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Cloud Revisited

January 7, 2010

While my previous posts equated Cloud with OSI and Cloud as a marketing term, the fact of the matter is, Cloud is “at market”. Meaning, Cloud computing is a term that I may define as one thing, someone else may define it as something totally different.

My definition of cloud really depends on what we’re discussing. I don’t think any one answer is an absolute but I do believe that given the nature of the discussion and the esoteric abstractions that occur as a result, no one is fully qualified to define it, including me.

So for me, Cloud Computing is about what’s being delivered and how it’s being delivered. Who is delivering it, is irrelevant. Just because a company say the deliver cloud computing or cloud-based computing, doesn’t necessarily make it so. But what the consumer gets, whether it’s a web application like Salesforce or Autotask, or XaaS (X = anything you can think of), then it’s sort of a “cloud” to them. And that’s my principal point.

Whether via the internet, a corporate network or from home, it’s all the same to the consumer. As long as they have what they expect in a service, application, etc.

Once again, my perspective.

Posted in My Opinions and Editorials, The Business of Technology | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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Tech Note: SPLA Licensing Limitations + Holiday Wish

December 9, 2009

I own a company that provides managed services, professional services and infrastructure hosting services. I have a product offering where the only thing the client needs to operate their business is an endpoint (desktop, workstation, laptop, thin client – which I can manage and protect) and connectivity (which I can manage and optimize).

Nice, eh? Good value for the customer and it leverages economies of scale for my business. One would think that it’s a pretty nice solution, especially with the Microsoft SPLA program and Citrix Service Provider Programs.

But guess what? I cannot offer a complete solution to my clients. You know why? Because I choose to deliver my solution using virtualization technology to leverage economies of scale in computing hardware.

Example:

A client has an SBS 2003 Premium server (AD, SQL, Exchange, File/Print, etc). They also have 20 workstations running Windows XP Professional with Office 2003/2007 installed along with a Line-of-Business application that uses a SQL database on the server.

Currently, their server is older and pretty close to end-of-life and they’re looking to forklift this to new hardware. Problem is, they have an OEM install of SBS and the cost of new server hardware is not appealing..

My proposal:

Using XenServer + XenDesktop I provide them 24 VMs (1 SBS Server + 23 Virtual Desktops (w/Office + LOB App installed)) for a monthly fee based on usage. That monthly fee includes all software licenses and guarantees that they will have the computing power that they need to operate their business.

They can “pay for what they use”. They only use 20 desktops this month? They only pay for 20. They have 23 next month? They only pay for 23? It’s calculated monthly and is a nice offering.

They don’t have to buy a new server every 3-5 years. They can continue to use the workstation hardware with the Citrix Receiver installed on a minimal operating system. They don’t have to worry about paying for licenses they don’t use. The infrastructure is in a solid datacenter which means redundant power, internet connectivity and with the tools I use, a solid backup solution to my storage pool, antivirus, etc.

BUT I cannot offer them this solution as I’ve stated above. Why? Because I cannot license the desktop operating system (Windows XP, Vista or 7) through the SPLA program.

The only way this works, according to Microsoft, is if the client has licenses for each virtual desktop (which I can manage for them, but they must purchase) AND those virtual desktops MUST run on server hardware that is dedicated to them. So, I would have to dedicate a physical server or servers to that customer and no other customer’s virtual machines can be run on that hypervisor. And the customer still has to pay me + Microsoft for the “complete” solution.

What does this mean? I cannot gain maximum efficiency in server hardware utilization using virtualization technology. And that’s with ANY hypervisor, Citrix XenServer, VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, etc. This also increases the price I must charge to ensure that I’m profitable on the offering and account for hardware utilization.

So, unless the person I’m dealing with at Microsoft is wrong or I have totally misinterpreted what the SPLA program agreement and licensing is telling me, Microsoft has basically shot my offering in the foot. They’re asking me to run a marathon with one arm tied behind my back. Can I do it? Yes, I can, however, my finish time will be much slower.

This problem is contrary to where the entire IT Services industry is going.

So, Microsoft. Here’s my Holiday Wish: Fix this!

A) Allowing me to sell desktop operating systems via SPLA and
B) do not limit me on how I provide that operating system to the end-user (e.g., virtual machine delivered via some protocol – RDP/ICA)

If I’m wrong about this, I will post an update to this article and give my mea culpa accordingly, but as of right now, according to Microsoft, I’m not.

Happy Holidays!

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Get your head out of the “Clouds”

November 10, 2009

Using the terms “cloud” or “cloud computing” these days (in the context of IT) usually generates some confusion and often a fair amount of misinterpretation. What one person calls “cloud” another person calls “tomato”. Corny, but you get my point, right?

Cloud computing is mostly about perspective. Salesforce.com, for instance, has a whole range of products and offerings that have the word “cloud” in them. What does this mean? What is a “cloud”? For them, and their customers, it’s a whole series of technologies, all packaged together that with a little development, customization or configuration, a company may use to support some process or serve some need that is important to their business, without any investment in hardware or underlying infrastructure software technology or delivery mechanism (databases, operating systems, web servers, contact management packages, workflow products, etc).

Once again, it’s about perspective. I’ve POSTED before on this, in a rather esoteric manner, about cloud being like OSI.

For most folks, though, cloud computing is “somewhere out there” ( one may say, pointing to the sky). Meaning, it’s out on the Internet or some remote network, datacenter, hosting facility, etc. It’s someplace where I, as a business owner/consumer, don’t have to “worry about it”.

So before you go all “cloud” happy because some sales guy is touting the buzzword of the day (eg “cloud”), think about this.

First: Computing is hardware + software to equal services that a business requires to operate.

Second: Businesses need computing and have needed it for decades to create operational efficiencies in their organization. Or, in some cases, their business totally depends on the computing, to function.

Third: Businesses used to buy their own computing, and design, installation, training, management, upgrades (software and hardware) and many other costs associated with “owning” your own stuff became very expensive (and very lucrative for those doing the work and selling the products).

Fourth: IT Services companies began providing management of computing (see my friend Rory’s blog HERE about this) such that businesses didn’t necessarily have to hire their own staff, but still “owned their own stuff”.

And now…we have “cloud computing” (aka hosting, aka workload hosting, aka datacenter-based computing, aka ad infinitum). Somebody else buys the hardware, somebody else buys the software, somebody else makes it all work, highly available and pretty and delivers it to the business to perform that valued function or process that they have always needed to operate.

But it still all boils down to one thing: It’s computing. That hasn’t changed.

Now, you don’t own your own stuff. You don’t manage your own stuff. You simply operate and lease what you need. Cloud computing is not some revolutionary new technology. Cloud computing is not some “invention”. Cloud computing is simply a business operations model whereby a company can get the computing it needs without all the traditional investments in hardware and software, staff, etc.

So don’t get all confused about this. Get your head out of the “clouds”, put your feet on the ground and think about what your business requires. And if you can get that more cost-effectively by having somebody else do it, then call it whatever you want. Just remember, it’s not anything special. It’s simply an operations model that’s been around for years but now has a lot of media hype and marketing spin behind it.

And if you have any serious questions, give me a call. I’ll set you straight.

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Business Owners: What is Virtualization?

November 1, 2009

Some businesses I deal with regularly do not have any sort of virtualization technology in place. Many have a fair understanding of what virtualization is, but not necessarily how it can help the business.

What is virtualization?

There are many different perceptions of what “virtualization” means in the context of Information Technology. I will not delve into the super-technical aspects of various types of virtualization, but will attempt to break it down into key types along with how it could help your business.

Server Virtualization

In today’s context, a server can be two things.

1. A physical server, such as you might purchase from Dell, IBM or HP.
2. An operating system (OS), such as Microsoft Windows Server or Linux.

Traditionally, there is a one-to-one relationship between an OS and the physical server hardware. But with server virtualization, that relationship changes from one physical server (host) to many operating systems (guests or VMs).

Server virtualization is technology that specifically allows multiple operating systems to be run on a single physical server.

Example: Many businesses have several servers that provide something to the infrastructure. Email Services, File Storage Services, Printing Services, Authentication (Login) Services, Database Services are examples of the most common types. But installing all of these services onto a single physical server is not necessarily a good idea since these services could conflict with one another and cause problems. And having multiple physical servers for each of these services is costly, both in initial purchasing and ongoing maintenance costs, but is commonly done.

As long as the physical server hardware is capable, you can install a server virtualization technology, known as a hypervisor (such as VMware ESX, Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix XenServer) as the “host”, then you can create multiple virtual machines “VMs” or “guests”, each running their own operating system and publish/provide services. These VMs then share the resources (processor, memory and hard drives) of the same physical server.

Benefits:

Server Virtualization benefits a business in terms of reduction in physical server costs and ongoing maintenance costs, depending on the configurations, and would allow for very flexible management. Also, the fewer physical servers you have, the less electricity you use and the less space is required to house them.

Centralized storage (a component often included with this type of solution) that can be used by multiple physical servers can increase the cost of the solution, however, it usually balances out in regards to overall cost as you are reducing the number of physical servers initially purchased. It also vastly improves performance if designed and implemented correctly in this context.

Application Virtualization

This is not a new technology since many vendors have been doing this for decades. But in the context of microcomputing today, it means you install an application on a server and then have users connect to that server over the network to run the application. The application then uses the server’s hardware resources (processor, memory and hard drives) to function and execute rather than a user’s workstation resources.

There are many different flavors of this technology, but the most common today are Citrix’s XenApp and Microsoft Terminal Services (which XenApp utilizes). This is technology installed to allow multiple users to connect and share the operating system resources (both hardware AND software) of the XenApp server.

Example: You install Microsoft Windows Server 2008 operating system on a server along with software to allow multiple users to connect and share the operating systems resources. Then you install the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook) on that server and “publish” the applications for your users. You then install a client software on each of your 25 workstations and direct it to the server. User’s can then connect to the server, run the application and the server does 98% of the work.

Benefits:

Application Virtualization benefits a business by centralizing the installation of end-user software and thereby lowering ongoing maintenance/upgrade costs associated with those applications. User workstations (desktop PCs) may not be required. It is possible to deliver these applications to alternate endpoint devices, such as a thin client or minimally installed desktop PC, thereby removing the costs associated with maintaining a user’s PC. Additionally, since the applications are installed on server-class hardware, performance is often improved.

Desktop Virtualization

This is something that has just recently (in the last year or so) started getting a lot of attention in the IT industry. You’ve likely heard the terms “Desktop Virtualization” or “VDI” tossed around from sales folks, literature or the Internet.

Desktop virtualization is much like Server Virtualization in that it is a way to share physical hardware. It means that you install multiple workstation operating systems (such as Windows Vista or Windows 7) into virtual machine “guests” on a server that is running a hypervisor. This hypervisor allows multiple operating systems to share the physical server hardware, much the same way as Server Virtualization.

As with the other types, there are multiple Desktop Virtualization solutions out there, such as VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop.

Example:

If you have 25 Destkop PCs, then they must be installed with an operating system, maintained, updated and repaired. A typical Desktop Virtualization solution for this scenario may be two physical servers, each with a hypervisor installed, and then a virtual machine is created and installed with the desktop operating system for each user. Users then connect to their Desktop VM and can work, with the server doing 98% of the work. The VMs are now “guests” on the physical server and share the server’s processor, memory and hard drives, just like server virtualization.

Benefits:

Desktop Virtualization benefits a business by centralizing, making it easier to upgrade, patch and support a user’s working environment. Desktop VMs are likely closely located to the servers that support them, making access to those services much faster. And like Application Virtualization, desktop PCs are not necessarily required as the Desktop VM may be delivered to an alternate endpoint device, such as a ThinClient, or a minimally installed desktop PC.

Synopsis:

Virtualization is essentially technology that allows the sharing of resources, both hardware and software.

What you choose to virtualize and the product you choose to use should always be tailored to your business. There is no “one size fits all” and there are many “what if” scenarios with deploying these types of solutions. Ask questions of your IT staff, consulting team or trusted technical advisors and ask for demonstrations.

It is possible to combine one, some or all of the types listed here and there are dozens of ways each of these types of initiatives may be designed, implemented and managed. The key is to ensure this is done in a balance that best supports your business.

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Tech Notes: XenServer and Neverfail

October 27, 2009

Neverfail is a wonderful business continuity product. I’ve been deploying it for a few years now, primarily for Microsoft SQL and Microsoft Exchange protection, and earlier this year, I had the opportunity to deploy Neverfail for Exchange to a virtualized environment.

My client has used Neverfail for the last couple of years with physical server pairs and crossover cabling for the Neverfail Channel, which is the traditional way to deploy this solution. So I deployed Neverfail for SQL 2005 and Neverfail for Exchange 2003 for them on separate projects a couple of years ago and away we happily went.

The main objective behind a virtualization intitiative, was to lay the foundation to allow for fast growth by leveraging virtualization technologies to conserve server resources and provision those resources quickly. We began planning a series of core infrastructure hardware upgrades to put them in a position to deliver these resources to the existing campuses and to new campuses as they came online. In addition, a planned upgrade (including virtualization) of the CampusVue architecture, the main Line of Business application, was in the planning stages and laying the groundwork now would be critical to ensuring success for that project. (I will post a Tech Note on CampusVue 11, n-tier virtualization deployment using XenServer in the near future).

Initially, I was concerned that we were going to have to select a different hypervisor and given the scope of the overall virtualization effort, was not really keen on that. But Citrix XenApp just plain outperforms the competition on XenServer and since the main Line of Business application for this client is delivered using Citrix Presentation Server 4.5, the choice was to go with XenServer 5.

Some months prior to planning these infrastructure upgrade initiatives it became apparent that there was one server in the Neverfail for Exchange server pair that was past end-of-life and the client was preparing to buy a new server. In fact, the Primary Server failed completely and was shut down for several months. I suggested that given the virtualization efforts, why not simply install the Neverfail Secondary server into a VM? In theory, it should work, but I began researching this as a viable option, since there was already a budget for virtualization server hardware, storage, core switching, etc.

Neverfail has quite an extensive knowledge base and I found several articles and spoke with several folks over there about this solution, but there just wasn’t much data. They have information in their KB regarding VMware but not much was published on XenServer. But since the product could work in ESX, it was a pretty safe bet that it would work on XenServer, so I began planning this during the initial virtualization deployment.

The initial deployment was a 2-node XenServer 5 resource pool using a Lefthand Networks iSCSI SATA SAN (pre-HP) that I had deployed during the initial Neverfail implementation. Originally that SAN had been used as a backup target and subsequently Exchange databases were moved to one of those LUNs (no, I didn’t do that part). I surmised that as long as we didn’t push any serious I/O through those LUNs, then we should be fine. In addition, I put in a temporary HP Gigabit switch to ensure that his throughput was a bit more reliable. These measures were temporary since we were expecting new hardware specifically ordered for this purpose.

After the nodes were deployed, I created the VM for the Neverfail for Exchange Secondary and began the re-deployment of Neverfail. I won’t go into the gory details from the Neverfail procedure (and it is quite detailed and wonderful), but I will abbreviate it here:

Build Secondary Server

1. Must have the same OS version, Service Packs & hotfixes
2. Must have same drive letter configuration with volume sizes => Primary Server
3. Must have same network configuration for LAN deployment

Deploy Neverfail software to Primary server. This process does the following:

1. Installs Neverfail software
2. Clones Primary Server using NT Backup
3. Reboot and server is again ready to provide services to users

Deploy Neverfail to Secondary server. This process does the following:

1. Installs Neverfail software
2. Restores “clone” to Secondary
3. Configure network appropriately
4. Reboot and servers will synch (a lengthy process)

This procedure is incredibly well documented by Neverfail. The only changes that I had to make on the fly are explained below. In addition, the XenServer Tools (PV drivers) MUST be installed prior to beginning ANY work on the Secondary. The IP configurations get all hosed if you don’t.

During the course of this implementation, I created VLANs on the client network, creating one for the Neverfail Channel. Since the XenServer NIC bonds were trunked to the switch, I had to do this to ensure that there was protected layer 2 communication between the physical Primary Server and the virtual Secondary Server network interfaces. Plus, it’s a standard practice when deploying XenServer ;-) .

The network portion of the XenServer resource pool, by default, is essentially a shared switch configuration. So, if viewed from that perspective, it’s quite easy to configure “virtual networks” with assigned VLANs for tagging traffic out the trunked NIC bonds (I used bonds in this scenario for most traffic, but a single NIC for the Neverfail Channel).

The “gotcha” comes during the portion of the Neverfail installation that asks you to ” disconnect the network cables from all network adapters on the Secondary server (the cables Must be disconnected rather than disabling the network adapters to proceed)”. I worked around this by disconnecting the Primary Server NICs, since that cannot be done in a XenServer VM. Since the restore process will actually overwrite IP configurations, this is critical to ensure that two Active servers are connected and visible to the network simultaneously, which could cause data loss and/or corruption.

During a Neverfail deployment, the Neverfail Primary server down-time window is equal to the time to install the Neverfail software + time to clone + one reboot. In a deployment to a virtual machine, this time is extended to include deployment of the Neverfail Secondary server to ensure there is no data loss. I am sure there are alternate ways to achieve the same result, but this is the way that I chose to ensure the integrity of the environment. If you have an alternate solution, then please chime in!

In any case, it’s quite a nifty little setup . When the remaining hardware was shipped and I built out the remaining components: 7 XenServer nodes, HP LeftHand P4500 and a Cisco 3750g stack (two nodes) and these components were deployed, we switched over to the Secondary (virtual) server for testing and it’s been running “virtually” ever since. Surprisingly enough, we were able to correct a memory problem by virtualizing this without service interruption. (More on Free Memory PTEs and Neverfail at a later time)

So all-in-all, Neverfail on XenServer is quite a nice leverage of virtualization technology and equals happiness for my client.

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VDI and User-installed Applications: The way I see it.

October 23, 2009

There has been much ado about whether or not to allow users to install their own applications in a VDI environment on Brian Madden’s site here , Dan Feller’s blog here and Chris Fleck’s blog here. I’ve tweeted back and forth a bit, but nothing serious and started pondering the reasons why this appears to be such an involved discussion when I don’t believe it should be. Yes, it does impact design of the solution. Yes, it can increase TCO. So maybe not such a trivial argument at all, eh?

Here are my thoughts and opinions on the matter.

You should ask the questions “Why are you considering a virtual desktop solution” ? What are your business objectives here? Is it for better control of the desktop? Security? Scalability? Is it just plain cool? (yes, this is a reason folks deploy things, surprisingly enough) What is driving the effort?

The very next question to ask is “What do you allow now?” Do you have your workstations locked down such as to prevent local application installation or do the users have quite a bit of lattitude?

And the final question: “Is there a valid business reason to allow this for all, or even some, of your users?” Do you allow it now because you can’t stop it easily? Do you disallow it because the management and policing is too much time spent?

If you answer those questions for your organization, then you’ve likely answered the question of whether or not to allow users to install applications on their VM. And if the question isn’t answered 100%, you at least have a solid starting point from which to move forward.

You can then begin to have conversations with management, IT staff and users on what the solution should be. End users really needs to be part of these conversations, pilots, proofs-of-concept, deployment & user acceptance testing. This is critical to the success of the effort and if you fail to account for this, then you’ll likely be faced with the perception that the project has failed in some form or fashion.

So do you or don’t you? You know, allow users to install their own applications?

Well, only the organization can answer that (see above). And remember, Mr. Architect, in ANY technology initiative: One size does NOT fit all!

I would guess that many organizations will allow some of their users that ability, and some not. So, a hybrid solution is likely to be the case for most implementations, but once again, it really depends on the organization’s business drivers, management capabilities and expectations that will be deciding factors in the debate.

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Technology Decisions for Business Owners

October 22, 2009

I began working on this post as a result of interactions with business owners over the years when talking with them about technology solutions or services they were interested in implementing. I realized that many business owners, especially small businesses, have a good understanding of their business, but are not “techies”. Also, truly vetting a product or service was not something that was commonly done.

Most relied on marketing information, what could be “Googled” or a sales pitch on specific benefits that “may” be provided to their respective business. I noticed this often led to misinterpretation or misrepresentation of the technology or service and that subsequently led to a customer satisfaction problem for the vendor or provider.

Because of this, I decided to write up some considerations that small business owners can use to help them make better decisions. Vendors and providers, take head, as this could also be viewed from your perspective as a “what not to do” or “how to ensure the customer gets what they expect”.

Upgrades/Maintenance

This is the most common scenario since most businesses have some form of technology already deployed, which could range from a single site with a couple of workstations and bookkeeping software to multiple servers and workstations deployed over multiple sites with multiple Line of Business and office productivity applications.

Upgrading applications, workstations, servers, etc is a regular process that has a couple of drivers. One, the software/hardware manufacturer no longer supports the software version or hardware that your business is using. Two, the new software version or hardware has capabilities that would help increase productivity in your business.

Most businesses plan on using their hardware (i.e., servers, workstations, firewalls, etc.) for up to 5 years. Some business owners even consider it a one-time capital expenditure that should not have to be repeated and the software often goes unaccounted for with regards to budgeting. Problem is, new hardware comes out quite frequently (new processor chips, new types of memory, new PC models, etc) and software manufacturers have major releases every year or so.

Putting these costs in your business plan is a way to avoid the sticker shock. Upgrading software, which often requires better hardware, can drastically increase your expenditures if the hardware requirements are not accounted for.

Does this mean you shouldn’t upgrade your software? It depends. Does the manufacturer still support the version that you’re on? Does your business require a feature that is only available in the newer version? Will productivity be improved if you upgrade? These are questions you need to answer to help determine your path.

New Technology

Whether it be a new phone system, network infrastructure or a new software solution to help with your business productivity, new technology has hidden costs you may not be aware of.

Deployment cost is sometimes unaccounted for. You buy a solution from a vendor, but now you have to pay to have it installed.

Management cost is the most often overlooked. You have this brand new solution, but who is going to perform the day-to-day maintenance? Perhaps you have a dedicated IT staff that does this. Perhaps you do not have dedicated staff, but have someone whose primary job is something else. Management of a solution is an important part of the overall cost consideration.

Training cost is often neglected since any new technology will likely require training for your users. And training your users on a new technology takes them out of the day-to-day, which means decreased productivity. And of course there is technical training required to ensure that someone on your staff can maintain your new system. Things like performing backups, adding/removing user accounts or new staff training.

In addition to these costs, the upgrade/update costs should subsequently be added to your business plan as I mention above in “Upgrades/Maintenance”.

So, who’s going to install it? Who’s going to maintain it? Who’s going to train my users? How much are upgrades? Can I buy a subscription that gets me the upgrades for no additional charge?

These are questions you should ask to help you make better decisions for the long term goals of your organization. Be skeptical. Require proofs of concept or live demos, not mock-ups. If possible, speak to someone who’s already using the technology. This gives you a clearer understanding of what it’s really like to own a product/technology and will go a long way towards making your business more profitable.

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Cloud Philosophy: Cloud = OSI Model

September 22, 2009

Steve Foskett recently blogged in reference to Zend and an initiative they took to provide a universal (or at least more uniform) interface for developers. In this blog (and another related blog), he talks about standardization of Cloud Computing as an effort that is not needed yet.

I happen to agree with this, with a slight exception. You can read the Steve’s full blog here:

This got me thinking about cloud computing. I’ve been asked a few times what cloud computing is and it’s always a tricky question to answer. The definition of a “cloud” really depends on your perspective. The farther away from “technical” you get, the broader the definition could become. How?

An end user 10 years ago running a word processing program to type and print a letter is just as abstracted from the operating system, microcomputer hardware (IBM PS/2, Apple, NeXT, etc), printer communication (LPT, Serial or Ethernet) as they are today while using that application. They are NOT abstracted from the application, just the mechanisms used to accomplish a task. It’s no different than me connecting to WordPress, typing up a blog and publishing it.

In this example, the users (and me, publishing this blog) simply do not know (or likely care) about the “how” of it all. Just that the layers below are working and the job can get completed.

This equals cloud. Maybe not macro-cloud computing or even what people are saying today about cloud computing, but certainly micro-cloud computing.

Said another way, a cloud can be a collection of server, storage, networking, application and communication technologies (not necessarily in that order) all coming together to provide a service (or application). The service, as in the OSI model, needs to be aware of the layers directly above and below only. Admittedly, there may be examples to prove me wrong, but I doubt it, since I’m talking about Layer 8, the consumer of the service. So if the service is at Layer 7/8 (product/consumer), then every other layer is “cloud” as far as Layer 8 is concerned. Perspective.

One may even construe client/server (i.e., Windows 95/Windows NT 3.51, etc) solutions as a cloud, simply because the mechanism that is used to deliver a tool, application or service to the user is generally “unknown” to that user. Mac or PC, ethernet or WiFi, Linux server or Windows server. The user doesn’t know, nor likely do they care WHAT it is, just that it IS.

This can be even more granular if you look at adding abstraction within each of the OSI Layers and THAT can be quite a mind numbing exercise, though ultimately still classified as part of that layer.

Standards are needed between layers only. As long as that happens, innovation along any given “cloud” method may continue, though methods of providing the lower layers will diverge.

So, philosophically speaking, we’ve been “cloud computing” since the before the inception of microcomputing as we know it. And standards do exist for this.

Posted in My Opinions and Editorials | 1 Comment »

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Cloud Computing at Home? Absolutely.

September 21, 2009

About 15 years ago, I worked for a company called DATASTORM Technologies. You may remember them, they were the manufacturers of the software PROCOMM and PROCOMM Plus. This was back when the Internet had been around for quite a while, and was really beginning to take hold for home and business users. Communication via the public Internet was BOOMING.

At the time, dial-up was king, with a smattering of ISDN connections to your home, depending upon availability. This was quite a time. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) with modem banks were on the way out and small web companies were on the way in and it was the beginning of the DOT COM boom. I often wondered, while I was writing custom ASPECT scripts for dial-up and custom modem strings for “odd ball” modems, what would be the future of broadband.

At that time, cable internet access, was just getting started. I’m not sure if it was the first, but the company (the name escapes me) I first heard about was in East Lansing, MI and had started a pilot on their first broadband (via cable) offering. It made sense to me, who had been working with asynchronous serial communications for a number of years, to capitalize on the comparitively monumental amount of bandwidth available through coax/cable. Of course, there was the bi-directional technical challenge since most cable companies were doing broadcast-only and the hardware to allow return communications from your house was just not present at the POPs around the country.

Well, we all know now that this problem was overcome in most places and copper has been replaced with fiber in many areas.

I predicted then that there would be a convergence of technologies (phone, internet and cable TV) to the broadband provider. Sure enough, that’s a common offering nowadays. So what now? Where do we go from here?

Well, quickly along the heals of combined services on a single wire came WebTV. And now, in some areas, you can have fiber at your house (Verizon FiOS is one that I know of since my dad has it). This is essentially a MetroEthernet connection to your home. Wow. This allows for recording HD movies on a box provided by your broadband provider and then subsequently streaming that across a LAN connection to other TVs in your home. Very cool stuff.

And the next big thing? Well, Server Virtualization, workload hosting and VDI have been gaining momentum over the last few years, so it’s my opinion that Cloud Computing will eventually be offered by your Internet provider.

That’s right. You will soon be able to get a hosted and managed VDI offering from your cable company. Bye bye WebTV. Hello, VDI.

Small businesses who cannot afford a server-class system to run their applications will be able to get the computing power directly from their provider. Internet connectivity, VoIP solutions and server workload hosting all-in-one just like we currently get Cable TV, Phone Service and Internet All-In-One.

Home users, who cannot afford to buy a PC, can get a VDI solution from the cable company. They’ll rent an endpoint device, much like they pay a monthly fee for equipment now.

Large businesses, who likely host their infrastructure in a datacenter, will be able to get their server workloads hosted on their providers “cloud”.

Cloud computing for the masses. Very exciting.

And broadband companies who currently provide a “box” for television viewing will now be able to better leverage that “box” for other things, like delivering applications, hosting VDI images and other home and business uses that are too numerous (and constantly growing) to list here.

The need for personal computers will not likely go away anytime soon. But as the technological challenges are met and exceeded, this type of service delivery will begin to be the norm rather than the excpetion.

So watch out, everyone. Cloud computing and VDI is coming to a living room near you!

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Ad Hoc Networking and Preventative Measures

September 5, 2009

As a consultant, I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing and assessing technology infrastructures.  Usually this is a site readiness assessment for a specific technology or service implementation, but sometimes it’s a request by an executive team to provide a report card on staff or infrastructure to ensure that they are getting the best “bang for their buck”.

I have noticed a few things along the way.

One is that many businesses have quite a variety of hardware and software technologies in place and it appears, at first glance, to be a complete hodgepodge of barely integrated technologies that supposedly support a specific task for the business.  I call this phenomenon “Ad Hoc Networking”.  And most organizations have such a network.

In fact, I’ve frequently left a client site asking how much time, effort and money is spent managing such a network? 

Managing a network is much like owning a garage.  It’s intended purpose is to provide a place to park your car.  But often, you begin to store things like gardening equipment, holiday decorations, etc.  After a while, it becomes more difficult to open the car door and if left unchecked, you eventually find yourself parking in the driveway because it’s just easier to get in and out of your car.  You then spend a great deal of time searching for something that you know you stored in the garage, but can’t seem to find.  Sound familiar?

I also hear many of my peers tell stories of such networks also, complaining and making fun of the client.  In some cases, the neatness of the network’s physical components (or lack thereof) offends aesthetic sensibilities since many IT guys are borderline obsessive/compulsive when it comes to that.  I happen to agree with some of these since a neat network is easier to troubleshoot.  But not the point of losing sight of the big picture.

What causes this phenomenon?

Not a simple answer for that one.  One could blame the hardware and software manufacturers’ penchant for insisting that you upgrade your systems that you just installed 8 months ago to the latest version.

One could blame a “technology happy” IT Manager, who likes to play with the latest and greatest technologies, regardless of the lack of necessity for the business.  They just want it because it’s cool.

One could also blame the sales guy who comes calling, touting the plethora of benefits that come from buying a solution or technology from them.

But ultimately, the business owner must take responsibility and realize that purchasing the latest and greatest technology is not always the best for the business, no matter what the sales guy, IT guy or manufacturer says.

As a business owner, how do you mitigate against “Ad Hoc Networking”?

When trying to prevent “sprawl” and ensure that your business maximizes any investment in technology, it’s best to ensure that you’re as educated as possible.  If you’re not technical, then make sure you have a technical advisor that you trust along for the ride.

What will follow is a series of posts to help a business owner make better decisions when deciding to invest in IT.  Hopefully, this will help you be a better consumer for your business.

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