Novachi Utilizing the Cloud

May 26, 2011 - PRLog -- This article answers some of the basic questions about Cloud computing as it applies to schools and education agencies.  This article describes the Cloud technology in non-technical terms and explains how Novachi ensures safety in the Cloud.

The Cloud is a relatively new term often referenced in news and publications within the past few years.  Recent literatures often portray the Cloud as a flexible and limitless computing platform somewhere on the Internet.  Even the National Education Technology Plan 2010 (NETP) suggests using the Cloud infrastructure for transforming education in America.  Capacity is great, but is the Cloud safe for managing education records?

Security is not only a concern for school administrators and policy makers.  Safeguarding the privacy of student education record is a legal requirement per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99).  Can we safeguard the privacy of student education record and comply with FERPA in the Cloud?

What is the Cloud? The Cloud is a virtual data center backed by a network of servers physically residing in one or more data centers.  Hosting providers typically own the physical servers, providing power and network connectivity, and lease the servers to any organization needing the computing resource.  Key benefits for using the Cloud are cost saving, timely delivery, and flexible expansion or contraction per usage.  This is in contrast to in-house data centers where an organization may have to purchase the servers, wait for weeks or months for delivery and setup, and hire IT professionals to provision and manage the in-house servers.  A Cloud based application can expand servers to accommodate higher loads within a matter of hours and cost a small fraction of an in-house server.  

While performance and cost savings are clear for running applications within the Cloud, how can this platform be safe if any organization can join the Cloud? The answer depends on the type of application, technology selection and implementation of the Cloud technology.  We will not try to answer the security question for all Cloud implementations, but we will explain on how Novachi protects important education records in the Cloud.  

Novachi utilizes a Private Cloud to manage confidential education records.  A private cloud differs from an open cloud in that the network of servers in a private cloud is dedicated to a single organization.  Access to Novachi production servers is limited to experienced individuals needing to manage Novachi education system within the Novachi organization.  No other organization, not even the hosting service providers, can directly access the servers that run Novachi education system and store education records for schools and districts.  External access is strictly limited to the well-defined Internet access http(s) protocol.

From an infrastructure security perspective, there is little or no difference between an in-house managed web application and an application running in a private cloud.  Both operating environments use the same virtual local area network (VLAN) technology to restrict server access.  In fact, it may even be more secured to run applications in a private cloud.  Unlike small to mid-size in-house data centers, a cloud service provider typically operates large scale network of servers with 24x7 monitoring and operation staff to ensure the highest network security and server availability.  Large scale data center cloud service providers tend to have tighter physical security, more power capacity, better cooling systems, and so on.  In short, cloud service providers are in the business of running data centers and are the experts at it.
Novachi leverages the expertise of large scale cloud service providers to ensure the highest system availability, performance, and infrastructure security for the education community.  Novachi applies industry standard enterprise identity management and role based access control to ensure application level safety.  Novachi uses automated monitoring to ensure safe well-performing operation of the system at all times.

In summary, the education community can leverage Novachi’s free integrated SIS and LMS education system and the Cloud with the highest safety and FERPA compliance.  School administrators and policy makers can count on Novachi to be fully accountable for the confidentiality and privacy of any data stored on Novachi education system.  Novachi is fully committed to our privacy policy and terms of service.  In addition, Novachi is the first and only COPPA compliant system with online parental content.  For additional information, visit our website at www.novachi.com.

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