The processor market is a pretty tough one with the big two trying to outdo each other with a range of new models. Just recently we saw the release of nine new AMD Opteron processors, but what makes these so special is that they are aimed at Cloud computing. So what makes these processors so special that they are better for Cloud computing?

Firstly we’d like to inform you that the new AMD Opteron processors consist of the 3300 and 4300 Series, which are entry-level and mid-range CPUs, and where they differ from the previous generation is not only are they more energy efficient but also offers an increased performance as well. AMD say that these characteristics make them perfect for not only web hosts but Cloud providers also.

To truly understand how much better these new processors are and to also see how they fair against each other then you can view these benchmark tests, which not only looks at the power bands but also Workload/Applications as well. You’ll see that there are three models in the 3300 series; these are the AMD Opteron 3380, 3350 HE and the 3320 E, with speeds of 2.6 GHz, 2.8 GHz and 1.9 GHz respectively.

As for the 4300 Series this consists of 6 new models, which are the AMD Opteron 4386, 4376 HE, 4340, 4334, 4332 HE and the 4310 EE, with clock speeds ranging from 2.2GHz to 3.5GHz. You can see a full list of these below, which also shows you their L3 cache and their TDP. Looking over the AMD Opteron 3300 and 4300 Series price list we were pretty impressed considering their specs, with the former starting at $125-$229 and the latter at $191 to $501. You can see a full price list by visiting AMD.

What’s more important overall performance or a cheaper price bracket? While a number of businesses will grab these new AMD processors with open arms because of a more aggressive pricing and the fact that they use 15 percent less power, we’re certain that they’ll still find it a little hard to compete with Intel’s Xeon range, although considering the current economy we wouldn’t rule AMD out just yet.

A recent Reuters article talks about how the PlayStation Network problems will drag the operating profit down by 14 billion yen (roughly $170 million USD), this apparently takes into account “costs for boosting security measures”, this suggests that a lot of money has been spent on making the new PlayStation Network more robust than before, but cloud computing security is now being questioned.

PCWorld’s Bernard Golden recently published an interesting articled titled “Cloud Security: The 2 Biggest Lies” (read it here), this is a must read for anyone who wants to read detailed information regarding some cloud security lies and misunderstandings. To cut a long story short configuration and management is key, failing to correctly configure your cloud applications will make it vulnerable.

Bernard also points out that cloud computing relies on virtualization, this allows virtual machines on the same server to communicate with eachother without being monitored by security appliances which examine traffic, this means if one virtual machine is compromised it can send dangerous traffic to another without security measures coming into play.

It will be interesting to see if Sony’s PlayStation Network withstands breach attempts in the future, one thing which is for sure is that cloud storage solutions will come over much more scrutiny in the future.

Do you think that the recent PlayStation Network hack will have a negative affect on people’s willingness to adopt cloud storage / computing in the future?

The new Cloud Service was expected to be launched much sooner, but Apple Insider suggests that there had to be a number of delays. The new data center will not only be used for this new service, but also for their corporate systems as well. However, it is the iTunes and MobileMe service that we are all interested in, and should allow the company to compete in the growing cloud-based market.

You do not have to be an expert to know that the future is in Cloud Storage, and we do expect to see Apple making a few design changes to their iOS devices in the coming years because of their new service. It is assumed that large storage will no longer be needed in the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad, as they will be able to gain access to media content via the new Cloud Service.

Cloud is also expected to play a major part of Mac OS X Lion, as there is said to be a new patent for FileVault, which could become a major feature for the next Mac OS update.

SYS-CON Media said that the news on the Data Center was discussed during Apple’s stockholders meeting, and another topic that came up was the company’s succession plans. This is a subject that is certain to be a priority, because of the health of their current CEO. However, the company did not want to vote on for a successor to Steve Jobs, who has been the driving force of Apple and their dominate comeback.

Are you happy that Apple will start to shift to Cloud Storage over traditional means?

We have touched on this subject before, we had assumed that Apple did not have their new infrastructure ready – but what if we were wrong? We know that the new data center is being built in North Carolina, but not sure if Google Earth has that area updated yet?

If the new iTunes Cloud were announced today, then this would account as a day that we would not forget. However, I am not certain if I would be happy with such a service. There are a number of reasons for this, which I will explain for you.

The first is that we have no idea of the price for such a service, is it a monthly service, and if you stop paying that means you do not have access to this music. The other issue I have is, what if you lose Internet connection that means you also lose access to all that music?

However, the biggest issue I have is the fact that if you were out of the house and you wanted to listen to music, you would then have to use your 3G service. That is all well and good, but what about those data cap limits that carriers have now started to impose? Can you see where I am going with this?

Do you think that Apple will announce iTunes Cloud?

Steve Jobs always maintained that Apple TV was just a bit of fun to them, but with the new version we believe that this is no longer the case. Apple knows that this market is not expanding all the time, and with Google getting in on the action they need to be ready.

There is no denying that the design of the smaller Apple TV design leaves a lot to be desired, but compared to the big and bulky Logitech Google TV its not hard to know which will stand out like a sore thumb next to your other media devices.

The new 2010 version of the Apple TV is in a sense future-proof, not only is the hardware more than enough for its current needs, but iTunes Cloud is where the device will truly shine.

Apple is investing heavily in cloud, and although I am all for it – I just wonder if we are there yet. What I mean by this is simple, cloud storage and computing is dependant on your Internet speeds – this need improving before we all make the transition to Cloud storage instead of the standard means.

Looking at what he said, it does look as though there will be more than one device, but we do not have any specific details or what size these tablet devices will be. Lets face it, Microsoft needs to do something soon, as they might dig themselves a hole that they are unable to climb out of with their absence from the mobile market.

According to Jennifer Valentino-DeVries from WSJ Blog, things have not been going well for Microsoft in the mobile market, especially with the failure of the two Kin handsets. The moment that I saw these devices I knew that they had made a huge mistake.

Ballmer also spoke about cloud computing, and by what he was saying it looks as though this is more important to him at this time.

The Redmond Pie Company has two more chances to gain back some reputation; those are the successful launch of their slate devices and the Windows Phone 7 handsets. Do you think that Microsoft will be able to make a success of these two platforms?

According to Darryl K. Taft from eWeek, the Oracle chairman and CEO announced this product during his keynote during the Oracle OpenWorld 2010 on Sunday September 19th.

Those who attended would have noticed how sleek the design of the box looked with its Sun and Oracle logos, which uses 30 servers with 360 cores. This means that there is more than enough storage capacity and speed for your enterprise needs.

It is no secret that cloud is considered the next step in computing storage. We have all heard the rumors that Apple is working on cloud storage for iTunes, but we have yet to learn when they will release this much-anticipated service. Do you welcome cloud storage?