Weekly Cloud Info #W08 - 2025

Author

Walid LARABI
February 21, 2025

Hi!

This week in cloud and quantum computing: Microsoft announce Majorana 1, the first quantum processor with topological qubits, while Google Cloud introduces quantum-safe digital signatures. Plus, AWS enhances ECS, EKS, and Elastic Beanstalk, and CNCF launches Kmesh v1.0 for secure traffic management.

Have a great read. ☕

📰 Top picks of the week

Azure Quantum: Microsoft Launches Majorana 1, First Quantum Processor with Topological Qubits

Microsoft has announced Majorana 1, the first quantum processor utilizing topological qubits, a significant step toward practical quantum computing. This breakthrough involves new materials allowing for scalable devices with up to a million qubits on a single chip. The advancements support the development of a fault-tolerant quantum computer within a few years. Majorana 1 represents a shift from theoretical research to tangible technological innovation.

GCP Introduces Quantum-Safe Digital Signatures in Cloud KMS, Plus $300 Credits for New Users!

Google Cloud announces quantum-safe digital signatures in Cloud Key Management Service (Cloud KMS), enhancing security against quantum computing threats. New standards, established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, guide this transition. The measures include software and hardware support for post-quantum cryptography. New customers can receive $300 in free credits for Google Cloud security products.

GCP Unveils A4X VMs: 4x Increased AI Performance with NVIDIA GB200

Google Cloud has announced the preview of A4X VMs, powered by NVIDIA GB200 with 72 GPUs and 36 Arm CPUs, designed to enhance AI performance. A4X VMs offer 4x training performance increases compared to previous versions, enabling improved reasoning and inference for complex models. They support efficient scalability and low-latency responses through advanced networking technologies. Google Cloud is the first provider to offer both A4 and A4X VMs.

GCP Updates: Go 1.24 Adds Wasm Support and Edge Capabilities

Google has released Go 1.24, introducing significant enhancements, including support for WebAssembly (Wasm) and post-quantum cryptography. The new go:wasmexport directive allows developers to create functions for Wasm hosts, improving performance for long-running applications. This version also enables Go Wasm plugins to run at the edge using Google Cloud's Application Load Balancers through Service Extensions. Developers can customize their load balancers with minimal latency while Google Cloud handles the infrastructure.

AWS CodePipeline Enhances Deployment with New Amazon EKS Support

AWS CodePipeline now includes a native action for deploying applications to Amazon EKS. This feature simplifies deployment to EKS clusters in private VPCs, eliminating the need for additional infrastructure. Users can just provide the EKS cluster name, and the pipeline will manage the connection for deployment. This new action is available in all regions, except for AWS GovCloud (US) and China.

AWS Elastic Beanstalk Launches Support for Windows Server 2025 with Enhanced .NET Features

AWS Elastic Beanstalk now allows deployment on Windows Server 2025 and Windows Server Core 2025. These environments include .NET Framework 4.8.1 and .NET 8.0, providing enhanced security and performance. Developers can use various tools to create environments. This feature is available in commercial regions, including AWS GovCloud (US).

AWS ECS Now Supports Up to 192 vCPUs per Task for Enhanced Resource Management

Amazon ECS has increased the CPU limit for ECS tasks from 10 vCPUs to 192 vCPUs on Amazon EC2 instances. This allows for better resource management and sharing among tasks on larger instances. Customers can set both soft and hard CPU limits at the container and task levels. The new limit is available in all regions and can be defined using various AWS tools.

AWS Introduces Read Replica Support for Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB to Enhance Read Operations

Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB now includes Read Replica support, allowing customers to scale read operations across multiple instances and Availability Zones. This feature enhances read throughput for real-time analytics and monitoring, maintaining a single write endpoint. Customers can easily create Multi-AZ Read Replica clusters in several global regions via the AWS Management Console. More information is available in the user guide and product documentation.

AWS Vulnerability Alert: 1% of Users at Risk from Exploit in Amazon Machine Images

A recent vulnerability in AWS's use of Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) can be exploited by attackers to gain code execution within AWS accounts. It is estimated that 1% of organizations using AWS are susceptible to this "whoAMI" name confusion attack. AWS has introduced Allowed AMIs to create a trusted list of AMI providers as a defense mechanism. Tools like whoAMI-scanner are available to help identify untrusted AMIs in your code.

CNCF Launches Kmesh v1.0: Enhanced Traffic Management and IPsec Encryption

Kmesh released its v1.0.0, featuring improvements in east-west traffic management and a focus on usability. The update introduces IPsec for encrypted inter-node communication, enhancing security by preventing data eavesdropping and tampering. Additionally, authorization processes are extended to support IP-based handling via XDP programs. Community contributions were vital to this successful release.

❤️ You might also like

  • DeepSeek Open Infra: Open-Sourcing 5 AI Repos in 5 Days LINK

  • Introducting Perplexity Deep Research LINK

  • AWS Chime end of life LINK

  • Google new AI co-scientist to speed discoveries LINK

  • Nvidia unveils powerful AI system for genetic research LINK

  • Microsoft unveils Muse, a generative AI model that creates video games LINK

  • Google’s ‘Career Dreamer’ uses AI to help you explore job possibilities LINK

  • Meta announces LlamaCon, its first generative AI dev conference LINK

  • Perplexity AI removes Chinese censorship from Deepseek R1 LINK

  • Elon Musk's xAI unveils Grok-3 LINK

🏁 Enjoy this newsletter?

Forward it to a friend, and let them know they can subscribe here.