August 28, 2006 | Comments: (0)
There was a great article today by Derrick Harris in GRIDtoday. And on a rainy Chicago morning it was indeed a welcome bit of illumination. In this article Harris interviews Jamie Bernardin and Jikku Venkat, CTOs of DataSynapse and United Devices respectively. Knowing them as I do these wise words really do not surprise me, but reflecting on my constant pleas (I'm not even going to include any back links here as they are numerous) to get some existing applications "Grid enabled", it did make me jump up and say "Amen"! In fact I much prefer the term "application virtualization" as opposed to "Grid enabled" I think I'll use that from here on out.
We've said all along that Grid Computing is a disruptive technology, then wonder why enterprise isn't embracing it. Quite simply, we've scared them. Instead we need to take the approach Bernardin and Venkat outline and position Grid (or whatever we want to call it) as an evolution, not a revolution.
From the article:
"It's not around creating new Grid services," Bernadin said, "it's really just about putting existing applications onto a managed, shared infrastructure."
- and -
"It's not really as much of a disruptive technology. In fact, it's the opposite," said Venkat. "It's completely non-disruptive to a roadmap they already are on that we are simply plugging into."
Well put Jamie, well put Jikku, and thank you Derrick!
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 28, 2006 08:57 AM
August 24, 2006 | Comments: (0)
There was a recent posting to the Folding@home web site announcing the availability of a client for the Sony Playstation 3. This caught my eye as a potential embedded system early adopter of Grid. One could certainly argue about how "embedded" a hopped up game system with a cell processor is, but the point is not the size of the core, but the potential of what can be done with it.
While yet another search for the cure to a disease or extraterrestrial life is not all that compelling from a computer science standpoint, these types of projects do get play in the popular press and create interest in Grid.
Molecular simulations when the Playstation isn't serving media or playing games may very well lead to Grid enabled applications more closely associated with the Playstation's intended market. I still see media distribution and resource provisioning as a sweet spot for Grid.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 24, 2006 08:38 AM
August 23, 2006 | Comments: (0)
In the latest recycling of the Oracle Grid Index we see that Grid computing growth is the fastest in India. Previously we've seen this study reveal that European businesses lag behind their US counterparts in their understanding and adoption of related service-oriented architectures (SOAs).
The Oracle Grid Index was summarized nicely by the folks at GRIDtoday, who themselves a month prior, came to the conclusion that European grid users are, on average, more advanced than their North American counterparts.
There is seemingly contradictory information in the data above, however, it really comes down to how one looks at and interprets the data. And how one looks at the data can yield very different results when the data is fairly non quantitative or when quantitative data is gleaned from qualitative means such as interviews with IT decision makers.
This is not a dig at Oracle or GRIDtoday. No one knows better than I how hard it is to glean real metrics from this very generalized market that can mean many different things to many different people. However there is one simple metric that can be used which is very understandable to the enterprise space, and a metric I would like to see Grid, SOA, and virtualization measured against. Money.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 23, 2006 12:48 PM
August 18, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Good News For Open Source Grid
In a recent announcement, ActiveGrid has stated that it is moving its tooling over to the Eclipse open source environment and will join the Eclipse Foundation as well. In a nutshell this means that ActiveGrid is satisfied that Eclipse now supports all the right components of the LAMP stack and therfore the underpinnings of what ActiveGrid sees as it's sweet spot in the future of Grid and Web 2.0.
I've interviewed Peter Yared before and have great respect for his pragmatic and yes, I'll say it, application focused views on the metrics of success for Grid. I am also a believer that the LAMP stack will play a part in the success of Grid.
The ActiveGrid endorsement of Eclipse is a harbinger of good things to come in the Eclipse - Open Source Grid relationship.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 18, 2006 08:57 AM
August 17, 2006 | Comments: (0)
Real Virtual Applications - Almost
According to this release from VMware we are starting to see applications being developed for early stage virtual technologies. I like the fact that relatively early on in virtualization discussions a genuine concentration has been put on applications. Something that I believe Grid has fallen short on.
Also, the fact that an organization with deep pockets like VMware sponsored and provided means for developers to create these applications shows me promise for the fledgling virtual application market. Finally, the panel of judges assembled here – industry pro’s all – indicates to me that this was not a marketing exercise alone and that virtual applications could one day make it to the enterprise.
The above is well and good, however; all is not perfect. Like my views on the similar contest from Sun my skeptical side says, "while this contest is interesting – where are the real apps?" Let's be honest, Bank of America, isn't going to bring any of these applications into a production environment.
I will watch with great interest and hope that the seeds planted by this contest grow into some true enterprise applications.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 17, 2006 08:55 AM
August 10, 2006 | Comments: (0)
More Grid - SOA - Virtualization Stew
In my previous blog I stated that utility computing would likely evolve through this equation: Virtualization + Grid = SOA. And while my hypothesis is shared by a number of analysts and vendors in the space, further reading has introduced other options that, I believe, are just as valid and plausible. For instance, this article suggests that it may instead be Grid + SOA = Virtualization.
The article is presented in two parts with the first defining the spaces as the authors see it and the second presenting use case scenarios that show real world adoption of the authors premises.
The first part of the article concludes:
"Grid technologies can be used in an SOA, in particular in the virtualization and composition of resources. Users work with abstract services and don't need to worry about the technical details relating to their implementation. Another advantage of grid technologies in an SOA relates to the mechanisms for composing and executing powerful and secure workflows, where the grid operates as the backend and middleware of an SOA."
While there is not a whole lot of new information here, it is still a goood read and a good refresher course for the concepts behind the referenced technologies. It is also a good take in the much-debated which-comes-first-what-leads-to-what world of Grid, Virtualization and SOA.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 10, 2006 08:54 AM
August 04, 2006 | Comments: (0)
It was a crazy week in the virtualization world.
We see that Oracle is Losing Patience with both XenSource and Vmware and XenSource's CTO responding to that critcism.
We learn that XenSource and Red Hat kissed and made up. If you weren't watching closely, you may not even have even known they had a spat.
We hear that Microsoft's commitment to Virtualization is called into question and there is even some criticism that what Microsoft has brewing is non-differentiating and too little, too late.
I'm not going to turn this into a virtualization blog. There are others that do a fine job of that already. However, I am amazed at the speed at which major enterprise IT players are putting real efforts into this technology. It seems that it took a bit longer to coax Grid out of the halls of academia.
Why do I think this is the case? My immediate reactions:
- There is a lot of money in this space. We have some major players and major smart folks at these organizations; they wouldn't be concentrating on virtualization if the return wasn't there.
- The FUD hasn't worked. No shot at Microsoft but they've announced a virtualization product and virtualization manager coming in the next 12 - 18 months; usually when they do that they freeze the market and people wait to see what they've got. That's not happening this time around.
- It's not about virtualization for the sake of virtualization. Perhaps it's virtualization plus Grid equaling SOA, but I don't know for sure and I imagine these vendors don't either based on their wrangling. But this will be the interesting part to watch, companies are not going to just add a bunch of virtualized machines just to say they did. They've dealt with server sprawl, there is no way they will accept virtual-machine sprawl.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 4, 2006 08:08 AM
August 01, 2006 | Comments: (0)
A Major Player in the Grid Game
eWeek recently ran a podcast interview with Paul Strong, eBay Research Labs distinguished research scientist, about the challenges of implementing Grids in one of the fastest growing database environments in existence.
Admittedly the interview isn't all that telling. Ebay is one of those enterprise players that is simply going to hold their cards real close to their vest. However, the important thing here is that they are at least admitting that they are holding cards. One of the hurdles for mainstream enterprise Grid acceptance is getting some of these big players to actually admit they are using Grid, be it commercially available implementations or something homegrown.
This podcast is also some good preliminary homework if you planning on attending Paul's keynote at GridWorld.
Posted by Greg Nawrocki on August 1, 2006 09:56 AM
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