jklincewicz's blog

One of the most interesting aspects of Cloud Computing I have noticed over the past couple of years is the dichotomy that exists between Cloud USERS and Cloud PROVIDERS.

From the user perspective Cloud Computing is a means of abstracting all (or most of) the complexities inherent in the delivery of IT. From the provider’s perspective it is entirely the opposite.

Where the end user is no longer concerned with Real Estate, Power and Cooling, Depreciation of Capital Equipment, High Availability, OS patching and maintenance etc., the provider needs to consider these aspects in spades.

I have recently seen several blog posts bemoaning the prominence of Cloud Computing on the “hype-o-meter.” More than a few times, I have read suggestions that the very term “Cloud” be replaced with “Internet” to mitigate the cheapening effect of over-use (or inappropriate use by those looking to profit by the association.)

Whenever the discussion of “defining” Cloud Computing arises, I turn to the canonical source, the NIST v15 (currently.) I was surprised, but not shocked, that the word “Internet” did not appear among the 790 that comprise the document.

If there is one phrase that I find annoyingly overused in describing Cloud Computing, it is the cliché “paradigm shift.” I have even heard “new paradigm” combined with it to create the redundant phrase “NEW paradigm shift!!”

The most common synonyms for “paradigm” include “example, model, pattern, and archetype.” In other words, a paradigm means “business as usual.” A paradigm SHIFT then, would be a disruption in the normal, a radical change, or a new pattern.

In the nascent years of Distributed Computing, a whole industry emerged; COTS. Off-the-shelf applications, or "commodity" programs became available. Due in large part to the ubiquitous nature of the x86 platform, sales of “shrink-wrapped” programs saw a volume large enough to support the creation of thousands of new businesses.

In a previous blog entitled "Of Lamb's Tails and Private Clouds" I discussed what I considered the misuse of the term "Private Cloud." To summarize, adopting the trappings and techniques of Cloud Computing while still maintaining ownership and costs related to infrastructure and the real estate that houses it seems disingenuous to me.

For some reason there, seems to be a lot of confusion with regards to the connection between Grid Computing and Cloud Computing. I often see this question arise in various Cloud-oriented discussion groups, so I thought it might be a good idea to offer a short blog about the question.

When many people consider the best way to "get their feet wet" in cloud computing, they try to identify "low hanging fruit." Quite often, one tries to find the most mundane and routine IT tasks to propose, and what is more mundane and routine than backing up systems and data? The interesting paradox is that while backing up may not seem "mission critical" RESTORING sure is!

One thing is sure. For every fact that exists concerning Cloud Computing there are an equal or larger number of opinions. Often these opinions are quite at odds with facts. One of the few advantages of age, is that if one has been paying attention, it is possible to learn lots of stuff. I will again quote Zen Master, Yogi Bera in stating "you can observe a lot just by watching." Because he is also credited with "It's Deja Vu all over again", I'd like to discuss one of the more frequent class of comments heard about this topic.. that Cloud Computing is just like (take your pick);

IT is one of the few areas of endeavor where someone with technical aptitude, a high school diploma, and maybe some military service can snag a pretty decent-paying steady job. Data Centers for nearly the past half-century had been havens with three-shifts of indoor employment with benefits and often even bonuses.

Most talk surrounding Cloud Computing seems to focus on servers. This makes some sense because servers comprise the back end of most IT, but sometimes we lose track of the fact that at the other end of a hundred servers are thousands of clients.