Available in 2013, iStreamPlanet, will for the first time demonstrate Aventus, its new cloud-based, automated video workflow platform for delivering live events and live linear channels online, at Streaming Media West. The demonstration will take place during a keynote session with NBC Sports, who has been one of the key customers working with iStreamPlanet to develop the next generation live video platform.

Aventus is designed to help content distributors overcome the challenges in meeting the demand for more live online content, specifically by providing a scalable, simplified video workflow platform that increases reliability while decreasing the costs associated with delivering online live video to IP connected devices around the globe.

Aventus addresses the challenges of streaming live events and live-linear channels online to multiple platforms and devices by moving the workflow from hardware-dependent infrastructure to software- and cloud-based infrastructure. Read more...

Rackspace reveals Cloud Block Storage (CBS)-- a service similar to what Amazon offers with EBS, only using both HDD- and SSD-based storage. 

CBS provides multiple volumes of storage (each with 1TB maximum capacity), based on either HDDs or SSDs separate from cloud-based compute resources, using the "Cinder" detachable storage framework.

Users can also detach and re-attach storage between compute modes in seconds.

The company claims performance is "consistent and reliable," making it ideal for intensive applications such as file systems and databases. Read more...

An EU-commissioned IDC study suggests breaking down the barriers to cloud service adoption can have a strong impact on the European economy-- boosting public cloud spending from €35.2 billion to €77.7bn by 2020. 

The cloud can also potentially create up to 3.8 million local jobs in the region. 

The study comes weeks after the European Commission (EC) announcement of a cloud computing strategy aiming to cut through what the EC calls the "jungle of standards" currently in place across the region. 

"The diffusion of cloud computing is expected to generate substantial direct and indirect impacts on economic and employment growth in the EU," IDC says.  Read more...

The second Cisco Global Cloud Index (2011-2016) survey predicts a global data centre traffic explosion-- with annual traffic growing from 1.8 zettabytes in 2011 to 6.6 zettabytes in 2016. 

Just to clarify the numbers, Cisco says 1.3 zettabytes equals a trillion gigabytes. 

The biggest factor pushing such growth? The cloud, taking over 39% of WW 2011 data centre traffic (or 683 exabytes) before claiming 64% (4.3 zettabytes) in 2016. 

Cloud server workload growth mirrors the traffic trend-- from cloud servers processing 30% of server workloads in 20 Read more...