Welcome to The Cloud 5, our weekly feature where we scour the web searching for the five most intriguing and poignant cloud links we can find.
Before we jump into this week’s links, please have a look at one of our recent blog posts, Report: DoD removed Star Wars references from cloud planning memo. The Department of Defense is not usually known for being playful, but earlier this month it briefly released a cloud computing report with Star Wars references in it before pulling it back and removing them.
And without further delay, here we go with this week’s links:
Apple’s China iCloud data migration sweeps up international user accounts | TechCrunch
Apple has begun moving iCloud users registered in China from servers based in America to ones in China to comply with local laws. Apple has indicated that any affected users will receive an email ahead of time notifying them of the change, but a report has found that some accounts registered outside of China could be getting being swept up in the transition.
How the Meltdown and Spectre chip flaws will impact cloud computing | TechRepublic
Researchers have discovered two massive CPU chip vulnerabilities that have been dubbed Meltdown and Spectre. They can allow hackers to access protected information in the chip kernel like passwords and encryption keys. This article looks at the possible impact on cloud services, although cloud vendors have said they have taken steps to mitigate this problem.
SolarWinds expands microservices prowess with acquisition Of Loggly | CRN
SolarWinds acquired logging startup Loggly this week. It gives them a company with a logging and analytics cloud service and beefs up the SolarWinds engineering team in the process.
Ford launches a cloud-based platform for mobility services at CES | ZDNet
CES, the enormous consumer electronics show was held this week in Las Vegas, and the biggest cloud announcement came from a car company. Ford announced The Transportation Mobility Cloud, designed to provide a city with unified set of transportation services across all modes of transportation including cars, bicycles and mass transit.
Shadow’s cloud service could make gaming PCs obsolete | Tom’s Guide
Shadow has launched a service that reproduces a virtual high-end gaming PC in the cloud. This provides a way for gamers to play games that were previously only available on an expensive gaming PC for $35 a month.
Photo Credit: Rafael Croonen / Shutterstock.