Cloud computing is not just a recycled idea
In the last newsletter we pointed out that some people dismiss cloud computing as being a bunch of rehashed ideas. We also pointed out that it is rare to come across a fundamentally new concept in IT and that most concepts recycle over time. For example, sometimes it makes sense to deploy IT resources in a centralized fashion and sometimes it makes sense to deploy those resources in a decentralized fashion. In this newsletter will we continue the discussion of both key IT concepts and cloud computing.
FAQ: Cloud computing demystified
Over the last two or three years there has been a lot of discussion of virtual servers and most people include virtual servers (a.k.a., multi-tenancy) in their definition of cloud computing. It is easy to describe the benefits of virtual servers; for example, lower cost, more agile provisioning. It is hard, however, to argue that virtualized servers are a fundamentally new concept since IBM was shipping virtualized mainframes 35 years ago.
The component of public cloud computing that has garnered the most attention over the last couple of years is software-as-a-service (SaaS). As is the case with virtual servers, it is easy to describe the benefits of cloud computing; for example, lower cost, access to applications that would not otherwise be available, faster implementation. However, as was also the case with virtual servers, it is difficult to argue that SaaS is a fundamentally new concept as roughly a decade ago there was a largely failed movement to convince IT organizations that they should rent applications from a class of provider referred to at the time as Application Service Providers (ASP).
There are, however, a few somewhat new concepts associated with cloud computing. One of these concepts is the dynamic movement of IT resources. One way that this concept is manifested is through functionality that VMware refers to as VMotion. VMotion can be used to dynamically move a virtual machine from one physical server to another either across the data center LAN or across the WAN to a disparate data center.
Another one of the new concepts associated with cloud computing is the on-demand provisioning of IT resources. This is an extremely important concept if IT has any hope of becoming agile. For example, in a traditional IT environment it can take weeks or even months to provision a new server. In a cloud computing environment, a new virtual machine can be implemented in seconds or minutes.
In the next newsletter we will discuss one aspect of cloud computing that causes us to lose sleep. In the mean time, the following URLs point to a couple of exceptionally lucid and insightful discussions of cloud computing and the associated risks.
