The Network is the Computer

A year ago, Jonathan Schwartz, COO of Sun outlined plans to build the first public, multi-tenant grid (just like the power companies run), and make it available for $1/cpu-hr. The “Sun Grid“, is essentially a collection of low cost network, storage, computing and software elements, lashed together to do work that historically required very expensive dedicated proprietary technologies. Now we can all experience for ourselves what it’s like to use one of the world’s largest supercomputers, without having to house it, manage it, power it, administer it, provision it… or buy it. Clearly shared resources like these and the old Colocation Centres are far more efficient and not to mention less expensive. However, one benefit we hadn’t considered was the fortuitous environmental implications they fascilitate. By pooling all these resources, we can seriously cut back on harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by the millions of organizations independent inefficient networks. The big question is, will organizations commit to shared resources like these, or will they limit their flexibility and compromise their security. I guess time will tell. Jonathan Schwartz clearly feels they are the new way to go, and I for one agree! UsedCisco.com Green Your network…reuse