Last week, executives from Sony Computer Entertainment and many video game industry leaders spent just more than two hours introducing the PlayStation 4. On top of all of the hardware and game-specific content displayed, much of the conference focused on how Sony is planning to drive social and intuitive video game mechanics in the next-generation system. This type of functionality has become a staple of the video game industry, and showcases how important managed hosting could be moving forward.

Considering where video gaming is going
If you watched the conference, you may have noticed a few quirks in the presentation style. In short, certain terms and hype-focused phrases garnered a lot of attention. “Ecosystem” was one such term. The full scope of this oft-repeated word is put in focus by an introductory phrase from Sony’s Andrew House who said Sony is aiming to create an environment in which “the living room is no longer the center of the PlayStation ecosystem, the gamer is.”

In the case of Sony, the idea of building an ecosystem for video gaming is centered around the idea of making content available on any Sony device and through the cloud. Downloads are designed to be almost instantaneous, and can happen in the background during gameplay. Sharing screenshots and video is intuitive and encouraged.
These kinds of functions provide a glimpse into the future of gaming that you will be able to experience sometime during the 2013 holiday season when the PlayStation 4 and, in all likelihood, the new Xbox are released.

Keeping up with industry changes
Developers and publishers have their work cut out for them if they want to integrate with console-based game stores that offer such efficient downloads. They also have to be ready to support the kind of social functionality emphasized by console manufacturers. While some of the network functions will be handled by the OEMs, game makers have to consider how they can engage in this increasingly social and constantly connected world.

Give the industry changes ahead, managed hosting services will be essential to the future of online gaming. Such services provide developers and publishers with the tools they need to cost-effectively create web and social content that encourages sharing. Moving forward, video game ecosystems will push for holistic web, mobile, cloud and console functionality, making managed hosting a key part of the sector.

To learn more about the benefits of managed hosting for online game developers, watch our video.

Have you ever had a great idea for a new online game, but lacked the right resources to turn it into reality? Without powerful servers and enough funding for a development environment, your idea could just be dust in the wind, dude. So what’s the best way to achieve success? Learn how one talented group of students, academics and gaming entrepreneurs built an online multiplayer game in eleven weeks with the help of Internap’s AgileCLOUD.

In the summer of 2012, Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI), Becker College and UMass Medical School joined forces to create “On Call,” an online medical simulation game. Designed to educate and train allied health professionals, “On Call” was built by students during their annual MassDiGi Summer Innovation Program (SIP). The process of building a game presented an excellent opportunity for students to be involved in the development process and solve a problem from start to finish.

To transform their idea into an actual game, the group had to overcome a few challenges. Anyone who has tried to initiate a program in a University setting knows that projects don’t survive without funding or research, so the prospect of focusing on this project during the MassDiGi eleven-week Summer Innovation Program made complete sense.

“What are we going to do for a server?”
With resources now dedicated toward the project, the next challenge was the restrictions of campus IT. The team wasn’t sure if the game could be accessed by everyone worldwide if they used the limited resources at their disposal. So this led them to seek an easy, cost-effective way to spin up a virtual server in minutes that could support their development and collaboration needs.

“We had an ambitious plan to build an online multiplayer game in eleven weeks, working within the restrictions of campus IT. Thankfully, we had access to AgileCLOUD and were able to bring up publicly accessible servers in a matter of minutes,” said Monty Sharma, Managing Director of MassDiGI and producer of “On Call.” “We had a distributed source control environment and application servers available to anyone in the world. Without the help of Internap and AgileCLOUD this would never have been possible.”

As a result, a closed beta of “On Call” is currently being touched by hundreds of users. Its Facebook-like concept has the ability to help medical professionals collaborate with each other across geographies. For doctors in remote areas with few staff, this would allow them to ask questions and communicate with medical professionals in other locations.

MassDiGi’s successful completion of this project is an example of how the cloud can revolutionize academic institutions from a technology perspective:

Game development skills create a competitive edge – Students who have experience with cutting-edge technologies are well-positioned for success. With access to game development tools in the cloud, students can gain expertise that may not be available to their peers.

Cloud can differentiate Universities – Like most businesses, all institutes of higher learning are trying to stay marketable and competitive. With access to cloud environments, students can participate in real-world scenarios, giving them a leg up in securing a job after graduation – a benefit that could justify higher tuition.

Alleviate campus IT hurdles – Not only can the cloud provide students with easy access to the computing power they need, it also means less physical space is required for large computer labs and equipment. This alone can be a huge cost-saving measure for campus facilities. The days of disks are over – no more sign-up sheets to use the computer lab.

Internap is proud to support a project that could lead to better collaboration among medical professionals, and we are certain that other big accomplishments are just around the corner for MassDiGi and their team.

Sound too good to be true? Learn more about AgileCLOUD and how it can help you reach your goals.

Cloud hosting solutions and other cloud offerings provide organizations with a powerful, cost-effective way to improve operations. However, cloud computing is a relatively young technology that many businesses are still trying to figure out. This has led to many security concerns because issues of control, data ownership and availability come into play. While these concerns are limited, all of them can be dealt with by choosing the right service provider to partner with.

Understanding cloud security issues
The core security issue in cloud environments stems from control. The data is placed in the hands of a third-party vendor, putting organizations in a position where they have to iron out the details of who owns the data at various phases of the partnership. Boundaries are unclear across the industry, creating problems with control and availability if the partnership is not effective.

The primary issue at the center of this is the newness of cloud technology. To a great extent, companies are still searching for the line between their responsibilities and those of the cloud provider. Inconsistent standards across the industry have led to many of the cloud security concerns, but individual providers can overcome these problems and protect data in the cloud more effectively than most businesses can do on their own.

Improving cloud security through an effective partnership
Collaborating with a cloud vendor is the first thing businesses need to do if they want to secure cloud assets effectively. Understanding everything from how the virtual servers will be established to data flows through the network can give IT departments a better idea of how the system will work and when the security responsibility falls on them. This communication can also allow both parties to establish clear lines of demarcation identifying data ownership, availability and control standards within the cloud deal.

Developing this type of collaborative partnership can be difficult. Working with a provider that is flexible and capable of offering a powerful security foundation is key when striving for such a relationship. If the vendor has a good security program and a clear Service Level Agreement (SLA), both parties will understand which responsibilities fall to the client and which ones stay with the provider. This knowledge can act as the starting point in building the type of working environment that overcomes many cloud security issues.

Recently, 54% of companies identified security as their main concern for transitioning to the cloud. Check out our infographic, Cloud Security: Perception vs. Reality, to learn how the right provider can alleviate your concerns and provide a secure environment for your data.

It’s important to have a backup strategy to ensure you’re backing up the data you need, so that in the event of a recovery – whether from a server crash or other disaster – you can restore the data as quickly as possible.

We’ve identified four things you may want to consider when deciding what does and doesn’t need to be backed up.

1. Operating system – At Internap, we use operating system images pre-built and ready to go, to redeploy to a server at the drop of a hat. Using our portal and API, you can redeploy a server on demand in as little as seven minutes by deploying standardized operating system image. You don’t need to back up your operating system, because we’ve got that covered.
2. Operating system configuration files – You may want to back these up, as well as the applications you installed on your operating system, such as the web server or database service. A better way might be to use a configuration management system to deploy those applications, or deploy those configuration changes after you’ve installed the server. At Internap, we use a system called Chef, which is very common in the industry, and allows you to always ensure your server is configured the same every time, whether you’re restoring from a server crash or deploying new servers because you need additional capacity. So it’s not necessary to back up your operating system configuration in your applications.
3. Customer application code – This might be the actual content of your website, your Drupal application, or whatever is powering your site. If you use a deployment workflow, backing up your application may not be necessary, because you already keep a master copy in source control if you’re using a deployment workflow like this. For example, your developers, who are working independently, are pushing code in to a source control management system. You’re pushing out to test environments regularly and tracking changes. Later, when pushing to a staging environment, you’re testing preferably with live data and as close to your production environment as possible. Once you’re satisfied that everything works exactly as expected, you then push from that master copy into production. Where the dynamic content comes in, is when users are uploading into your production system. This could be as website visitors who are uploading files or posting comments to forums, or a web master or site administrator who is developing content within a content management system after you’ve deployed the application.
4. App & user data – Finally, you have the user data that comes with your application. This is the content generated after you’ve deployed it. This might be the files that users or site visitors upload, or content that your site administrator or webmaster has written within a content management system content generated after you’ve deployed it.

Once you’ve figured out exactly what needs to be backed up, you can choose the best method to protect your data. Whether you’re using simple scripts utilities or continuous data protection software, you can check against these four elements to see what you need to back up, and how and when, so that when it’s time to recover from a disaster or server crash, you can do it as quickly as possible.

Trend 3: OTT platforms open the floodgates for new content providers
As cable channels watch their audiences dwindle, new opportunities are arising for over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The economics of this shift threaten traditional distribution models as well as the content providers that support them. As OTT pure-plays look to fill the void left by the demise of media giants such as Viacom, more nimble content providers that don’t rely on existing cable or network distribution for the bulk of their revenue could benefit greatly.

Five Trends to Watch for Content Owners in 2013.
Trend 1: Online privacy concerns
Trend 2: The rise of the multi-tablet household

Ahhh, it’s Valentine’s day. Visions of roses and chocolates dancing in your head? For those who may still be struggling with an original gift idea for your sweetie, think Teddy Bears!

For one company, the most popular items sold online for this romantic holiday are in fact, teddy bears. But not just any teddy bear. These fluffy hunks are dressed to the nines with names like “Love Bandit,” “Heart Throb” and “Frog Prince.” The Vermont Teddy Bear Company offers teddy bears — small to tall — matching teddy bear and PJ sets, and more.

Vermont Teddy Bear has been creating personalized bears since 1984. While they sell many popular items including Pillow Puppets, Hoodie-Footies and PajamaJeans, their teddy bear business is most popular around Valentine’s Day. So naturally, one can see how traffic spikes to their website could be cause for concern. In fact, network traffic greatly affects Vermont Teddy Bear’s business, especially since 80% of their products are sold online.

As an Internap customer, Vermont Teddy Bear’s website is always prepared to handle the demand surge around Valentine’s Day. Using our Performance IP™ and Content Delivery Network (CDN) they can successfully mitigate the risks of latency and incomplete orders.

Read the case study or watch the video to learn more about the technologies Vermont Teddy Bear uses to help keep their bear, and other, business humming along. Or, if you have a great idea for a new Vermont Teddy Bear, please fill out and submit this form.

Photo: Vermont Teddy Bear Co.

The IT Infrastructure landscape is evolving quickly, and with it comes a change in the way IT decision makers view data centers, colocation services and the prevalence of cloud options available to them. Knowing the most effective way to leverage these can help you streamline resources while maintaining security, scalability and performance for your business.

In an effort to provide some insight into the shifts that are taking place, Internap conducted a survey of IT decision makers in the U. S. who are responsible for purchasing IT Infrastructure services such as colocation and cloud. The responses indicate a shift in the way traditional colocation services are managed and delivered, with an increasing demand for “cloudy colo” features. This would bring many of the benefits of the cloud, such as automation, self-service capabilities and detailed real-time insights to more traditional colocation environments. But while public cloud is clearly top of mind for most organizations today, many are still unsure of when cloud is the most effective and cost-efficient choice.

Making decisions about your IT Infrastructure can be challenging, but being aware of current trends empowers you to choose wisely. Download the full report, The Data Center Services Landscape, to find out how your organization compares with the survey results.

When your servers have been pushed to their limits, what options will you consider to increase their capacity? To handle more traffic, you can always add more RAM or a bigger processor, but this vertical scaling method can still restrict future growth. Including a plan for horizontal scaling as part of your IT Infrastructure could provide a better long-term solution.

Watch as Internap’s Hosting Evangelist, Andrew Boring, draws some original artwork to demonstrate the benefits of horizontal scaling.

Trend 2: The rise of the multi-tablet household
Content owners are now faced with the challenge of providing an optimal user experience for a variety of devices, including tablets. As the number of multi-tablet households increases, customers are using them in different ways – smaller devices are more likely to be used for eBook reading, mobile-as-Web browsing, email and photo sharing, while their larger 10-inch counterparts may work better for browsing full versions of websites, reviewing presentations or watching full-length video. How will digital publishers meet the demand for content that is quick to load, always available and optimized for a myriad of devices?

To learn more, download our white paper, Five Trends to Watch for Content Owners in 2013.

Threats to business continuity can take place any time of year, so it’s important to always be prepared. If you are seeking a new data center provider or merely reevaluating your existing one, there are several questions you should ask to determine their ability to prevent a disruption to your critical business operations in the event of a disaster – whether natural or man-made.

Unexpected events are inevitable, but by selecting the right data center partner, you can minimize the impact of these events on your business. The keys to disaster preparedness for a data center provider are:

1) infrastructure design,
2) documented response plans,
3) mock disaster drills,
4) preventative maintenance,
5) clear communications and last, but certainly not least,
6) the right people.

All of these elements should be in place, well-documented where necessary and audited by a third-party firm consistent with Service Organization Controls (SOC) reporting standards. To learn more and get specifics about each of the above, download our eBook, Data center disaster preparedness: 6 assurances you should look for in a data center provider.