Computing heads for the clouds


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When the popular Gmail service broke down 10 days ago, it was a matter of minutes before thousands of users around the world began to vent their frustration. It was also one of the largest demonstrations yet of the vulnerability, and power, of the modern era of internet-based computing. Outsourcing of information technology services has been happening for more than three decades, but the transition of computing power from local clusters of servers to an interconnected global "cloud" is a modern phenomenon that has Google's name written all over it.

Google was one of the first big operators to realise the potential of distributed computing, turning hundreds of thousands of simple personal computer chips into what has become the world's most powerful computing network. In the process, the company's search engine has become a synonym for reliability. And its mail service, while still trailing services such as Microsoft Hotmail and Yahoo Mail on user numbers, is increasingly becoming a globally accepted e-mail standard. Entire organisations are switching their staff to Gmail systems, and last week Adelaide University, in Australia, become the latest university to switch its student mail system to the service.

The cost of a large implementation of e-mail such as Gmail is far less than the cost of running and maintaining in-house systems, and it is less than the cost charged by a traditional technology outsourcer. But incidents such as Gmail's breakdown on Feb 24, when the system was not available for all global users for almost four hours, expose a more unfortunate cost. When the cloud goes down, it goes down in a big way.

Google management says Gmail has a 99.9 per cent reliability rate, meaning the system will go into "down time" for less than 30 minutes each month. Such a rate is better than most in-house corporate mail systems and comparable to many of the best services provided by IT outsources. Injazat Data Systems, the UAE's largest IT outsourcer, recently opened a data centre on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi that is even more stable, with a reliability rate of 99.995 per cent.

"Sending processing and data into the cloud is an amazing way to manage a lot of your computing needs, but sometimes you need that extra level," says Kenny Wilson, Injazat's chief technology officer. "When it comes to truly sensitive information, data that you cannot afford to be without, or information that you have to have total control over, you want to have the physical presence, the local facility."

The reliability rating of the new Injazat facility helped it to gain classification as a Tier IV data centre, which is as good as a centre can get under internationally accepted standards. Through its parent company HP, which recently acquired its joint-venture partner EDS, Injazat can now take advantage of a global cloud of computing power and a bulletproof piece of local infrastructure. "When I first moved here and saw that we were building this centre, I thought it was too big, that we couldn't possibly need all that capacity," Mr Wilson says. "Now, I'm realising that we're going to have to build another one."

In Qatar, a similar move to combine the global cloud with a more localised system of data centres is being pushed by Meeza, a start-up IT services company backed by the Qatar Foundation. With the foundation driving an ambitious national development agenda, including new universities, research centres and a science and technology park, Meeza is busily scooping up contracts for everything from data management to systems development and consulting.

The company has already established a Tier III data centre that offers 99.98 per cent reliability, the best available in Qatar. It will be used in part to service Vodafone, the country's new mobile operator, which recently signed a 125 million Qatari rial (Dh126m) technology outsourcing deal with Meeza. "What we want to be is as good as anyone in the world," says Michael Molson, the vice president for operations at Meeza. "To do that in technology today, you need to be thinking about the whole cloud, not just your resources but all the resources that you and your partners can be utilising."

Although Google is reluctant to share the details of how it manages its private cloud of servers and data centres spread around the globe, it has said that at any given time, all the data associated with a user's e-mail account will be kept in at least two locations, making it all the more unlikely for data to be lost in a system crash or machine failure. But the cloud system also means complexity, in a big way. Where exactly is the physical machine storing your e-mails, credit card information or bank details? As the world's computing, processing and storage facilities become increasingly intertwined, it becomes harder and harder to trace what appears on your screen back to its source.

"With sensitive information, data that comes with legal or commercial sensitivity, keeping it somewhere trusted and local is always going to be the best option," says Mr Molson. "But all the user needs to know when it comes to the cloud is that it works. It just works, and what you really need to be thinking about is how to make the most of it." @Email:tgara@thenational.ae

Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Libya's Gold

UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves. 

The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.

Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

RESULTS

Welterweight

Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) beat Mostafa Radi (PAL)

(Unanimous points decision)

Catchweight 75kg

Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) beat Leandro Martins (BRA)

(Second round knockout)

Flyweight (female)

Manon Fiorot (FRA) beat Corinne Laframboise (CAN)

(RSC in third round)

Featherweight

Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB) beat Ahmed Al Darmaki

(Disqualification)

Lightweight

Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) beat Rey Nacionales (PHI)

(Unanimous points)

Featherweight

Yousef Al Housani (UAE) beat Mohamed Fargan (IND)

(TKO first round)

Catchweight 69kg

Jung Han-gook (KOR) beat Max Lima (BRA)

(First round submission by foot-lock)

Catchweight 71kg

Usman Nurmogamedov (RUS) beat Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)

(TKO round 1).

Featherweight title (5 rounds)

Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)

(TKO round 1).

Lightweight title (5 rounds)

Bruno Machado (BRA) beat Mike Santiago (USA)

(RSC round 2).

Rebel%20Moon%20-%20Part%20One%3A%20A%20Child%20of%20Fire
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EZack%20Snyder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESofia%20Boutella%2C%20Djimon%20Hounsou%2C%20Ed%20Skrein%2C%20Michiel%20Huisman%2C%20Charlie%20Hunnam%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SANCTIONED
  • Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
  • Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB. 
  • Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.  
  • Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
  • Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

The more serious side of specialty coffee

While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.

The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.

Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”

One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.

Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms. 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Where to submit a sample

Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain