to be worried about the world trying to catch him and could be his enchanting self. The Helmut Zemo who knew how to get the attention, born to be a leader.

“I’m not supposed to be here. I suppose James and Samuel are running around the city looking for me. But I’m in the best company I could imagine.”

“And I suppose what your entire mission is, right?”

“Again, so intelligent. You know what would happen if you were to be associated with me. You said so yourself.” He was looking at every detail of the room, but you especially you. “I did not come as a runaway looking for shelter. I came as a...friend.”

The tone he used to describe your relationship hurt but told you more than the rest of the conversation. It was true that you never used another label other than friends, always good friends and friends with benefits sometimes.

“Is that all we are, friend?” You couldn’t hold your tongue, the situation bringing you back to the dynamic you had before everything went to shit.

“Well, a few years ago you used to call me a different name, didn’t you?”

You were too worried about the situation to realize how close Zemo had gotten, making you jump slightly when you felt his hand in your shoulder. Softly moving it up and caressing your skin the hand found a home pressed against the side of your neck, lovingly but with authority.

“I spoke to you, my love. Don’t tell me you have forgotten.”

“I haven’t.” You spoke quickly almost as if your entire body knew what to do without needing orders from your brain. “Daddy.”

The smirk that spread through his face ignited every memory in your brain that included Zemo. From the first time you met back in Sokovia to the many nights spent together as young adults, including the years spent apart when he married and the reunion after disaster struck.

Without realizing you moved your entire body forward, pressing yourself against the man and your lips to his. The moment your lips touched it felt electric, like a current that had been dormant came alive again.

The kiss became ravenous, teeth clashing and hands pawing at each other's clothes. The small apartment felt immense when thinking of moving to the bedroom staying as close together as possible.

Breaking the kiss you looked at him and saw his usually expressive eyes were clouded with determination. You knew Zemo enjoyed the chase, and you were going to give it to him. Moving your face closer to him as if to kiss him again gave you the best distraction you could imagine.

Pushing Helmut back you started running towards the bedroom, moving furniture on your way to make the chase more thrilling. You tried to close the door behind you but he had reached you easier than you believed, as if he had never lost his military training.

“Why are you running away? Is it because you know you were bad?” His sweet voice a contrast to his authoritative figure.

Helmut Zemo was not the tallest or strongest man, but he had an air of power around him that the strongest men on the planet would want to have for themselves. And you would relegate all your power to this man, trusting him blindly.

“No daddy. I know you enjoy chasing me.”

“I do. I chased you all the way to a parking lot here in Letonia, didn’t I?” He was walking towards you until you hit the back of your knees against the mattress making you fall. “But I do think you need a punishment. You did forget about me.”

Your heart was beating loudly inside your chest and your entire body felt hot, the situation was familiar to you but that didn’t make it less exciting. He lowered his face to your now lower position and kissed your forehead softly, a silent question about what was going to happen next.

You grabbed his dominant hand and kissed the palm softly, granting him permission to carry out the punishment. You could tell what he was about to ask and responded before he could even get the question out.

“Gelb means uncomfortable. Rot is stop.”

“Gutes Mädchen”

His hand snaked its way to the back of your head, intertwining with your hair. Pulling softly he moved your head back, giving him access to your entire neck. His kisses were soft and almost ticklish. But you knew the softness would be gone soon.

He sat down on the bed, making himself comfortable before parting his legs and gesturing with his hand between them. Quickly standing up you stood in between them, allowing his hands to run through your hips until they found the belt of your work dress pants. He worked the fabric with confidence until you felt it slip from your frame.

His hands directly against your skin seemed to ignite every nerve in your body and when they moved to work the buttons of your shirt your breath caught in your chest.

“My sweet girl. I have missed you.” He whispered before kissing the skin of your hip that was revealed by the lack of clothing. “You are just as soft and warm as I remember you. I almost feel sorry for having to punish you.”

You had to suppress a whine at his words but he seemed to hear anyway. He was a natural speaker and hearing him speak that way too you made you warm and the heat seemed to pool in your lower belly.

“Please, daddy. I can’t wait.”

He chuckled softly, chucking the clothes far away and moving back to allow you to drape yourself over his lap. And that’s exactly what you did. You found your position so quickly that it almost felt like no time had passed since the last time.

His calloused hand caressed the back of your thighs moving closer and closer to the sensitive skin of your butt,causing goosebumps to raise on your skin. You rested your cheek against the comforter, humming as a sign that you were ready.

And suddenly the hum became a surprised moan when you felt the crash of Zemo’s hand against your skin. He soothed the skin and started muttering in german. “Let’s count to 6 and see if you learned, okay?” You nodded and another spank resounded around the room. “I need you to speak, beautiful.”

“Yes daddy, 6.”

He started soothing the skin again before you felt another shocking spank against your bottom. Every single strike made you moan and groan louder, and you weren’t the only one. Helmut was groaning not only because of the effort but at seeing your reactions and the probably very went patch on your panties.

You could feel how excited Helmut was getting against your belly that was carefully pressed against his groin. Even through the thick trousers the erection was more than obvious and only made you more excited for what was about to come.

Any thought of crimes, sentences, escapes from prison or other people were buried deeper in your mind with every moment that passed.

“Six.” You moaned when the palm crashed against your now sore bottom for the last time.

The entire room was buzzing with excitement, you bottom sore in the best way you could imagine and the hands of your past lover caressing the reddened skin.

“You did so good, beautiful. But I’m not letting you go now.”

“Please daddy...don’t stop now.”

Taglist: @teenwonder @sky-writes-stuff @kyli314

[benjaminchoukroun]

Benjamin Choukroun UK - What Is A Digitalized Workplace And Why Do Businesses Need To Consider Digitalization?

A digitalized working environment is a virtualized type of the conventional office space, where numerous components of productivity and collaboration are performed through a blend of advanced applications, cloud computing, and various other innovation.

In a digital system, certain office exercises or capacities are done essentially by virtual means, and frequently these oblige explicit security or industry needs, select groups, and individual inclinations. Digitalized working environments can be conveyed for local, small groups of representatives, they can likewise be designed for multiple branches and offices, whether they are situated in various urban communities, states, or nations. 

The digitalized working environment has turned into a centerpiece of work insight in numerous associations. While you are contemplating improving or creating your association's digital environment, it's normal to ponder: For what reason is digitalization so significant? Here are some benefits you can accomplish with a proficient digitalized work environment as explained by Benjamin Choukroun. For more details read Benjamin Choukroun Licence – Streamlining Business Function with Digital Administration Solutions.

1. Improved Flexibility

In a compelling advanced work environment, representatives partake in an expansion in adaptability in their plans for getting work done as well as in their workplace. With advanced apparatuses, for example, portable intranet programming, your representatives can log in to work from any place, with less attention on a tough timetable. This offers them the adaptability to accomplish a balance between work and personal life making them more productive. Read Benjamin Choukroun: What It Takes for You To Get Top Notch Digital Admin Support.

2. Diminished Operational Costs

By choosing intuitive meetings and virtual chatrooms, you can lessen or dispense face-to-face joint ventures, which saves travel time and cost like furniture and office space. Furthermore, assuming you prefer a SaaS platform, you won't require a huge IT group to maintain custom software or servers that demands tedious upkeep.

3. Upgraded Innovation and Communication

By empowering two-way correspondence between lower and higher designated representatives, a well-built digitalized work environment permits the free-streaming trade of thoughts inside your association.

The social intranet is intended to support thought sharing among workers at all levels by utilizing specialized devices like intuitive surveys, which guarantee that everybody gets an opportunity to offer their ideas and viewpoints.

4. Improved Performance

Utilizing compelling advanced tools, for example, an intranet that can use Google Analytics will permit you to recognize KPIs like time spent on the website and bounce rate. With this data, you can decide on areas of progress to improve your business internally as well as externally. 

5. Reinforced Talent Retention and Recruitment 

Top performers generally expect an outstandingly advanced and progressive work environment. By following through on those assumptions by utilizing an advanced stage, you will have the option to draw in employees who are innovative and skilled. 

Besides, organizations that have embraced a digitally advanced work environment have encountered a one-fourth lesser turnover rate, and that implies those skilled representatives are bound to remain with the business that offers digitalized opportunities.

[krustywhore]

a language in itself // moreid

inspired by this doodle by @owlpip / @owlpipscribbles and i just had the cutest idea when i saw it so naturally i wrote this little one-shot<3 fig i hope you like it

Spencer, who was arguably not-so easily frazzled, was currently debating whether or not to lose his shit in front of all of his new coworkers. It was his first day at the BAU, for Christ’s sake, and he was seconds away from making a complete fool of himself in the middle of the bullpen.

With nearly a dozen books in his arms, the arm of his glasses held firmly between his teeth, and a to-go cup of black coffee balanced precariously on top of the stack, he was an accident waiting to happen. He passed interns and desk agents coming and going as he headed to where he was told to meet his new boss, but it was only a matter of time before his adamancy in taking only one trip from his car came back to bite him.

If he had known there was a thick bundle of computer cables wired under the carpeted bullpen floor, he would’ve made it to his new desk without a single problem, but his scuffed Chuck Taylor’s immediately caught the bump of wires and before he knew it books were tumbling to the ground and his full cup of coffee had emptied itself all over…a very attractive man.

Fuck.

His glasses were in his lap, thankfully unbroken, but he hastily put them on only for the blurry man above him to get somehow more handsome.

As if the situation couldn’t get any more humiliating, his face went bright red and he fumbled trying to collect everything off the floor.

“Hey, hey, slow down kid,” the man spoke, making Spencer freeze on his knees, looking back up. “You okay?”

He was certain his heart was seconds away from beating out of his chest.

“Me? I…I’m the one that just spilled hot coffee all over your shirt,” he laughed nervously, wanting to melt into the floor and disappear forever. “I’m so sorry-“

The man laughed and somehow even his teeth were perfect when he smiled.

“Don’t worry about it, pretty boy. One of the benefits of this job is carrying spare clothes around in case we end up skipping town,” the man smirked, picking up some of the scattered books and stacking them up on a nearby desk. “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

Spencer shook his head, still blushing as he felt multiple sets of eyes on him from around the room. He just hoped none of them belonged to his new boss.

“Good, well, I’ll take these for you if you’ll show me where your desk is,” he offered, a dark coffee stain still clear as day in the middle of his navy blue shirt.

Spencer followed uncomfortably behind him before pointing to an empty desk in the corner of the bullpen opposite another desk with a fair spread of files and picture frames adorning it.

“No kidding,” the man chuckled, dropping the stack of books on the desk. “I guess we’re desk neighbors, pretty boy.”

Spencer choked, coughing until he regained his composure as his handsome apparent-coworker pounded on his back to help him.

“Thank you,” he choked out, his throat still groggy. “I…I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

The man’s casual smile dropped and he took on a serious look.

“What do you mean?”

Spencer fiddled with the buttons on his cuffs, thoroughly embarrassed enough for one lifetime.

“I mean that I just spilled coffee all over you and humiliated myself on my first day and…and I clearly don’t belong here if I can’t even make it an hour before causing a disaster, but you’re just so…so nice and historically, guys like you are never nice to guys like me, but you are! And…and I can’t possibly fit in here, I don’t know what Gideon was thinking-”

“Hold up, Jason Gideon? Holy shit, you’re the one he’s been telling us about!” He looked like he was completely gobsmacked, looking Spencer up and down multiple times to the point where the younger man was getting concerned.

“I guess so…?” He explained shyly. “Why, did he not tell you I was twenty-two?”

The other man rubbed the back of his neck and glanced down at his shoes.

“No, no it’s not that it’s...,” he paused, smiling as if he was nervous. “It’s just that I was going to ask you out before I knew we were would be working together.”

Spencer did a double-take and just…stared.

“You…w-what?”

His older counterpart smiled.

“I know it’s technically against the rules but…I would love to take you to get a replacement coffee sometime,” he smirked, leaning up against Spencer’s desk. “What do ya’ say, pretty boy?”

Reid definitely wasn’t any more prepared for the nickname than he was before, but somehow when it followed an invitation for a date, it felt more genuine.

Not that he had ever been asked out before, and especially not by anyone as attractive as the man in front of him.

“I-I don’t even know your name,” he mumbled, desperate for any excuse.

“Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan, at your service,” he grinned, reaching forward to grip the short length of necktie that poked out from underneath Spencer’s sweater vest. “And you are?”

His heart was beating so fast and his head was spinning so dizzyingly that he almost didn’t register the response until it hit him hard.

Derek Morgan.

Fuck, even his name was sexy.

He flushed bright red at the even closer contact and how closely their faces were. Surely Derek wouldn’t do anything in the middle of the office but…but something told him the other man didn’t much care.

“D-Dr. Spencer Reid,” he stumbled, barely getting the words out of his mouth in what was more of a breathy whisper. He nearly blocked out everyone else in the room as his eyes just latched onto Derek’s and refused to look away. “And…I would love to get coffee with you, but I’m paying. Since, you know, I probably just gave you at least a second-degree burn from the last one.”

The beautiful man—Derek, his brain supplied—laughed heartily, his deep brown eyes crinkling at the corners as he reluctantly let go of Spencer’s tie.

“You drive a hard bargain, Doc,” he teased, circling around to his desk only to pull out a small duffel bag from which he produced a light gray henley shirt. “How’s lunch today sound?”

Spencer smiled as the older man began walking backwards slowly, not looking away until he got his answer.

“You know where I’ll be,” he answered, pleasantly surprising himself with his own ability to be coy.

Derek shot him one last smirk before disappearing down the hallway and Spencer was left absolutely dumbfounded by the conversation he’d just had.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled under his breath, sliding off his satchel and depositing it on his desk chair before following the signs to where Agent Gideon’s office was located, as he had been instructed to stop by upon arrival.

His hands were shaking and his heart was still pounding and he was sure that Gideon was going to comment on how red he knew his face would still be, but he was practically floating on cloud nine as he sat down with his pseudo-mentor.

“Spencer, did something happen? You look…stressed,” the older profiler spoke as he stepped into the room. He shrugged in an attempt to be casual, not really wanting to discuss his romantic life with Gideon of all people. Especially when it involved someone they both worked with.

“No, nothing, I guess I’m just excited,” he lied through his teeth, hoping the man who studied behavior for a living and knew him like his own son couldn’t tell he was definitely blowing smoke.

“Right, well, if you’re ready now I can have JJ call the team in for the briefing and you can meet everyone,” Gideon explained and Spencer followed him out of the room and down the hall. He pulled out a chair around the large round table for the younger man to sit down and he moved to stand by a large screen to talk to a blonde woman who didn’t look too much older than he was. She smiled at him as she began pressing buttons on a remote and he gave a quick wave before the room filled with, what he assumed was the rest of the team. As he stood he immediately locked eyes with Derek again, who smirked and set down his files in front of the seat right beside Spencer’s.

“Alright, well as I told you all, this is Dr. Spencer Reid and he’ll be joining our team from now on. Spencer, this is Agent Hotchner, our unit chief, Elle Greenaway, Derek Morgan, our technical analyst Penelope Garcia, and our communications liaison Jennifer Jareau,” Gideon listed, despite the fact that they all could’ve introduced themselves, but he was met with a tight hug from Penelope before he could protest and awkwardly adjusted his clothing afterwards.

He smiled nonetheless and explained that he didn’t do handshakes to the rest of the team before they all filled up the seats around the table with Derek sitting so close that he couldn’t help but notice him in the corner of his eye.

“So, no handshakes?” The other man whispered in his ear as JJ passed around the folders of new case files to the team.

Spencer huffed a laugh under his breath.

“Well, I have a bit of an issue with germs. Did you know shaking hands can transfer over three thousand bacteria between parties? Scientifically speaking, it would be safer to kiss,” he rambled before freezing as he realized the implications of what he had just said.

“Oh, really? Strictly scientifically?” Derek teased, knocking their knees together under the table.

He knew Derek was looking at him but he felt a smirk creep onto his lips as he refused to give in and kept his eyes on the slides JJ was presenting.

“Strictly,” he smirked coyly.

As they all collected their things and took off on the jet, Spencer couldn’t help glancing up from his work every few minutes to sneak glances at Derek from across the plane. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Derek was almost always staring back. Seemingly none of the other team members noticed anything going on between them, or if they did, they graciously didn’t mention it.

It wasn’t long until they landed and made their way to the local police station, all expressing concern that the station’s coffee machine was broken until Derek spoke up before anyone could move on.

“Reid and I will go pick up some coffee and lunch for everyone, I think we passed a cafe just down the street. You go ahead and start here, we’ll be back in no time,” he offered, nudging Spencer with his elbow until the younger man followed him out the door and into one of the parked SUV’s. “So, does now work for you to take a quick coffee date?”

Spencer laughed, relaxing already as Derek pulled out of the parking lot.

“Now sounds perfect.”

[laraminomi]

Health Net Insurance "The Real Thief"

In 2011 Health Net was associated with a Breach that affected about 2 million American people. Deposition by California trial court has given the final approval for a settlement in a consolidated class-action lawsuit against Heath Net Insurance. To provide you with an idea about how to learn how to take security to Cloud.

Advanced security threats and attacks are getting harder to detect as hackers are becoming more sophisticated. At the same time, the tools used to defend against cyberattacks keep multiplying and becoming more complex. Organizations can get ahead of these attacks by adopting a cloud analytics-driven security platform.

To identify theft losses, the settlement approved by the California superior court in Sacramento required providing certain plaintiffs with reimbursements. It also needed Health Net to offer credit monitoring to all 2 million affected and insurance coverage. Plus, according to settlement documents, it called for Health Net to make general changes to improve its physical and data security practices. Under the settlement, the deadline to sign up for the free credit monitoring was in early June, George explains.

The payment called for direct mail distribution and other outreach to breach victims to be notified about their rights to make a claim. They offered under the settlement also provides insurance coverage of up to $1 million per person. Two hundred four thousand individuals, or more than 10 percent of the people affected by the breach, signed up for the credit monitoring services. "That's a good amount for breaches like this," George stated, one of the California law firms representing plaintiffs in the suit. Health Net set aside up to $2 million pay ID theft-related expenses of up to $50,000 for each individual under those provisions. According to George, Those claims cover reimbursement for expenses associated with ID theft loss, such as bank fees and other costs incurred by individuals related to ID theft events.

The Sutter case was closed when another California court ruled that there was no evidence that plaintiffs' data was accessed when thieves stole an unencrypted desktop computer in 2011 containing data for 4 million individuals. Like the Sutter case, the class action against Health Net - which was the consolidation of about a dozen related lawsuits - sought for a remedy under California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, which provides for awards of $1,000 in nominal damages to a patient if a healthcare provider negligently releases medical information or records. And upon monitoring, "the provisions of the agreement to extend credit monitoring to plaintiffs is critical in protecting against and detecting ID theft and fraud, while the provisions for Health Net to improve its security practices are also important to consumers," George says.

Breaches affecting 500 or more American people did not acknowledge the Information Security Media Group inquiry about the status of HHS' Office for Civil Rights' HIPAA investigation into the incident. CEO statements Dan Berger, CEO of security consulting firm Redspin "Credit monitoring seems to be the default remedy in these large cases of PHI breach," quoted. "I am happy to see that Health Net submitted the changes that they have made to their physical and information security practices to the court and that the court found those be significant and weighed strongly in favor of the settlement," Berger adds.

"However, I don't like that the court went on to say in the settlement documents that these changes' constitute a real benefit to all Health Net members.' Under HIPPA, there is an expectation of privacy and security of personal health information. Fixing a problem isn't a benefit.

According to him, it simply brings Health Netback into compliance. According to Health Net company is "pleased to bring the matter to a close, and added that, to date, it has no evidence that any confidential information on the missing drives has been accessed or misused by any third party."

[othercat2]

Writing Update, Bunny, and Snippet(s)

So! While searching for porn I found a series called Taming Riki on Amazon, which is apparently original fan fic of Ai no Kusabi. It is not very good fan fic, and only semi okay porn. It reminded me very much of the kind of yaoi porn one used to be able to find on LJ in the early 2000s. I did end up reading it, but was very impatient with it. (Writer, have you ever actually met human beings? I wonder!)

This somehow led to reading Ai no Kusabi fan fic. Which was very odd since I was not impressed with the Ova! (I am probably not going to read the novel(s) since they apparently end in Bury Your Gays Under Piles of Rubble.) Anyway, the AnK fan fic seems to tend toward the "rewrite canon so characters survive" variety. And is often quite optimistic that the mains could have a relationship.

Bunny 1: Due to the part where Iason "Why is my surname a Mustelid, it must be because I fuck like Weasels" Mink is an android he was never actually in danger because all you need to do is down load a backup. Problem: he keeps crashing because Riki was made of meat, and he does not know how to grieve. Jupiter POV as they/it/she tries to get Iason back to operational parameters. (Ricky don't you lose my number plays ironically in the background.)

Bunny 2: Almost exactly like AnK except with Homestuck style quadrants. So much quadrant vacillation. SO MUCH.

Speaking of Homestuck, I've been working on Rebel and Conqueror! I have also been working on Pernstuck, and the next installment of The Yiling Almanac ("the young master most likely to be found disappearing into the kitchen garden") Wei Ying's love of potatoes is featured. (I need to find Ursula Vernon's rant on potatoes.) I've also managed to get some writing done on Build a Life from Scratch. However, I'm slightly frustrated because I can't segue over the GHB/Signless debate. And I hate debates.

Snippet the First: (Rebel and Conqueror)

Trolls had all kinds of mind control powers. They could terrorize you into catatonia or turn you into a puppet. It depended on the caste though. Lower castes tended to have telekinesis powers, higher up the scale started to be telepathy and fear projection. At the very top it was mostly resistance to the mind control powers (and you suspected, regeneration and other weird shit you've only heard rumors about). It probably made sense to trolls to keep you away from Vantas, if things like what happened to you happened a lot. “He’s fuchsia,” you say, and even as you say it, you know it’s a stupid thing to say. Vantas doesn’t need to have been the one to fuck with your head, with or without the pheromones. “Is there any proof he had anything done to my head? Aside from fucking with it just by being his normal asshole self?”

“No evidence was found in the initial investigation,” the Dolorosa admits.

"So he didn't do anything," you say. "So I think I should get to see him sentenced." You pause, looking down at your hands. "For closure. Since I'm not allowed to be in contact with him anymore." The Dolorosa gives you an odd look. It's part concern and part curiosity, and you realize what you said might sound like. "It isn't Stockholm Syndrome," you tell. "I don't feel dependent on him for safety or something." You just want to know what's going on with him. "And don't ask if I want to see him, because that opens the entire do you want to be his kismesis can of worms, and the answer to that is still and will always be fuck no."

The Dolorosa smiles a little at that. "That's understood," she says. "Would you want to be in contact? From what I understand that also seems to be an issue."

"So, troll doctors don't have confidentiality?"

"I think you've made it clear that it's an issue outside Doctor Coyotl's office," the Dolorosa says. "It would be hard to keep common knowledge confidential." Her tone is dry. "Wanting to see him doesn't necessarily correlate to wanting to be in a kismesis with him."

"I want to see him," you say. "I don't know about contact. Maybe I want to ask what he thought he was going to do, raising my kid and screwing with me at the same time. How he thought that was going to work. What was he going to tell my kid about me, if he thought he was going to get away with it. Maybe I want him to delete that fucking 'I hate you' wall he has. Maybe I want to point and laugh at all the 're-education' he's going to go through."

"He already knew he wasn't going to get away with it," the Dolorosa says.

"What's the Black Tower like?" you ask, veering slightly off the subject.

"A prison," the Dolorosa says. "Or in some ways a hospital. I'm sure Pyrope has explained some of the details."

"Re-educated, supervised visits, supervised everything, Earth still conquered but the Viceroy can't have a hate boyfriend, yeah."

"Among other possible punishments," the Dolorosa says. "But those are the most likely." She pauses. "Are there any penalties you'd prefer?"

"Be pretty stupid for me to ask for execution, wouldn't it? Maybe ironic after all the effort not to kill me." Probably also stupid to suggest it to his grandmother, but she asked. "Maybe freedom for Earth and he doesn't have command of anything bigger than one of those ships you stick in a bottle. But freedom isn't on the table either."

The Dolorosa doesn't lecture on the benefits of imperial rule. Instead she says, "Dr. Coyotl mentioned that you had been losing a considerable amount of time during your captivity." She decaptchalogues a data grub, and sets it down on a low table by the couch. It's stubs around a couple inches before curling up, mandibles opening and shutting. You absolutely do not want to pick it up. "This data grub contains the complete security footage from your time on the then-Viceroy's ship. After viewing this, we can discuss if and when you can see him."

"I have to watch the home movie if I want to see him?" you ask. The Dolorosa nods. You know that you're stalling. (You still don't want to pick the data grub up.)

"You can watch it on your own, or with your partner, Rose Lalonde," Dolorosa says, and gets to her feet to leave.

"Wait," you say. She gives you an inquiring look. "So, if this is the complete footage, that's a lot of hours. What's the amount of hours before you'll let me see Vantas?"

"At least seventy two hours within a twenty four hour time frame," Dolorosa says.

"Okay."

Something resembling manners has you get up and follow her to the door, and see her out. When she's gone, you lean against the bulkhead and shudder all over, face in your hands. You slide down the bulkhead to the deck. Take it in steps. There was a computer in the corner of the living room, built into a desk. It wasn't too organic or alarming in appearance. Get the grub to the computer, and open the files. Did you really want to watch it on your own? Did you want Rose there, knowing how badly she wanted to kill Vantas? (It takes a moment to wrap your head around the way the argument wants to phrase Rose's presence as a negative. You don't want me her to be hurt. You don't want her to hurt Vantas.) Did you want to watch it, already knowing what you were going to see? (All the parts you couldn't remember and all the parts you could.)

"This is bullshit," you say, half hoping for a comment from the intercom. "You're hoping I don't watch, which will prove I shouldn't see Vantas." You don't get an answer.

With cringing fingers you pick up the grub (soft squashy urgh) drive and stick it in the port. As the drive opens you send a message to Rose: so i have umptybillion hours of video footage to go through before they'll let me see vantas please come hold my hand. You don't get an immediate reply, so you start going through the files.

You see that you have lots of raw footage. As far as you can tell, no editing was done at all. You are going to be doing a lot of skipping and fast forwarding, is what you're saying. Opening the first file, you get started. It starts with him getting you into his ship, and his quarters. Your hands clench as you watch yourself wake up, the combination of anger and panic on your face as he fucks you, how it turns to lust and desperation. You fast forward.

You fast forward a lot. A lot of this, you remember, and don't much want to go over it again. From a third person perspective, it's weird watching him with you. Watching you with him. (You don't remember the times you tried to make a shank--three times--or biting him as often as you as you actually did.) You can see the moments of concern or confusion on his face, see him arguing with Egbert and Harley. Or meeting some official. (Those are the times when you can remember having been locked in your room. )

Snippet the Second: (Build a Life from Scratch)

After some more talk you all break camp and head west. As you all walk, you stretch your Aspects out, figure out what they can do. It's at least half way to sense for danger, half to practice. You might lay down a "beat" that Redglare joins in on, that Disciple sings along to, that Zahhak hums absentmindedly. Or Jade and Signless have a "song" that Dolorosa joins in on, accompanied by Disciple. Demoness can sound like an entire choir, with Highblood coming in over the top, "sounding" something like a theremin crossed with a bass fiddle. Dave joins in, and Roxy, doing odd little solos or "duets" with one of the trolls, or with Jade.

The next few nights not much happens. The terrain is uneven, the sky is endless, and the air is muggy and damp. There are a few high-flying clouds that disappear by morning. You can see mountains in the distance, and the glinting snake of a river edged with trees. On the third day, you get closer to the river, it starts to get cloudier and the wind kicks up. In the early evening, you can see the wall of an approaching storm. It's a solid green-black wall, and you can see the trailing mists of rain as it dumps down, along with flickers of lightning. "Well, that's going to suck when it gets here," you say.

At the same time you hear this huge sliding crunch off to the side. Exactly like someone pulled up a whole hell of a lot of chunks of ground, all at once. You turn in that direction and see huge chunks of dirt and rock floating around Jade and the Demoness. "Hopefully we can make it suck less!" Jade says cheerfully. The chunks orbit Jade and Demoness as they began to quickly create a shelter. Everyone helps with pounding the dirt and rocks into a rough shelter big enough to hold everyone plus the not-horses. Demoness and Jade (with help from Alter Dave and Dolorosa) smooth out the inside and make everything solid and waterproof.

You all get inside as the storm hits. Roxy pulls out a couple of battery powered lanterns, and sets them up. "Getting better at that," you say.

She grins. "This trick's kind of fun," she says. "Watch." She shows you everything she can make appear, and then disappear. She starts with green cubes, then goes on to various toys, a pair of shoes, a laptop computer, a 3rd Edition Dungeon and Dragons Player's Handbook and DM Handbook. And various sets of dice. And a DM screen. "So, how about a game?"

"That game's for nerds," you scoff.

She rattles one of the clear tubes of dice at you. "Dirk, you are in fact a nerd." She tosses the tube at you, and you catch it reflexively. She also tosses one at Alter Dave, who steps back and lets it fall.

"Nah," he says. "I want to be Debbie."

Roxy laughs, eyes a little bright. "Rose had a brief stint of leaving Chick Tracts in odd little places. I covered the door to her bedroom with a print of The Time of the Dark."

"The one with the wizard sitting in the kitchen with can of beer?" You ask.

"Yep!"

"Mean," Dave says. "Isn't Hambly kinda homophobic?" Quickly. "Not that I would know, except from what my Rose might have ranted about a time or two because she's read a few of the writer's series. I'm way too cool for wizards."

"Wizards are extremely cool," Roxy says. "And I'm not sure one way or another, except yes, if she had written certain books today the way she had then, she would be up to her ears in angry letters and tweets, because holy crap."

It turns out trolls also have roleplaying games. Redglare, Disciple and Signless join in. To your surprise, so does Demoness. Highblood, the Dolorosa and Zahhak do not.

[emmanuelodenyire]

Cloud Computing in a snapshot

What is cloud computing?

Briefly, cloud computing is the delivery of on-demand computing services from applications to storage and processing power typically over the internet and on a pay-as-you-go basis

How it works?

Rather than owning their own computing infrastructure or data centers, companies can rent access to anything from applications to storage from a cloud service provider.

One benefit of using cloud computing services is that firms can avoid the upfront cost and complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, and instead simply pay for what they use, when they use it.

In turn, providers of cloud computing services can benefit from significant economies of scale by delivering the same services to a wide range of customers.

What services are available in cloud computing?

Cloud computing services cover a vast range of options now, from the basics of storage, networking, and processing power through to natural language processing and artificial intelligence as well as standard office applications. Pretty much any service that doesn’t require you to be physically close to the computer hardware that you are using can now be delivered via the cloud.

What are examples of cloud computing?

Cloud computing underpins a vast number of services that includes consumer services like Gmail or the cloud back-up of the photos on your smartphone, though to the services which allow large enterprises to host all their data and run all of their applications in the cloud.

Why is it called cloud computing?

A fundamental concept behind cloud computing is that the location of the services, and many of the details such as the hardware or operating system on which it is running, are largely irrelevant to the user. It’s with this in mind that the metaphor of the cloud was borrowed from old telecoms network schematics, in which the public telephone network (and later the internet) was often represented as a cloud to denote that the just didn’t matter — it was just a cloud of stuff. This is an over-simplification of course; for many customers location of their services and data remains a key issue.

How important is the cloud?

Building the infrastructure to support cloud computing now accounts for more than a third of all IT spending worldwide, according to research from IDC. Meanwhile spending on traditional, in-house IT continues to slide as computing workloads continue to move to the cloud, whether that is public cloud services offered by vendors or private clouds built by enterprises themselves.

451 Research predicts that around one-third of enterprise IT spending will be on hosting and cloud services this year “indicating a growing reliance on external sources of infrastructure, application, management and security services”. Analyst Gartner predicts that half of global enterprises using the cloud now will have gone all-in on it by 2021.

According to Gartner, global spending on cloud services will reach $260bn this year up from $219.6bn. It’s also growing at a faster rate than the analysts expected. But it’s not entirely clear how much of that demand is coming from businesses that actually want to move to the cloud and how much is being created by vendors who now only offer cloud versions of their products (often because they are keen to move to away from selling one-off licences to selling potentially more lucrative and predictable cloud subscriptions).

Cloud computing can be broken down into three cloud computing models.

What is Infrastructure-as-a-Service?

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) refers to the fundamental building blocks of computing that can be rented: physical or virtual servers, storage and networking. This is attractive to companies that want to build applications from the very ground up and want to control nearly all the elements themselves, but it does require firms to have the technical skills to be able to orchestrate services at that level. Research by Oracle found that two thirds of IaaS users said using online infrastructure makes it easier to innovate, had cut their time to deploy new applications and services and had significantly cut on-going maintenance costs. However, half said IaaS isn’t secure enough for most critical data

What is Platform-as-a-Service?

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is the next layer up — as well as the underlying storage, networking, and virtual servers this will also include the tools and software that developers need to build applications on top of: that could include middleware, database management, operating systems, and development tools.

What is Software-as-a-Service?

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the delivery of applications-as-a-service, probably the version of cloud computing that most people are used to on a day-to-day basis. The underlying hardware and operating system is irrelevant to the end user, who will access the service via a web browser or app; it is often bought on a per-seat or per-user basis.

Cloud computing benefits

The exact benefits will vary according to the type of cloud service being used but, fundamentally, using cloud services means companies not having to buy or maintain their own computing infrastructure.

No more buying servers, updating applications or operating systems, or decommissioning and disposing of hardware or software when it is out of date, as it is all taken care of by the supplier. For commodity applications, such as email, it can make sense to switch to a cloud provider, rather than rely on in-house skills. A company that specializes in running and securing these services is likely to have better skills and more experienced staff than a small business could afford to hire, so cloud services may be able to deliver a more secure and efficient service to end users.

Using cloud services means companies can move faster on projects and test out concepts without lengthy procurement and big upfront costs, because firms only pay for the resources they consume. This concept of business agility is often mentioned by cloud advocates as a key benefit. The ability to spin up new services without the time and effort associated with traditional IT procurement should mean that is easier to get going with new applications faster. And if a new application turns out to be a wildly popular the elastic nature of the cloud means it is easier to scale it up fast.

For a company with an application that has big peaks in usage, for example that is only used at a particular time of the week or year, it may make financial sense to have it hosted in the cloud, rather than have dedicated hardware and software laying idle for much of the time. Moving to a cloud hosted application for services like email or CRM could remove a burden on internal IT staff, and if such applications don’t generate much competitive advantage, there will be little other impact. Moving to a services model also moves spending from capex to opex, which may be useful for some companies.

Cloud computing advantages and disadvantages

Cloud computing is not necessarily cheaper than other forms of computing, just as renting is not always cheaper than buying in the long term. If an application has a regular and predictable requirement for computing services it may be more economical to provide that service in-house.

Some companies may be reluctant to host sensitive data in a service that is also used by rivals. Moving to a SaaS application may also mean you are using the same applications as a rival, which may make it hard to create any competitive advantage if that application is core to your business.

While it may be easy to start using a new cloud application, migrating existing data or apps to the cloud may be much more complicated and expensive. And it seems there is now something of a shortage in cloud skills with staff with DevOps and multi-cloud monitoring and management knowledge in particularly short supply.

In one recent report a significant proportion of experienced cloud users said that they thought upfront migration costs ultimately outweigh the long-term savings created by IaaS.

And of course, you can only access your applications if you have an internet connection.

Cloud computing can be broken down into types briefly explained below:

What is public cloud?

Public cloud is the classic cloud computing model, where users can access a large pool of computing power over the internet (whether that is IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS). One of the significant benefits here is the ability to rapidly scale a service. The cloud computing suppliers have vast amounts of computing power, which they share out between a large number of customers — the ‘multi-tenant’ architecture. Their huge scale means they have enough spare capacity that they can easily cope if any particular customer needs more resources, which is why it is often used for less-sensitive applications that demand a varying amount of resources.

What is private cloud?

Private cloud allows organizations to benefit from the some of the advantages of public cloud — but without the concerns about relinquishing control over data and services, because it is tucked away behind the corporate firewall. Companies can control exactly where their data is being held and can build the infrastructure in a way they want — largely for IaaS or PaaS projects — to give developers access to a pool of computing power that scales on-demand without putting security at risk. However, that additional security comes at a cost, as few companies will have the scale of AWS, Microsoft or Google, which means they will not be able to create the same economies of scale. Still, for companies that require additional security, private cloud may be a useful stepping stone, helping them to understand cloud services or rebuild internal applications for the cloud, before shifting them into the public cloud

What is hybrid cloud?

Hybrid cloud is perhaps where everyone is in reality: a bit of this, a bit of that. Some data in the public cloud, some projects in private cloud, multiple vendors and different levels of cloud usage. According to research by TechRepublic, the main reasons for choosing hybrid cloud include disaster recovery planning and the desire to avoid hardware costs when expanding their existing data center.

[selinaapoynter]

A Guide to Selling Managed Services to SMBs

Providing proactive support to services clients is the easy part for many skilled IT professionals. However, while they may derive pleasure from modifying and adjusting the various technologies and monitoring everything to ensure end-users can remain productive 24/7, other activities often fall outside their comfort zones.

Some of the responsibilities can be tedious or difficult for skilled technical professionals. Selling managed services isn’t a natural talent, as many of those who live and breathe IT struggle when it comes time to negotiate and close new business deals. That may help explain why a significant portion of MSPs run what some consider to be lifestyle businesses, small firms that typically work with a relatively small client base. What some think is easy, like setting appointments and conducting a sales presentation, others find difficult and off-putting. Avoiding all the activities involved with selling managed services makes work and life much simpler.

Other service providers choose a different path. Some view expansion as necessary, and selling managed services can quickly improve their profitability and cash flow. MSPs must put structure in their marketing and sales programs to accomplish those objectives, adopting proven business practices and building processes that fit their specific needs.      

Targeting SMB Clients

The objective of any B2B organization is to find a target market willing to pay a premium price for easy to deliver goods and services. On the other end of the equation, optimizing the workload minimizes the personnel requirements and maximizes the profit margins. Selling managed services to potential clients is a prime example of that philosophy.

According to the latest U.S. Small Business Administration report, there are approximately 31.7 million small businesses, which means 99.9% of all companies in this country have fewer than 500 employees. The global number approaches 400 million), though many countries use the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) definition, which caps the staffing limit at 250 and represents 95% of the total firms and 60%-70% of worldwide employment.

Those statistics provide MSPs with a very strong business case for selling managed services to the SMB. Additionally, most small businesses have few, if any, IT experts on staff, which provides more support and financial opportunities for channel partners across the globe.

Selling managed services to the SMB is a symbiotic proposition. New customers gain the support of skilled IT professionals who can design, procure, implement, and support business-critical systems and solutions, while MSPs add MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) to their balance sheets. Those relationships also allow providers to leverage their resources across a greater number of vertical industries, maximizing employee productivity while optimizing various skill sets.  

No matter how large the contract, there is usually always money left on the table. Small businesses are no different than their bigger counterparts. Technology is an essential part of their operations today, and selling managed services to the SMB helps ensure everything runs smoothly.

Regardless of the company size, business leaders must deal with a litany of tech-related concerns, from cybersecurity and compliance requirements to virtual desktops and data backups. Even a two-employee startup needs functional computers and secure networks. Selling managed services to the SMB helps those organizations compete on an even playing field with larger and more well-funded competitors.  

These clients can also be easy for MSPs to onboard and manage. In addition, simplicity facilitates profitability, and implementing remote management and monitoring solutions, professional services automation platforms, and key business tool integrations can further increase efficiency. While these decision-makers typically have smaller budgets to work with, selling managed services to the SMB creates a win-win for the clients and the providers.    

This model can generate greater profits for both parties.

Selling the SMB on Managed Services

Nurturing prospective clients requires a long-term commitment. Selling managed services to SMBs can take time, and MSPs often focus much of their efforts on education, informing decision-makers of the business benefit that comes from proactive IT management.  

Despite the latest generations’ exposure to technology, many business owners and decision-makers know very little about the specific IT needs of their organizations. MSPs must be able to connect on a non-technical level when selling managed services to the SMB. Discussing business objectives, workflow challenges, common sales objections, regulatory controls and security concerns – without getting into the “speeds and feeds” of IT – keep clients and prospects engaged.

The more open the lines of communication, the easier selling managed services to the SMB will be for your team. Addressing non-IT-related anxieties such as compliance and workplace changes can drop their defenses and open the door for MSPs to soft-sell new solutions and justify paying more for upgrades to existing services.

Thanks to remote technologies, there are no geographic limits around this model, meaning there should never be a shortage of new opportunities for selling managed services to the SMB. MSPs can support clients down the block or on other continents with the right solutions and people in place. With the ability to leverage regional partners to deliver last-mile service when needed, providers can scale and expand their physical reach without limits today.

Selling managed services to the SMB in other geographies without local connections or area knowledge can be more difficult. Still, with the right partners, channel professionals, and technologies, it can be a lucrative opportunity. The key is building out a highly valued and easily manageable system.

Develop a High-Value Line Card

The key to selling managed services to the SMB is the MSP’s ability to address their pain points, including the issues that decision-makers may not know about or understand. Enabling remote workers with cost- and time-saving collaboration and communications tools is invaluable today. WFH and hybrid environments require new ideas and mindsets, as well as technologies that help business owners better manage those employees.

Cybersecurity is another high-demand offering when selling managed services to the SMB. Security solutions for protecting their data, people, systems, and client base are a priority for most organizations today, and MSPs that can confidently address and lessen those rising fears will be more likely to increase their sales and MRR.

Other high-value offerings include cloud storage service, advanced network support, and 24/7 helpdesk options. As more companies break out of the traditional office norms, including 8-5 schedules and the five-day onsite requirements, they need their IT professionals to be just as flexible. Selling managed services to the SMB today is much different from two years ago. Some things have changed a lot since the pandemic forced many organizations to reimagine their workplaces.    

Hire Professionals

While many MSPs may have a good understanding of the services market, the sales process can be somewhat of an albatross, and owners and technicians are probably not the best people for those sales conversations. Pitching a solutions portfolio to business professionals can be taxing to someone with little experience overcoming obscure objections or negotiating complicated deals within the sales process. That skill set can be acquired through persistence and practice – otherwise known as on-the-job training – or by hiring an experienced specialist.

Selling managed services to the SMB requires a certain knack and mindset. Those who take time to understand their current client base, potential customer’s pain points, business models, and workflows typically enjoy the most success, though listening and observing are just two of the necessary talents.

Among the other critical attributes is speaking to people like people, not CTOs or technicians. Selling managed services to the SMB requires MSPs to engage in meaningful conversations with business owners, accountants, lawyers, and others not trained in the intricacies of computer programming, network installation, or system management. The best way to close deals is to listen and address their specific needs and pain points.

Hiring professionals with experience selling managed services to businesses, particularly SMBs, is the ultimate goal. However, most MSPs cannot afford to poach great talent from their peers, so they typically recruit, onboard, and train those with good sales skills from complementary industries. Identifying those with a solid track record of closing large deals, preferably in the professional services space, should be an ongoing activity of every MSP.        

Most industry insiders suggest that it is easier to teach a great salesperson about technology than to train an IT professional to sell. Sales is an intuitive skill – the ability to engage prospects, provide a sales presentation, build rapport and gain their confidence, and close a deal − while MSPs can typically provide new employees with the IT knowledge they’ll need to succeed.

Build a Solid Game Plan for Selling Managed Services to the SMB

Creating long-term business relationships should be a top priority for MSPs. That’s why the strategy for selling managed services to the SMB must center on the pain points of prospective and current clients. However, identifying those concerns is just the first step. The questions MSPs need to ask when building out their game plans, and sales playbooks are actually quite simple:

     What issues do they need to address?  

     Which particular services are best for the MSP’s target audience?

     What are SMBs’ expectations?

     How much do a new prospect’s business practices and IT systems differ from their existing clients?

Focusing on each client is the key to selling managed services to the SMB.  Every email and call must address the prospect’s needs or build rapport. Some experts in the IT industry undervalue personalization, but in the small business arena, paying close attention to individual preferences and requirements can be the difference between making or losing a big sale.  

The best way to succeed at selling managed services to the SMB is by creating genuine bonds. Building solid relationships with the decision-makers and other influencers are critical to securing long-term contracts and growing new friendships.

For more information, click this links: A Guide to Selling Managed Services to SMBs

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MLOps: Comprehensive Beginner's Guide

MLOps, AIOps, DataOps, ModelOps, and even DLOps. Are these buzzwords hitting your newsfeed? Yes or no, it is high time to get tuned for the latest updates in AI-powered business practices. Machine Learning Model Operationalization Management (MLOps) is a way to eliminate pain in the neck during the development process and delivering ML-powered software easier, not to mention the relieving of every team member's life.

Let's check if we are still on the same page while using principal terms. Disclaimer: DLOps is not about IT Operations for deep learning; while people continue googling this abbreviation, it has nothing to do with MLOps at all. Next, AIOps, the term coined by Gartner in 2017, refers to the applying cognitive computing of AI & ML for optimizing IT Operations. Finally, DataOps and ModelOps stand for managing datasets and models and are part of the overall MLOps triple infinity chain Data-Model-Code.

While MLOps seems to be the ML plus DevOps principle at first glance, it still has its peculiarities to digest. We prepared this blog to provide you with a detailed overview of the MLOps practices and developed a list of the actionable steps to implement them into any team.

MLOps: Perks and Perils

Per Forbes, the MLOps solutions market is about to reach $4 billion by 2025. Not surprisingly that data-driven insights are changing the landscape of every market's verticals. Farming and agriculture stand as an illustration with AI's value of 2,629 million in the US agricultural market projected for 2025, which is almost three times bigger than it was in 2020.

To illustrate the point, here are two critical rationales of ML's success — it is the power to solve the perceptive and multi-parameters problems. ML models can practically provide a plethora of functionality, namely recommendation, classification, prediction, content generation, question answering, automation, fraud and anomaly detection, information extraction, and annotation.

MLOps is about managing all of these tasks. However, it also has its limitations, which we recommend to bear in mind while dealing with ML models production:

Data quality. The better the data one has, the better the model can produce to resolve a business problem.

Model decay. Real-life data changes with the flow of time, and one should manage this on the fly.

Data locality. The model, which are pretrained on different user's demographics, can not perform respectively while transferring to other markets.

Meanwhile, MLOps is particularly useful when experimenting with the models undergoing an iterative approach. MLOps is ready to go through as many iterations as necessary as ML is experimental. It helps to find the right set of parameters and achieve replicable models. Any change in data versions, hyper-parameters, and code versions leads to the new deployable model versions that ensure experimentation.

ML Workflow Lifecycle

Every ML project aims to build a statistical model out of the data, applying a machine learning algorithm. Hence, Data and ML Model come out as two different artifacts to the software development of the Code Engineering part. In general, ML Lifecycle consists of three elements:

Data Engineering: supplying and learning datasets for ML algorithms. It includes data ingestion, exploration and validation, cleaning, labeling, and splitting (into the training, validation, and test dataset).

Model Engineering: preparing a final model. It includes model training, evaluation, testing, and packaging.

Model Deployment: integrating the trained model into the business application. Includes model serving, performance monitoring, and performance logging.

Source: Microsoft

MLOps, Explained: When Data & Model Meet Code

As ML introduces two extra elements into the software development lifecycle, everything becomes more complicated than the use of DevOps for any software development. While MLOps still seeks for source control, unit and integration testing, and continuous delivery of the package, it brings some new differences, compared to DevOps:

Continuous integration (CI) applies to the testing and validating data, schemas, and models, not only refers to the code and components.

Continuous deployment (CD) refers to the whole system, which is to deploy another ML-provided service, but not to the single software or service.

Continuous training (CT) is unique to the ML models and stands for model service and retraining.

Source: Google Cloud

The level of each step of data engineering automation, model engineering, and deployment define the overall maturity of MLOps. Ideally, CI and CD pipeline should be automated to define the mature MLOps system. Hence, there are three levels of MLOps, categorized and based on the level of processes automation:

MLOps level 0: a process of building and deploying of ML model is entirely manual. It is sufficient for the models that are rarely changed or trained.

MLOps level 1: continuous training of the model by automating the ML pipeline, good fit for models based on the new data, but not for new ML ideas.

MLOps level 2: CI/CD automation lets work with new ideas of feature engineering, model architecture, and hyperparameters.

In contrast to DevOps, model reuse is a different story as it needs manipulations with data and scenarios, unlike software reuse. As the model decays over time, there is a need for model retraining. In general, data and model versioning is “code versioning” in MLOps, which seeks more effort compared to DevOps.

Benefits and Costs

To think through the MLOps hybrid approach for a team, which is implementing it, one needs to assess the possible outcomes. Hence, we've developed a generalized pros-and-cons list, which may not apply to every scenario.

MLOps Pros:

Automatic updating of multiple pipelines, which is terrific as it is not about a simple single code file task

ML Models scalability and management — depending on scope, thousands of model can be under control

CI and CD orchestrated to serve ML Models (depending on MLOps' maturity level)

ML Model's health and governance — simplified management of the model after deployment

A useful technique for people, process, and technology to optimize ML products development

We assume that it might take some time for any team to adapt to the MLOps and develop its modus operandi. Hence, we are proposing a list of possible “stumbling stones” to foresee:

MLOps Costs:

Development: more frequent parameters, features, and models manipulation, non-linear experimental approach compared to DevOps

Testing: includes data and model validation, model quality testing

Production and Monitoring: MLOps needs continuous monitoring and auditing for accuracy

memory monitoring — memory usage monitoring when performing predictions

model performance monitoring — models retraining applies with time as data can change, which can affect the results

infrastructure monitoring — continuous collection and review of the relevant data

Team: invest time and efforts for data scientists and engineers to adopt

Getting Started with MLOps: Actionable Steps

MLOps requires knowledge about data biases and needs high discipline within the organization, which decides to implement it.

As a result, every company should develop its own set of practices to adjust MLOps to its development and automation of the AI force. We hope that the guidelines mentioned contribute to the smooth adoption of this philosophy into your team.