RightScale

RightScale (www.rightscale.com) has focused on creating a transparent platform that embraces open standards, giving you the tools to avoid lock-in. The RightScale Cloud Management Platform lets you choose freely from a variety of programming languages, development environments, data stores, and software stacks. You choose the components and at any time you can make changes, add additional components, or move it all back into your own data center.

Your freedom to choose extends to the cloud provider or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) layer as well. You can select the best cloud infrastructure for your application, migrate to a new one, or split deployments across multiple clouds�public or private�all from within RightScale�s single management environment. With new cloud providers emerging all the time, you�ll be able to select the best cloud for your specific application requirements, security or SLA mandates, geographic locations, usage patterns, or pricing to maximize performance, flexibility, and return on investment.

This portability is offered without sacrificing the automation you need to be productive. Other solutions delivered by PaaS vendors have automated their environments at the expense of portability. While these vendors provide well-established and robust offerings, they often lock you in to proprietary programming languages, data stores, or black-box environments. Such PaaS platforms largely eliminate your freedom to develop using the best tools for your application, maintain a tight grip on your data, and restrict your visibility into all levels of execution of your application. RightScale sets itself apart through Cloud-Ready ServerTemplates. This is a unique approach to managing complete deployments�comprising multiple servers and the connections between them�across one or more clouds. Within such deployments, each server can be preconfigured and controlled using a cloud-ready ServerTemplate. A ServerTemplate starts with a RightImage, a simple base machine image (similar to Amazon�s AMI) that normally contains only the operating system, and then adds Right-Scripts, scripts that define the role and behavior of that particular server. RightScripts may run during the boot, operational, and shutdown phases of the server�s lifecycle.

One key advantage of ServerTemplates lies in their ability to deploy cloud-ready servers. These servers know how to operate in the cloud�i.e., how to obtain an IP address, how to access and manage storage, how to submit monitoring data, and how to collaborate with other servers in a cloud deployment. Another advantage lies in their innovation beyond the �machine image� model, allowing you to more flexibly and quickly modify server configurations.


ServerTemplates versus Machine Images
ServerTemplates speed the configuration and simplify the management of servers in your deployments by innovating beyond the �machine image� model. With machine images, configuration information is forced into a static machine image on disk into which scripts, executables, and variables are hard-coded and frozen. ServerTemplates store their components outside the machine image in a modular fashion. You don�t need to launch a server to change it�just make the change to the ServerTemplate or to one of the components�and the next time a server launches, the change will be included automatically. And because these scripts are stored separately from the template, they can be shared across multiple templates. Update a script and, if you like, it will be updated for all templates that use it.

Source: www.rightscale.com/products/advantages/servertemplates-vsmachine-
images.php

Consider this scenario: Let�s say you have ten servers running based on machine images and you want to make a change to the syslog script of each. With machine images, the syslog script is included in each machine image and running on each server, so you will need to edit each live (running) image one at a time, by hand. Then you will need to retrieve the saved or �bundled� images held in the data store, launch a server with that image, make the change manually, resave the image, place the disk file (�bundle�) back into the data store, and decommission the server. That�s a lot of manual labor!

COST = Time to Change Image � Live Images + Time to Retrieve, Launch, Change � Stored Images

If you deploy those same servers with RightScale using ServerTemplates, all you have to do is change the syslog script and relaunch the appropriate servers. The new syslog will click into the boot process automatically. To have already-running servers reflect the new syslog script, the systems administrator simply needs to tell RightScale which servers to update and the change will be automatically propagated. That�s a huge step forward in time-saving automation.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Elastra

Elastra (www.elastra.com) is a company with an interesting kind of cloud-based middleware. It was founded by serial entrepreneur Kirill Sheynkman, who successfully sold companies to IBM and to BEA. Elastra is funded by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, an experienced venture capital firm who invests almost exclusively in software and middleware and lately has been investing heavily in Software as a Service (SAAS) and in cloud computing. John Hummer sits on their board.

Elastra aims to help you easily overcome the challenges of scalability in the cloud, by making it seem almost transparent to you:

The Elastra Cloud Server gives your IT organization the ability to:

� Rapidly model and provision application infrastructure
� Automate changes to the system deployment process
�Efficiently utilize internal, external, and virtualized IT resources on demand
� Enforce IT policy rules

Elastra has three design goals for an end-to-end cloud design approach:
� Separated Applications from Infrastructure, through modeling the application in terms of its architecture and infrastructure requirements without tying the application to a specific set of underlying infrastructure

� Enabling Computer-Assisted Modeling and Control Automation, provided by a set of control agents and user-guided by graphical design tools. This could help IT architects and operators determine design constraints on the application, match the design to the underlying infrastructure, and enable goal-driven automation to deploy, scale, or recover their IT systems on demand.

� Explicit Collaboration To Enact Changes, through models that codify, relate, and analyze the constraints and preferences that are appropriate to stakeholders across enterprise IT�from architects and developers, through operators, administrators, and managers.

Source: www.elastra.com/technology/reference-architecture-introduction

Elastra has defined a set of modeling languages and a reference architecture and has built an implementation that integrates both existing and emerging IT automation and management servers. This work is based on a set of eight characteristics desirable for an information system that addresses cloud application design and operations problems holistically. These characteristics are listed in Elastra's Reference Architecture introduction, available at www.elastra.com/technology/reference-architecture-introduction (accessed July 20, 2010).


Elastra for Amazon Web Services

Model Open Source Infrastructure
Use the design workbench to quickly and easily create a variety of reusable application infrastructure designs. Create anything from an Apache web farm to a J2EE stack, or just a design with a single piece of software.

Deploy to Amazon Web Services
Automate the deployment of models with a click of a button. Quickly generate end-to-end, executable, model-driven deployment plans that streamline provisioning of EC2 resources and open source components such as Apache, JBoss, Tomcat and MySQL.

Source: www.elastra.com/products/elastra-for-aws

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

3Tera

3Tera, acquired by CA in June 2010, offers Cloudware (www.3tera.com/Cloud-computing), an architecture providing an open framework to allow the development of a cloud computing environment that�s open enough to work on nearly any Web/enterprise application. The absence of cloud computing standards have led to vendor lock-in, where each cloud vendor offers a proprietary cloud. Cloudware is a big step toward bridging clouds and creating standards that will lead to an open environment for clouds, providing customers with mix-and-match capability and freedom of movement.

3Tera presents its vision of �Utility Computing� on its Web site:

3Tera�s AppLogic grid operating system eliminates the binding of software to hardware through self-contained software components called virtual appliances. Combined with an expansive management capability and simple graphical interface, implementing, managing and deploying applications to a cloud is fast and easy. The use of virtual appliances also makes services scalable within 3Tera AppLogic. In essence 3Tera provides the fundamental elements of a cloud solution that can be offered by a service provider or used directly by enterprises. When virtual appliances aren�t running, they consume no processing resources and only a small amount of storage. As such, rather than using them sparingly like traditional software, virtual appliances can be packaged with every application that uses them. In essence, the virtual appliances form a disposable infrastructure on which the application relies while operating. When the application is run, the virtual infrastructure it requires is created dynamically on the grid, maintained while it runs, and disposed of when it stops.

3Tera AppLogic enables users to build a cloud computing environment in a matter of hours, and includes the features needed to operate and manage the cloud. Users take virtual appliances and assemble them into composite services through a simple drag-and-drop interface. These services are then deployed and scaled as needed on the 3Tera AppLogic cloud as a single logical entity. The platform also provides a single point of management for the cloud, and access to advanced high availability features, resource metering, operations monitoring, and a scriptable command line interface.

3Tera AppLogic is vendor-neutral. It uses advanced virtualization technologies to be completely compatible with existing operating systems � Windows, Linux and Unix � middleware and applications. Minimum requirements are Intel P4 or compatible AMD processor at 1GHz or better, 512MB of RAM, 80GB of ATA/SATA storage, one gigabit Ethernet interface for the backbone and another Ethernet interface for the public network.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Abiquo

Abiquo is a complete solution designed from the ground-up to provide next generation Cloud management. Abiquo provides features like virtual to virtual conversion; reportedly, it is easy to implement and operate and facilitates managing thousands of virtual machines, without relinquishing control of the physical infrastructure.

Authorized users and groups are empowered to manage their own virtual enterprises within allocated resource limits. New virtual machines or pre-built appliances can be deployed in seconds, dramatically improving efficiency and allowing you to regain business agility.

Source: http://www.abiquo.com/products/abiquo-overview.php

Abiquo manages all aspects of the virtualization infrastructure, including the physical cores, network and storage resources. It is vendor agnostic, supporting all of the popular hypervisors and will convert one supported hypervisor type to any other in a simple drag-and-drop operation, ending vendor lock-in. Abiquo will capture and store stateful virtual images in shared, private, and public image repositories. The repositories allow customers to view all virtual images, centrally load gold images from an enterprise�s existing storage systems, and immediately deploy. As a result, enterprises no longer needed to start from scratch on the Cloud; they could leverage and deploy existing images, a major time-saver when migrating.

Source: http://www.abiquo.com/news-and-events/abiquo1.6.php



Abiquo�s Vision
The Resource Cloud
In the Abiquo vision, the provision of physical infrastructure is completely separated from the virtual application infrastructure by a �Resource Cloud�. Physical infrastructure, managed by the IT infrastructure organization, contributes resources to the Resource Cloud, while virtual enterprises (containing virtual datacenters, virtual machines and virtual appliances) consume it. Today, we might think of the resources as CPU cores, memory, storage and connectivity, but these terms will change to more universal units of resource as the market evolves.

. . . the IT infrastructure organization delegates management of the virtual enterprises. It simply creates a virtual enterprise, assigns someone to administer it, and sets limits as to the resource that may be consumed. All of this takes less than a minute. The assigned administrator could be a development lab manager, or similar, but in many cases, especially in enterprise organizations, he or she will be an IT organization professional in another area�for example the messaging group that manages operation of corporate email.

The decision as to where a virtual machine is deployed (i.e., the actual physical server it will run on) is determined entirely automatically, according to policy. In fact, neither the virtual enterprise administrator, nor any other consumer of the Resource Cloud knows either. And so long as deployment has occurred according to policy, they don�t care. Policy is however vitally important. It governs obvious rules, like �don�t try to run this workload on a server that has insufficient capacity or the wrong hypervisor�, [and also implements security policies such as] �this application must be network separated from that application�, to �this application is so sensitive it can only run in a local datacenter.� It also covers how available physical resources are to be utilized, by implementing appropriate policies such as, �spread the load across all available machines� where maximum performance is required to �load each physical machine fully before loading the next one� in a hosting environment.

Elasticity
Physical resources can be provided by a local datacenter, remote data centers owned by the organization (together a Private Cloud) or by third party providers (Public Cloud). The IT infrastructure organization has full control of the resources added to the resource cloud and, in the case of public cloud resources such as Amazon EC2, of the amount that may be consumed with each vendor. Combined with workload policy, this allows third-party resources to be consumed safely and in line with suitable security, taking advantage of standards as they evolve.

Libraries Manage Virtual Machine Images
Where permitted by role, users can capture and store virtual machine images in private, shared or even public libraries. They can combine sets of VM images into a single appliance for easy redeployment. Shared libraries allow the IT organization to define standard VM images�for example built to company antivirus, directory, and control requirements. Public VM images from reputable vendors can be downloaded for rapid deployment of complex systems, dramatically reducing implementation and evaluation times.

Benefits
[Abiquo] reduces the load on the IT infrastructure organization, by delegating responsibility for virtual enterprise management. Given that virtual enterprise users don�t have direct access to physical machines, and that virtual enterprises cannot exceed allocation resources (because workload management doesn�t allow it), there is no danger in this delegation. The IT infrastructure organization can then rest easy, [and] focus on meeting service levels. . .

Source: http://www.abiquo.com/resources/vision.php



Management Benefits
Using VMWare�s VCloud (Cloud User API) standard, Abiquo offers a Cloud Service API enabling self-service administrators to migrate existing VMs and other resources into the resource cloud quickly and easily.

Abiquo 1.6 includes network management capabilities such as support for 802.1Q VLAN model with trunking, multiple NICs per virtual machine, multiple virtual LANS (VLANs) per virtual datacenter, named networks, fully configurable address spaces, allocation policy management based on VLAN availability, physical NIC customization, and support for DHCP relays. Earlier releases of Abiquo already provided the ability to identify, purchase, and assign public IP addresses at a targeted location, as well as the ability to centrally track all networks running in virtual enterprises. A Cloud Operator API, inspired by Sun Public Cloud (Resource Cloud API), enables an Operator to run a dynamic, scalable cloud that is configured based on automated capacity rules.



Other Abiquo Benefits
Hypervisor Independence
Abiquo was designed to avoid dependence on any hypervisor. Not only are all major hypervisors fully and simultaneously supported, Abiquo allows conversion of virtual machines from one hypervisor to another in any combination, completely eliminating vendor lock-in with a single drag and drop operation. Supported hypervisors include all the major hypervisors in use today:

� VMware ESX and ESXi
� Microsoft Hyper-V
� Citrix XenServer
� Virtual Box
� Xen
� KVM

Multi-tenancy with Delegated Control
Hierarchical user management and role based permissions allow delegation of management tasks according to the organization�s needs. Since any user�s view is limited to the hierarchy below them, Abiquo provides multi-tenancy with full isolation, whether to internal groups, or to external customers. A single Web-based management console is context sensitive to the role and permissions of the relevant user, reducing complexity and providing unparalleled ease of use.

Setting and Enforcing Resource Limits
Defined CPU, memory and storage limits for each Virtual Enterprise, including both hard (enforced) and soft (warning) levels for each ensure that no Virtual Enterprise can exceed its allocated resource limit; there is no danger of users exceeding the capabilities of the physical infrastructure.

Network and Storage Management
Storage resources from popular standards and vendors can be managed, including OpenSolaris ZFS and LVM/iSCSi, allocating them to Virtual Enterprises and allowing Enterprise Administrators to perform volume management tasks, as well as allocation to specific virtual machines. Abiquo 1.6 adds extended Logical Volume Manager (LVM) storage support on Linux-based Servers to manage iSCSI LUNs.

Source: http://www.abiquo.com/products/abiquo-overview.php
Abiquo partners with Red Hat, IBM, Oracle (Sun), HP, Microsoft, and VMware.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Zend

Zend Technologies [www.zend.com], the PHP Company, launched the Simple API for Cloud Application Services project, a new open source initiative that allows developers to use common application services in the cloud, while enabling them to unlock value-added features available from individual providers. The project aims to facilitate the development of cloud applications that can access services on all major cloud platforms. Zend, IBM, Microsoft, Nirvanix, Rackspace and GoGrid are co-founding contributors to this community project.

The Simple Cloud API project empowers developers to use one interface to interact with a variety of cloud application services, enabling them to more easily access new technologies from cloud vendors. The first deliverables will include interfaces for file storage, document database, and simple queue services from platforms like Amazon Web Services, Windows Azure, Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network, and Rackspace Cloud Files. As a result, developers can deploy software applications to access services in these environments without making time-consuming and expensive changes to their source code.

�The Simple Cloud API combines the benefits of open source community processes with the active participation of the cloud vendors themselves,� said Andi Gutmans, CEO of Zend. The Simple Cloud API project is designed to encourage widespread participation and contributions from the open source community, resulting in the availability of Simple Cloud API adapters for virtually all major cloud providers. Zend Cloud adapters will be available for services such as:

� File storage services, including Windows Azure blobs, Rackspace Cloud Files, Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network, and Amazon S3

� Document Storage services, including Windows Azure tables and Amazon SimpleDB

� Simple queue services, including Amazon SQS and Windows Azure queues

Other adapters, such as those for Rackspace Cloud Files API, will work with external libraries with no changes to application code. Microsoft is also contributing Simple Cloud API adapters, along with the official PHP client libraries for Windows Azure storage, to future versions of Zend Framework. These adapters will allow applications to take advantage of many Windows Azure features through the Simple Cloud API interface, while Microsoft�s client libraries will put Windows Azure innovations, such as transaction and partial upload support, at the fingertips of cloud application developers.

IBM will also be contributing adapters for IBM�s cloud service interfaces, as well as adapters to IBM�s data storage products, allowing developers to easily switch between public clouds, private clouds and traditional data center environments.

An initial Simple Cloud API proposal and reference implementation is available now for community review and participation at http://www.simplecloud.org. Developers can also evaluate the Simple API for Cloud Application Services by deploying their applications that use it on the Amazon cloud using the freely available Zend Server Community Edition Amazon Machine Image (AMI) for EC2.

Source: www.zend.com/en/company/news/press/zend-teams-with-ibmmicrosoft- rackspace-and-other-cloud-leaders-on-open-source-initiativeto-drive-cloud-application-development

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

CohesiveFT

CohesiveFT states that it �provides customers with a cloud container approach that protects them from un-needed differentiation and vendor lock-in.�

CohesiveFT has been providing enterprise-grade virtualization and cloud products since 2006 (Elastic Server and VPN-Cubed). . . . Our Cloud Container process is an experience informed methodology proven to take . . . the relevant aspects of their existing physical infrastructure, and create a Cloud Container Solution to enable the rapid on-demand deployment of the cluster topology in cloud environments. CohesiveFT's founders bring enterprise technology expertise to their products and claim to be focused on delivering cloud "on-boarding solutions" for companies with a suite of three products: Elastic Server� for template based assembly of virtual servers, VPN-Cubed� for securing and controlling cloud networking, and Context-Cubed� for managing boot time configuration of virtual servers.

Source: www.cohesiveft.com/solutions/cloud_container/cloud_container_home/


Elastic Server
CohesiveFT offers the Elastic Server platform:
The Elastic Server platform is a web-based �factory� [offered by CohesiveFT] for assembling, testing, and deploying custom stacks and servers to virtual machines or clouds. These custom Elastic Servers can be comprised of open source, third-party or proprietary software components from multiple vendors, saved as templates, updated, augmented, or redeployed in minutes. Made-to-order application stacks mean faster assembly and limitless configurations. The Bring Your Own feature lets you pull in your project from GitHub or upload custom components.

Source: www.cohesiveft.com/elastic/

Sound security practices and compliance with data protection regulations boils down to control. If you do not encrypt you data as it moves around the internet, within each hosting facility, and inside each cloud provider's network - do not sign you companies quarterly compliance report, because you are taking unacceptable risk.

In 2008, experts in the cloud computing business were expressing concern and frustration with the lack of security and control with public clouds. At that time, CohesiveFT invented VPN-Cubed, a novel solution, and began the US Patent process. CohesiveFT filed the original patent application(s) for VPN-Cubed on October 21, 2008. A copy of the full patent document for: "A System and Methods for Enabling Customer Network Control in Third-Party Computing Environments" can be found at: US Patent Office: http://tinyurl.com/VPN-Cubed.

Elastic servers are assembled from bundles, which are groups of packages. You can build your own private packages and turn them into bundles.

A server�s bill of materials is a permanent record of the bundles used to create it, and can be used to recreate the server at any time for multiple virtualization and cloud platforms.

Source: http://elasticserver.com/servers/new


VPN-Cubed IPSec to Cloud for Hybrid and Cloud-to-Cloud Applications CohesiveFT describes its VPN-Cubed as �a commercial solution that enables customer control in a cloud, across multiple clouds, and between private infrastructure and the clouds.�

VPN-Cubed is based on open source VPN over IPsec virtual private networking software. VPN-Cubed is based on Open VPN:

VPNCubed provides an overlay network that allows customer control of addressing, topology, protocols, and encrypted communications for YOUR devices deployed to virtual infrastructure or cloud computing centers. When using public clouds, your corporate assets are going into 3rd party controlled infrastructure. Enterprise checks and balances require you to exhibit control over your computing infrastructure. VPNCubed gives you flexibility with control in third-party environments

Source: http://www.cohesiveft.com/vpncubed/

VPN-Cubed facilitates secure hybrid connections over firewall-protected environments.

The VPN-Cubed overlay network provides four key capabilities the cloud does not ordinarily allow you to control:
� Static addressing for your cloud devices

� Topology control by using VPN-Cubed managers as virtual switches, virtual bridges, or virtual routers

� Use of popular enterprise protocols like UDP Multicast for service discovery

� Encrypted communications between all your devices

VPN-Cubed works with many partners, including Amazon AWS, Elastic Hosts, Eucalyptus, Rackspace, GoGrid, Citrix, Parallels, and VMware, as well as technology providers Canonical, MuleSource, RightScale, Spring-Source, and Zeus Technologies.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Internet Technology: Will the Trend Continue?

The Growth of Internet Technology: Will the Trend Continue?

The world has become a 'global village'. This oxymoron is because of the immense contribution of the internet and the way it has been able to successfully bring the globe together in a village like community. The term 'Global Village' was coined in 1970s by the great visionary Marshall McLuhan.

 This has been converted into reality by the growth of the internet technology and its continuing trend. Before delving deep into the stats, one can easily count the benefits of the internet in the field of transportation, communication, entertainment, medical science, education, research and development, logistics and many more. The growth of internet has been exemplary over the last couple of decades. It is already documented and speaks volume about how this technology has penetrated into the lives of the masses all over the globe.

It is unbelievable and surprising that the internet had just around 16 million users (about 0.4 percent of the global population) in 1995. Today, it has around 2,267 million users (December 2011). This is approximately 32.7 percent of the global population (source: IDC, International World Stats). In a span of 17 years the internet technology has grown by leaps and bounds. Off course, the credit for this impetus should also be given to the people and other emerging technologies that has consistently made internet more accessible, beneficial and omnipresent.

In common parlance, Internet refers to a global interconnection of networks owned and operated by industries, academia, government and other private entities. It is meant for the transition of knowledge, information and a viable means of communication. While racing with time, it has so far achieved and surpassed all the objectives of its authors and concept builders.

Even the flora and fauna has been impacted upon by the internet technology. If you are around 35 years of age then you can easily recollect the vintage years of this technology and the way by which it grew. The consolidation of the internet as a global platform has changed the way of communication and international and domestic business activities. Due to this technology, communication has no distance related barriers. It has integrated the whole world with a single thread and gave true meaning to the words 'global village'. It would not be an exaggeration if you call internet technology as the best and universal means of communication for billions of people.

The credit for this rapid growth of the internet technology should also go to the development of different protocols such as http and https, TCP/IP and IPv4 that may become IPv6 very soon. Moreover, Ethernet, routers, routing protocols, the development of the document object model, domain name resolution (DNS) and security measures like firewalls and fiber optics are some of the technological aspects that you should include in the list of the factors that has played a pivotal role in making internet technology such a big success.

One more thing that you can't afford to omit in this discussion is the role played by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). W3C has delivered all important interoperable technologies in the form of tools, guidelines, specifications and software to help the Web grow to its full potential. As a forum for information, communication, commerce and collective learning, W3C has innumerable contributions to the growth of the internet technology.

What is more intriguing and encouraging about the internet technology is its consistent growth over the years. Every day we come across about new products and services using this technology. It has given concrete platform for many industries to grow and benefit people. The latest buzz in the market related to the internet technology is the smartphone. Most recently, it has revitalized the complacent telecommunication and entertainment industry with fresh concepts and given vigor to achieve more and more in the coming years. So there is no harm in saying that the growing trend of internet technology that began a couple of decades ago is likely to continue and bring something new and improved.

Jennifer M Shields enjoys resolving tech issues that might take place with PCs, laptops, Macs and devices like iPhone, iPad, smartphones, digital camera etc. Being associated with Qresolve as a tech support engineer she carries experience of fixing more than thousand issues so far. As a part of professional computer support service provider she has been offering quick tech solutions to global customers through premium services like virus removal, PC optimization, PC security and support to emerging technologies. 

Her interest in disseminating awareness about technology has induced her to convey her skills into texts through articles, blogs and other online documents. She has got various documents published across the online platform and earned accolades from readers.

Ubuntu�s Cloud Strategy

Ubuntu (http://cloud.ubuntu.com/) adopted the following approach (as outlined by Simon Wardley of the Linux distribution�s commercial sponsor, Canonical):

� make the cloud simple.

� focus on one layer of the computing stack (infrastructure) to begin with.

� help drive standardization (a key requirements of this shift towards a service world) by adopted public de-facto standards.

� provide open source systems to avoid lock-in issues.

� actively work to mitigate risks and concerns over cloud by giving our users options.

Source: http://blog.gardeviance.org/2010/03/cloud-computing-madesimple.html

Ubuntu�s approach, Wardley continues,
. . . was based around the adoption of Amazon EC2/S3 and EBS as the public de facto standard . . . We provided images for use on Amazon EC2 (public cloud) and the technology to build your own private cloud (known as Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud) that matched the same APIs of Amazon. We also added management tools which could cross both public and private domains because of our adoption of a standard API set.

Source: http://blog.gardeviance.org/2010/03/cloud-computing-madesimple.Html


Ubuntu�s partners include:
� Eucalyptus18 whose open source technology was adopted into the distribution as a core part of Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC).

� Intel, whose Cloud Builder program19 provides best practices on how to create a private cloud using UEC. I�d strongly recommend reading the white paper.

� RightScale20 and CohesiveFT21 to provide best-of-breed public management tools alongside Ubuntu�s own Landscape system.

Source: http://blog.gardeviance.org/2010/03/cloud-computing-madesimple.html


Wardley states that Ubuntu offers:
� Simple Choices: You can have either private, public or hybrid (i.e. public + private) infrastructure clouds.

� Simple Setup: If you want to build a private cloud, then Ubuntu makes the set-up ridiculously easy. You can be up and running with your own cloud in minutes. . . .

� Simple Management: You can use the same tools for both your private and public clouds because we�ve standardised around a common set of APIs.

� Simple Bursting: Since we provides common machine images which run on both public and private cloud offerings combined with standardised APIs, then the process of moving infrastructure and combining both private and public clouds is . . . simpler.

� Enterprise Help: . . . 24x7 support and a jumpstart program to get your company into the cloud are provided at a cost [similar to most open source vendors].

� Open source: UEC, the Ubuntu machine images and all the basic tools are open sourced. . . . The system is open source and free and so are all the security patches and version upgrades.

Source: http://blog.gardeviance.org/2010/03/cloud-computing-madesimple.html

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Cloud-Optimized Linux

Vendors have sensed that as migration to the cloud accelerates, there is an opportunity for cloud-optimized versions of Linux. Three early entries in this category are Peppermint, CloudLinux, and Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud.

CloudLinux
CloudLinux states that it is �. . . optimized for Web hosting, so it improves the stability of your servers, which helps to reduce churn related to downtime and outages.� CloudLinux is an operating system (OS) that is commercially supported and interchangeable with the most popular RPM-based distribution on the market. RPM is the baseline package format of the Linux Standard Base (LSB), which is a joint project of several Linux distributions under the organizational structure of the Linux Foundation. Its goal is to standardize the software system structure, including the file system hierarchy, used with the Linux operating system. The LSB is based on the POSIX specification, the Single UNIX Specification, and several other open standards, but extends them in certain areas.

CloudLinux is a commercially supported OS designed specifically for the service provider market. CloudServer�s revenue is derived mostly from support subscriptions (currently $14 per month, per server).


Lightweight Virtual Environment (LVE) Technology
LVE is an isolation technology that increases server density, stability and reliability. LVE limits the amount of resources (CPU, I/O, and memory) available to a specific process or customer. It is a lightweight and transparent shell. LVE wraps the accounts on a shared server to give hosting providers control over CPU resources.
Source: http://cloudlinux.com/solutionsoverview.html

What Can LVE Do?

� Give hosting providers control over CPU resources (I/O and memory limits to be released)

� Prevent individual accounts from slowing down or taking down a server

� Protect servers from unpredictable issues that drain resources for other tenants

� Increase density so you can host more tenants on one server

� Identify accounts that are over-using resources so you can address their needs

� Lower risk and increase efficiency on shared servers

� Improve server performance

Source: http://cloudlinux.com/solutionsoverview.html


LVE Wrappers
LVE Wrappers, based on LVE technology, allow you to manage resources at the application level. For example, CloudLinux can enable you to control server resources like Mail, MySQL, and Apache within the server.

According to a CloudLinux press release, LVE Wrappers� tools �allow the administrator to control CPU usage on a server at the tenant or application level. LVE Wrappers allow the server owner to control resources for each application they run, which gives them greater flexibility and stability from the overall server infrastructure.�16 LVE Wrappers enable the server owner to:

. . . start individual applications and daemons inside LVE environments, isolating resource usage for each program. That allows greater overall stability of the server, as one application cannot affect all the other applications running on the server. This is especially useful for servers running multiple applications. For instance, a dedicated server runs a variety of software, such as mail, MySQL and Apache, often at the same time. A spike in mail traffic or a bug in the antispam filtering could affect the Web server�and cause the Web site to slow down. CloudLinux lets the administrator have better control and make sure each daemon only gets the preset amount of CPU. The administrator now has the tools to alter the amount of CPU any application can get� on the fly.
Source: www.cloudlinux.com/company/news/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=382
Cloud Linux Resources

� LVE Wrappers: www.cloudlinux.com/docs/lve_wrapper.php

� Cloud Linux Documentation: www.cloudlinux.com/docs/index.php

� Download CloudLinux ISO Images (CD-ROM images saved in ISO-9660 format): www.cloudlinux.com/downloads/index.php


Peppermint
Peppermint (peppermintos.com) was designed for enhanced mobility, efficiency, and ease of use. It is cloud- and Web-centric, lightweight (under 512 MB), fast, and boots quickly. It contains:
� Linux Kernel 2.6.32
� Xorg 7.5
� Openbox 3.4.10
� PCManFM 0.9.5
� LXSession 0.4.3

Its default applications are Firefox Web Browser, Drop-Box, Exaile (music management and player), Prism, X-Chat (IRC client), and Transmission (bit torrent client). Of course, you can add your own.

Prism17 is designed to create a better environment for running your favorite Web-based applications. Much of what we used to accomplish using an application running locally on our computers is moving into the Web browser. Thanks to advances in Web technology, these apps are increasingly powerful and usable. As a result, applications like Gmail, Facebook and Google Docs are soaring in popularity.

Prism allows you to launch and operate Web- and cloud-based applications as if they were actually installed as desktop programs. When you first log into Peppermint, you can access the Main Menu on the bottom left of the desktop by clicking on the Peppermint Candy icon. If you browse to the Sound & Video section, take a glimpse of the applications listed. There are several preloaded Prism �launchers� in this menu, including Pandora, Hulu, and YouTube. By selecting any one of these, Prism will launch each service in its own application window�not in your Web browser. Peppermint is different from (but related to) Linux Mint (www.linuxmint.com), a Debian-based distribution developed by Clement Lefebvre and his team.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Microsoft Visual Studio and Other Cloud Development Environments

Today, most new (full-bodied) applications are developed for the enterprise either using Microsoft�s .Net architecture with Visual Studio or in the C++, Java or Python languages using other tools. Simpler projects or parts of projects may be coded in PHP or PERL (CGI scripts), and run in a J2EE container, if necessary, so they can integrate well with Java; they may also be coded in JavaScript. Some developers are fanatical about C# and Ruby. Considerable in-house development is done with cascading style sheets (CSSs) and ASP.Net, a Web framework. ASP.Net applications need to be hosted on a Windows hosting provider; there are many.

Programs developing with .Net tools will (after recompilation) run most directly in the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. They also will run in the cloud on a Windows virtual server. C++ produced with Microsoft tools is, of course, compatible with that produced by other C++ compilers.

Visual Studio is probably the most popular enterprise development tool. The latest version, Visual Studio 2010 is a single development environment for Windows, Web, Cloud, Office and Sharepoint development. Built-in languages include C/C++ (using Visual C++), VB.NET (using Visual Basic .NET), C# (via Visual C#), and F#. Support for other languages such as M, Python, and Ruby, among others, is available via language services installed separately. It also supports XML/XSLT, HTML/ XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS. Visual Studio 2010 is packaged in a range of editions for different needs.

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Turning Your PC into a DVR with Windows 7

So, you have an edition of Windows 7 with Media Center but no TV tuner card installed? You are missing out on the main Media Center experience. With the help of this section and an inexpensive TV tuner card, I show you how to turn your PC into a fully functional DVR that will give any TiVo set top box big competition.

Before you can get started, there are some minimum system requirements that I must go over so that you will be able to watch TV on your computer. Your computer must have a video card with at least 128MB of RAM. To support the best appearance your video card must also support the Aero Glass effect.

The most important aspect of adding a tuner to your PC is picking one that is compatible with Windows 7 Media Center. Several tuner cards are on the market, but not all are compatible with Windows 7 Media Center. One way to find a tuner that Microsoft has certified compatible is to use the Windows Logo product search page located at http://winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/Default.aspx?m=7 and search for compatible products. Just select either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows you are running, set the Category to TV Tuner Cards and the Additional Qualifications box to MediaCenter, and click the Start button on the web page. You will be shown a list of all the cards Microsoft has certified.

As you can see, there are both internal PCI cards and external USB devices that can be added to your computer. The following are a few more models that are known to work well on Windows 7:

� Internal PCI-E: WinTV-HVR-1250
� Internal PCI-E: WinTV-HVR-2250
� External USB: Diamond ATI TV Wonder HD 750 (TVW750USB)

Installing the TV tuner is also very easy, especially if you purchased an external USB tuner. Simply plug it in and install the drivers that came with the device. If you purchased an internal PCI or PCI-E card, just turn off your computer, unplug the power, open the case, and pop in the card in an open PCI or PCI-E slot. Make sure to install the drivers after you power your PC back on although in some cases Windows 7 will automatically install the drivers as it did with my PCI-E TV tuner card.

After installing your TV tuner card, you are ready to get started configuring it in Windows Media Center. Make sure you have your antenna or cable feed connected to the card. Follow these steps to get your Windows Media Center up and running:

1. Click the Start button, type Media Center in the Search box, and then press Enter.

2. If you are prompted with a setup wizard, just select the Express option. You are going to configure your card a different way. After you are on the main Media Center screen use the arrow keys to navigate down to the Tasks section. Then navigate to Settings and press Enter.

3. On the Setting screen, select TV and press Enter.

4. Select Set Up TV Signal and press Enter. At this point, you will get a Tuner Not Found error if your TV tuner hardware is not installed properly. If this happens, make sure that you have the latest drivers for Windows 7 installed.

5. Confirm your region by selecting Yes, use this region to configure TV services and click Next.

6. Type in your ZIP code and click Next.

7. Click I agree on the Program Guide Terms of Service screen and then click Next.

8. If applicable, click I agree on the Microsoft PlayReady PC runtime EULA and then click Next. Microsoft PlayReady will be automatically downloaded and installed.

9. After the TV Signal detection has completed you will be presented with what Windows Media Center found. On my PC it said it detected Digital Cable (ClearQAM) and Analog Cable. If your results are correct click Yes, configure TV with these results. Otherwise click No, let me configure my TV signal manually and specify your setup. When ready click Next.

10. You will now be guided through setting up each of your sources where you pick the provider so Windows Media Center knows what program guide to provide you with. Click through the guide for each source and select your TV signal provider. When completed, click Next on the TV Signal Configuration confirmation screen.

11. Microsoft PlayReady updates will be downloaded along with the TV program guide. Then the TV channel scan will start automatically. This step will take several minutes. Once completed click Next on the results screen.

12. The TV signal should now be configured. Click Finish to exit and start using your new DVR.

Your Windows Media Center is now set up. You can begin to watch TV and set up shows to record in the guide. Now you are ready to further customize your Windows Media Center.

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010

Turning Your PC into a DVR with Windows 7

So, you have an edition of Windows 7 with Media Center but no TV tuner card installed? You are missing out on the main Media Center experience. With the help of this section and an inexpensive TV tuner card, I show you how to turn your PC into a fully functional DVR that will give any TiVo set top box big competition.

Before you can get started, there are some minimum system requirements that I must go over so that you will be able to watch TV on your computer. Your computer must have a video card with at least 128MB of RAM. To support the best appearance your video card must also support the Aero Glass effect.

The most important aspect of adding a tuner to your PC is picking one that is compatible with Windows 7 Media Center. Several tuner cards are on the market, but not all are compatible with Windows 7 Media Center. One way to find a tuner that Microsoft has certified compatible is to use the Windows Logo product search page located at http://winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/Default.aspx?m=7 and search for compatible products. Just select either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows you are running, set the Category to TV Tuner Cards and the Additional Qualifications box to MediaCenter, and click the Start button on the web page. You will be shown a list of all the cards Microsoft has certified.

As you can see, there are both internal PCI cards and external USB devices that can be added to your computer. The following are a few more models that are known to work well on Windows 7:

� Internal PCI-E: WinTV-HVR-1250
� Internal PCI-E: WinTV-HVR-2250
� External USB: Diamond ATI TV Wonder HD 750 (TVW750USB)

Installing the TV tuner is also very easy, especially if you purchased an external USB tuner. Simply plug it in and install the drivers that came with the device. If you purchased an internal PCI or PCI-E card, just turn off your computer, unplug the power, open the case, and pop in the card in an open PCI or PCI-E slot. Make sure to install the drivers after you power your PC back on although in some cases Windows 7 will automatically install the drivers as it did with my PCI-E TV tuner card.

After installing your TV tuner card, you are ready to get started configuring it in Windows Media Center. Make sure you have your antenna or cable feed connected to the card. Follow these steps to get your Windows Media Center up and running:

1. Click the Start button, type Media Center in the Search box, and then press Enter.

2. If you are prompted with a setup wizard, just select the Express option. You are going to configure your card a different way. After you are on the main Media Center screen use the arrow keys to navigate down to the Tasks section. Then navigate to Settings and press Enter.

3. On the Setting screen, select TV and press Enter.

4. Select Set Up TV Signal and press Enter. At this point, you will get a Tuner Not Found error if your TV tuner hardware is not installed properly. If this happens, make sure that you have the latest drivers for Windows 7 installed.

5. Confirm your region by selecting Yes, use this region to configure TV services and click Next.

6. Type in your ZIP code and click Next.

7. Click I agree on the Program Guide Terms of Service screen and then click Next.

8. If applicable, click I agree on the Microsoft PlayReady PC runtime EULA and then click Next. Microsoft PlayReady will be automatically downloaded and installed.

9. After the TV Signal detection has completed you will be presented with what Windows Media Center found. On my PC it said it detected Digital Cable (ClearQAM) and Analog Cable. If your results are correct click Yes, configure TV with these results. Otherwise click No, let me configure my TV signal manually and specify your setup. When ready click Next.

10. You will now be guided through setting up each of your sources where you pick the provider so Windows Media Center knows what program guide to provide you with. Click through the guide for each source and select your TV signal provider. When completed, click Next on the TV Signal Configuration confirmation screen.

11. Microsoft PlayReady updates will be downloaded along with the TV program guide. Then the TV channel scan will start automatically. This step will take several minutes. Once completed click Next on the results screen.

12. The TV signal should now be configured. Click Finish to exit and start using your new DVR.

Your Windows Media Center is now set up. You can begin to watch TV and set up shows to record in the guide. Now you are ready to further customize your Windows Media Center.

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010

Preventing Vendor Lock-In as You Migrate to the Cloud

To prevent being locked in to a single vendor, you need to ensure that the architecture you have selected can run on multiple clouds, and that the data can be easily migrated from Cloud A to Cloud B.
While that sounds trite and simple, it�s still true. And in theory, it�s not hard. But as usual, God (or the Devil; take your pick) is in the details.

Totally new development without any use of legacy code is the easy case, but it is not so common; we all carry around the accumulated baggage of the past. However, should you be fortunate enough to have this luxury, I would suggest developing on Eucalyptus (see the later section on this platform) or OpenStack, a new open source effort led by Rackspace and NASA, and using one or more of the most favored languages for cloud development, namely C++, Java, or Python, or PHP for less-demanding applications. This approach gives you the greatest choice of providers. Eucalyptus runs under VMware, is compatible with AWS, supports Windows Virtual Machines (in Eucalyptus Enterprise Edition 2.0), and is supported by many, if not most, of the cloud service vendors. In addition to Linux images, Eucalyptus EE 2.0 customers can now deploy images running on Windows Server 2003 and 2008 and Windows 7, along with an installed application stack in a Eucalyptus private cloud environment.

OpenStack, currently built with the Ubuntu Linux distribution and using the KVM virtualization hypervisor, is compatible with Amazon�s AWS and is expected to run directly on Linux as well as be compatible with VMware, Xen or Hyper-V. However, if, like most enterprises, you need to deal with an accumulation of legacy applications, then it is obviously important to understand what the accumulated inventory of platforms and languages consists of, and to determine whether source code is available or has been partially or totally lost (this happens much more than one might imagine).

Next, you need to determine whether to use this as the opportunity to recode or to just make the existing applications work in cloud. If you are recoding, then the previous advice holds. If not, vendor choices for migrating applications to the cloud will be dictated (and limited) by several constraints:

� Does the vendor support the operating system(s) and programming languages that you require?

� Which database management systems are required? Is there a vendor- maintained �image� that supports your DBMS?

� How much memory and processing power is required? Does the vendor provide sufficiently powerful machines, and is there room to grow?

� Do you choose a private, public, or hybrid cloud? What impels your decision?

� Do the management tools you have in place support management in the cloud? Are there upgrades available?

� How rapidly do your needs change, and can your vendor provision and deprovision fast enough?

� Does the vendor�s service level agreement (SLA) meet your needs?

� Is your auditor satisfied with the vendor�s documentation of its compliance with SAS 70 and ISO 27001? Is SysTrust certification available?

Source of Information : Implementing and Developing Cloud Computing Applications 2011

Tweaking Windows 7 Search

One of the most useful new features in Windows 7 is the Search box that is in every Explorer window and many other applications. This Search box enables you to sort through your files like never before. Looking for all text files in a folder? Just type *.txt into the Search box and press Enter. Almost instantly you will begin to see a list of all text files in the current directory you are viewing.

Looking for all Word documents that refer to a specific company or person? Just go to your Documents folder and search for the name and press Enter. Windows Search can also look at the filenames, but it will also search the contents of your files. This is possible because Windows Search has built-in readers for many of the most popular file types.

As you can see, Windows Search is a comprehensive search solution compared to the prior search options in Windows. With the addition of this new search system comes the ability to customize searches even more than ever before. Various search settings are hidden deep in various windows and will help you customize the way searching works for you.


Adjusting Scope
Every time you perform a search, the results are based on the scope, the folders, and types of files in which the search software looks. Depending on the scope settings you have enabled, the results of your search can be drastically different. These next two settings will help you fine-tune what and how the search software searches, and then you will fine-tune the indexing service to index the files you want to be indexed for speedy searches.


Customizing What and How to Search
You can find all the �where to look� settings for Windows Search on the Folder and Search Options window in Windows Explorer. Follow these steps to customize where Windows Search looks:

1. Open Windows Explorer to a folder you want to modify the search settings for, click Organize, and select Folder and Search Options.

2. Click the Search tab.

3. On the Search tab, you will see three separate sections. First, let�s work with the What to search section. Here you can specify whether you would like the search software to use the indexing service�s data or all data, on-the-fly. By default, Windows Search will search both filenames and contents of indexed files but just filenames of files not in the index. This works well for most users, but if you don�t care about file contents or don�t want to use the indexer at all, experiment with the other options.

4. Configure how searches are performed in the How to search section. Here you can choose from four different settings: the ability to search subfolders, report results with partial matches, turn on natural language searches, and disable searching from the index. The two settings here that you really want to pay attention to are the subfolder search and natural language search options. These features are usually the two that I tweak the most. First, to speed up searches, I uncheck searching subfolders. I also turn on the natural language search option so that I can perform easier searches. For example, if I want to find e-mails from a person, I normally have to type Kind:email from:person in the Search box. When I turn on natural language search, however, I can type email from person instead and get the same results.

5. The final section � When searching non-indexed locations � specifies what to do with compressed files and system folders that are not indexed or when index search is turned off. I leave these blank to speed up searches, but I strongly suggest that you do not turn on the compressed file option; it will cause your searches to take forever and make your hard drive go crazy with activity.

6. When you are finished tweaking the search options, press OK to save your changes. You might have to reboot for all settings to start working.


Customizing the Indexing Service
The indexing service runs in the background and reads and indexes your files when your computer is idle to speed up searches. This works by reading all the files and storing search keywords and other information in a single database that can be easily read instead of having to read all the file information again every time you perform a search.

In Windows 7, the scope of the indexing service is limited to the user folders by default. If you use search a lot, you might want to tweak the folders and types of files that are indexed. The following steps will help you customize which folders are indexed as well as the file types so that you can control what is indexed and what is not:

1. Click the Start button, type Performance Information in the Search box, and then press Enter.

2. After Performance Information and Tools loads, click Adjust Indexing Options on the left menu. When Indexing Options loads, you will see all the locations the indexing service is currently monitoring.

3. Now you should see the Indexing Options window. First, tweak where the indexer looks. Click Modify and then Show All Locations on the Indexed Locations window. Next, navigate through the list of your drives and folders, and simply check the boxes for the folders you want to be indexed. When you are finished, press OK and the indexer goes to work indexing the new locations.

4. Modify the file types that the indexer indexes. This can be done back on the Indexing Options window. This time, click the Advanced button and then click the File Types tab.

5. Scroll through the list of file extensions and select the file type that you would like to modify. Then, check the box and pick how the file should be indexed in the following section. If your file type is not listed, type the file extension in the box at the bottom of the window , and press Add, to add a new extension.

6. When you are finished, press OK and then Close to exit the indexing options.

Because the indexing service runs only when the computer is idle, it may take up to a few hours before your new files, folders, and file types are added to the index and show up in the search results.

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010

Changing the Look of Windows 7 Via WindowBlinds

Before visual styles were a part of Windows, only one way existed to change the way Windows looked: via the WindowBlinds program from Stardock (www.WindowBlinds.net). WindowBlinds is a classic Windows customization program. When it first came out, it transformed the boring gray interface of Windows into an attractive and colorful experience. Now that Windows 7 includes its own skinning engine, products that have their own skinning engines, such as WindowBlinds, seem less necessary. So, why am I even mentioning this application? Because the Microsoft engine will only run skins digitally signed from Microsoft unless you use a utility to get around the limitation. Additionally, the quality of visual styles available for WindowBlinds typically is better than the hacked visual styles available.

Using WindowBlinds is much easier than using hacked visual styles. Just follow these steps to get started using WindowBlinds on your PC:

1. Visit www.WindowBlinds.net and download a copy of WindowBlinds. Install it. Make sure that you reboot after you install WindowBlinds.

2. After a reboot, click the Start menu, type windowblinds, and press Enter to start WindowBlinds.

3. After the WindowBlinds Configuration screen has loaded, you will see a list of all skins installed on your computer at the bottom of the screen. Scroll the list horizontally and click a skin that you want to preview.

4. When you have the skin selected you want to use, it is also possible to customize the colors of the skin. Click Colours on the bottom of the screen and then adjust the color tint of the skin.

5. When you are ready to apply your customized skin, click Apply Changes on the top-left of the window and you will see your user interface transformed.

You can always change your skin back to the default Windows 7 look if you do not like any of the skins offered by WindowBlinds by selecting the Windows Aero skin from the horizontal list when you open WindowBlinds. If you want more skins, the next section is for you!

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010

Removing the Shortcut Arrow from Icons on the Desktop

One thing that I always hate about Windows is the shortcut arrow. Sure, it is good to be able to tell if a shortcut is actually a shortcut, but I think that I know that the applications that I put on my desktop are already shortcuts. Also, the shortcut indicator that Windows uses does not look appealing, in my opinion. With a simple registry hack, it is possible to replace that shortcut icon overlay with any icon. This allows you to create your own icon using any popular icon editor and use it as an overlay on any shortcut.

I created a green arrow that I like to use as my shortcut icon overlay. You can grab it from the Windows 7 Tweaks web site at Tweaks.com/books/ win7tweaks. Use the following steps to change the icon shortcut overlay:

1. Click the Start button, type regedit in the Search box, and then press Enter to start Registry Editor.

2. After Registry Editor has started, navigate through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.

3. Right-click the Explorer folder, expand New, and select Key. Type Shell Icons as the name of the new key.

4. Right-click the new Shell Icons key, expand New, and select String Value. Type 29 as the name of the new String value.

5. Right-click the new string you just created and select Modify. Set the value to the icon path, a comma and the icon index number that starts at 0. For example, I use C:\icons\myshortcut.ico,0. The icon index number specifies which icon you want to use in the file. (Some files can contain multiple icons, such as the shell32.dll file.) Press OK when you are finished.

6. Log off and back on, and you should see your new shortcut overlay.

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010