Posts tagged with Cloud Computing
Cloud Computing: A Look Back and a Look Forward
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 4:39 PM
Loading ...October is pretty active month in the cloud computing space, with two big events happening this week that caught my eye: the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco and the Cloud Adoption Arena virtual event. The Web 2.0 conference is about more than just the Internet; it’s evolved to focus on technologies & business models – particularly cloud computing. The Cloud Adoption Arena is taking a hard look at how the difficult year for the economy is actually spurring the adoption of cloud strategies. Quite simply, I love these kinds of conversations.
But all this talk about where the cloud is going got me thinking about where we’ve come from. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago that I was talking about getting beyond the fluff of cloud computing, and eWEEK was asking if we can “bet on the cloud.” The evolution of cloud computing allows you to draw a number of parallels to similar technologies. Living and breathing virtualization, I can’t help but feel some déjà-vu when I hear the main issues of cloud computing discussed (both pros and cons): it’s incredible for efficiency, flexibility and scalability of your business, but what about manageability, security and overall maturity of the market? These are all things we’re saying about virtualization just a few short years ago.
But, like virtualization, the major players stepped up to drive cloud computing forward. VMware launched their vSphere operating system – a major step to addressing those concerns over manageability & security. Microsoft has launched their Azure platform, which helps simplify the entire development cycle of the cloud – from web developers to ISVs to system integrators. And, from a standards perspective, groups like the Cloud Security Alliance and the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) have taken control of this market to help ensure its evolving in a responsible way.
And, at AMD, we’ve been addressing the infrastructure needs. We now have a Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor available that draws an ACP of 40W, as well as the “Kroner” server platform to further address energy efficiency. These low-power, highly scalable, fully-featured solutions help cloud providers operate an extremely efficient, highly utilized and dense computing environment.
The same way that AMD was ahead of the curve in developing on-chip virtualization features like Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) and focusing on low-power server processors to ensure a highly utilized physical machine was saving energy costs – AMD is out in front with cloud computing again. The conversation has evolved from “will this catch on” to “how can we shift our business model to adapt,” and it’s conferences like the two happening this week that are instrumental in driving that discussion.
What do you think? Are we finally beyond the fluff?
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD.
Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
Cloudy Forecast for the Client Operating System
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 5:25 PM
Google recently posted a blog highlighting its plans to release the Chrome OS for both x86 and ARM CPUs in 2010. Google is making this move to provide mobile devices like netbooks and smart phones and with a fast and lightweight OS that gets people onto the web in a few seconds. The assumption is that the user experience takes place “in the cloud” – not on the client computing device and the OS is the vehicle to get you there.
A large number of articles and blogs have popped up on the web as the result of this blog. Since everyone loves a fight – everyone is picking a pairing. Some focus on a Google versus Microsoft battle – others on the x86 versus ARM. And of course this provides new fire power for the on-going open source versus proprietary software discussions since the Chrome OS is described as a basic Linux kernel with a new windowing system and the Chrome browser.
I believe the real issue revolves around where applications are executed. The bottom line – somewhere you need CPU and GPU processing power to execute the demanding applications and deliver the high-end visual experience we all have come to love.
In the Chrome OS world the entire computational action takes place in server farms with the client device providing a window into this world- it does not execute applications or store data. ”A netbook running Chrome OS isn’t likely to be able to do much when it is not connected to the Internet”, said Al Gillen, an analyst at IDC in a recent article by the Wall Street Journal “Google Targets Microsoft’s Turf.” The Chrome OS is banking on a fast and pervasive adoption of the Cloud Computing model – the web as the delivery vehicle for applications, data, and services.
This is in contrast to today’s most popular desktop, laptops, and mobile devices – most of which can surf the web and also execute applications. What does this mean? These devices have functions even when off-line – like playing games, watching a movie, listening to music, editing photos, or even writing a blog. This is the world where Microsoft Windows runs the majority of devices. In the government and commercial market, which accounts for a majority of PC sales, 70% of applications require Microsoft Windows, Gartner analyst Michael Silver estimates in another Wall Street Journal article “Chrome May Not Shine for Google.” That is why Microsoft is refining the client virtualization model in the upcoming Windows 7 OS to ensure that you – the end user ─ can continue to execute your favorite applications.
So who wins the battle of where applications execute? My crystal ball is cloudy today so I don’t have any predictions – but I believe we are in for an interesting time of innovation. I believe we’re moving toward server farms that can deliver impressive processing power of CPU and GPUs, client devices that can drive richer visual experience, and more and more demanding on-line application environments (take a look at my “Thunder Clouds” post to read about Facebook and some of their requirements).
The HPC world has been using the concept of compute farms to drive applications for years – check out the blog by my colleague Andy Parma wrote called “Is the Cloud a Cluster or is Cluster a Cloud” for interesting viewpoint on how the world is blurring.
And here is a fun fact – the first OS used for real work is generally thought to be GM-NAA I/O, produced in 1956 by the General Motors research division for its IBM mainframe ─ in an era where OS were mainly developed by the end user!
Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
@margaretjlewis
Of Cloud and High Performance Computing Clusters
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 4:05 PM
The Summer Solstice kicked off an interesting week featuring two computing conferences that at first glance seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum. From June 23 to June 26: the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg, with a focus on bleeding edge, high performance computing (HPC). June 25: the GigaOM Network presents a premiere event for Cloud Computing and Internet infrastructure, Structure09 in San Francisco (I’ll post more on my thoughts from this conference tomorrow).
Now you might ask, “what do these events have in common?” The answer ─the heart and soul of both HPC and Cloud Computing is the “compute cluster” -an approach that links groups of computers together and has been driven into mainstream by x86 computers. And while the applications these clusters are driving and the data they are delivering might be drastically different – there are some basic commonalities on an infrastructure level.
Both types of clusters thrive on multi-core processors. More cores typically deliver more compute capabilities that can translate into performing more calculations for the HPC world and handling more transactions for the Cloud world. Power consumption is a nagging problem since larger and more powerful clusters commonly eat up a lot of energy and demand a lot of cooling. Both are driving new advancements in our digital world: HPC clusters help us solve some of today’s most complex problems while cloud computing provides the framework for searching and sharing the answers. And, of course, there is this bothersome economy influencing how many servers can be added to any type of data center.
So, what is AMD doing to design for both types of clusters? We continue to drive a balance of price, performance, and power into our processor architectures. Our server processor road map demonstrates an understanding of the real needs of both HPC and cloud clusters. Our G34 platforms, under the platform name of “Maranello,” are designed for expandability and performance. Our C32 platforms, under the platform name “San Marino,” help provide the low cost and power consumption that many cloud providers require.
I spent time last month in AMD’s Bellevue office and met with a talented group of AMD engineers who are working on further developing their understanding of the hardware and software requirements for cloud computing so they can further optimize AMD processor-based platforms. As a company we are continuing our efforts to help refine the underlying technology that will enable both types of clusters in the future─toward the goal of improved platform power efficiency, software methodologies to efficiently drive heterogeneous cores, enhanced graphics capabilities for improved user experience, and the continued maturation of virtualization for x86-based computers.
My colleague John Fruehe published a blog that takes a closer look at why he believes the AMD OpteronTM processor is ideal for supercomputing. I will similarly be posting a blog on cloud computing and giving you my first hand view of the Structure09 conference.
I can’t resist ending on a HPC note – particularly since, in a galaxy far away (it was actually last century), I was a part of the HPC community, working at the Maui High Performance Computing Center. Take a close look at the Top500 list and notice that AMD Opteron processors are in the #1 and #2 supercomputers – as are 9 of the top 20 computers. At AMD we design for innovation and quality!
Let me know your thoughts – what similarities do you see between HPC and Cloud clusters?
Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
@margaretjlewis
What Type of Cloud are You Using?
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 9:15 AM
I recently read about a woman in Iowa trying to push for a new cloud type, and boy is the photo amazing. I was surprised when I read that we haven’t added a new cloud since 1951. But, maybe that’s because I work in IT, and lately it seems we’ve been adding new cloud types for data centers at a rapid pace.
While we talk about cloud computing as a new data center paradigm, in reality we have been steadily making the Internet a central communications vehicle for some time now. So, as the idea of cloud computing – the delivery of applications, data, and services via the Internet – gains more formal adoption, it is interesting to explore the types of clouds we are using today, and the technology driving these clouds.
One of the biggest topics of conversation I’m hearing is about internal vs. external clouds (I prefer this term over public vs. private because not all external clouds are open to the “public”). What we are really defining here is who “owns” the cloud, or, in other words, who owns the infrastructure. Here’s how I see it:
- Internal Cloud – you are using the Internet as to deliver applications, data, and services to your users AND you own and maintain the cloud infrastructure (hardware, network, storage, OS, Hypervisor). In essence, you hold the power to say “hey, you, get off of MY cloud.”
- External Cloud – you are using the Internet to obtain services such as compute time, storage, and application stacks from a 3rd party provider who owns the infrastructure.
I think it is actually more insightful to look at another side of cloud computing – one that classifies compute clouds by the type of services delivered as opposed to who owns the cloud computing infrastructure. So – here goes a look at the clouds in my life:
- Personal Clouds – providing services that help keep my life in order and the home fires burning.
- Personal Communication Clouds – email and social network sites like Facebook for keeping up with friends and family
- Banking cloud – where I go to pay bills and check on whatever money I have left after the current economic meltdown
- Entertainment clouds – the TV guide and movies on-demand by my cable provider and the Wii network, for downloading my type of games (trivia point – AMD graphics processors power the Wii).
- Shopping clouds – from big catalog companies to the small specialty business where I buy Kona Coffee
- Professional Clouds – clouds that drive AMD’s business or my professional persona
- Business Communications Clouds – email, Twitter (you can find the professional me as @margaretjlewis), or Yammer (communications within the AMD community)
- Company business clouds – Salesforce.com and AMD’s internal SAP site for example
- Business communities – clouds where I hook up with other business people, like LinkedIn
- Performance clouds – an emerging type of cloud based on streaming data.
- Gaming clouds – I must admit I am not an on-line gamer – so these are “foreign clouds” to me
- GPS clouds – using spatial data to figure out where I am, like On-Star or any of the variety of GPS environments
- HPC clouds – computational computer grids used by researchers and scientist to help solve today’s complex problems
So what is behind all of these clouds? A lot of sophisticated infrastructure – large server farms, high end networks, and petabytes of storage. A bit overwhelming. But once again let’s take a different look at cloud computing by keying in on one of the most basic component of any cloud – the processor.
The processor provides the computational and power to drive cloud clusters. It could be clusters of CPUs handling high rates of transactions like for an on-line catalog or clusters of CPUs and GPUs combined to provide astounding levels of computation for on-line gaming. One thing is for sure: with the growing size web and cloud clusters, there is the need to balance performance with power consumption and space restrictions. This is driving demand for denser, more power efficient processors.
And, trust me: at AMD, we see how the world is evolving and take all of those factors into account. If you follow AMD, then surely you know all about our recently announced Six-Core AMD OpteronTM processor (code named “Istanbul”). We are extremely excited about the potential of six-core performance delivered in the same power and thermal envelopes as our Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, and so should everyone who cares about cloud computing. We are designing and driving platforms that offer a balance of performance, power, and price.
We are already seeing keen interest among cloud providers and web hosting companies in the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor’s capabilities to deliver more performance (more cores) in the same power envelope as Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors (code named “Shanghai”), and the potential for a total cost advantage. We see up to 34% more performance-per-watt delivered in the same socket infrastructure. And, we already have a number of major cloud providers using low power “Shanghai” (HE and EE) processors – so the stage is set for an upgrade to “Istanbul” – particularly when its low power versions are expected to be available later this year.
The world of computing is changing – raw processor performance is being replaced with balanced system design. “Shanghai” continues to deliver performance/watt and price/performance and “Istanbul” is now joining the party.
So, which clouds do you have in your life? There is a good chance that some of these clouds are powered by AMD processors.
Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is director of commercial software and solutions at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
@margaretjlewis
Interoperable Management for Cloud Computing
Posted by Julie Lass in 2:54 PM
Today the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force) announced it created a new group called the Open Cloud Standards Incubator to work on defining standards to help enable interoperable management of clouds. Many of the key leaders in the cloud computing space committed to collaborating in the Incubator to create standards that will be supported by the industry. You can read more about the announcement here.
This promising development in the cloud computing community helps address end-user concerns about cloud computing. Collaboration among cloud computing leaders can lead to easier management of cloud resources and improve interoperability between disparate private and public clouds.
DMTF is an industry standards group that brings the IT industry together to collaborate on the development, validation and promotion of systems management standards. Companies in the DMTF collaborate on management standards because our customers—IT customers—demand that we make our products easier to manage when they are deployed together in their environments. IT administrators do not want to be forced to use separate management tools and processes for each vendor’s product. That’s too complex and expensive.
The need for interoperable management is no different for a cloud computing environment. There are still multiple resources to manage from hardware systems and virtualized platforms to software and applications. In addition, clouds both within an enterprise and publicly available need to interoperate and, to some degree, be managed holistically. In order to make cloud computing easier to adopt and maintain, standards that simplify the management of these resources distributed among different clouds are needed.
Finally, I think the goal in the industry is to make cloud computing more cost effective, reliable and easier to maintain. We can help achieve this goal by putting good standards in place that we all support to simplify managing this complex environment. This standardization can help our customers significantly realize the full benefits of the cloud computing paradigm.
If you are attending Microsoft Management Summit this week you can stop by the DMTF booth (#437) and find out more about the organization and its standards. You can also visit AMD in booth #517 where we’ll be showing you some real-life examples of interoperable management with DMTF DASH.
Valerie K. Kane (@valeriekane) is a senior marketing manager at AMD and VP of Marketing for the DMTF. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
Saving the Best for Last
Posted by Julie Lass in 1:30 PM
Hello AMD community, and Happy Virtualization Ecosystems Month! We’re very excited to have been invited to take part in AMD’s celebration of all things “virtualization.” We’ve been technology partners for a long time and it’s great to have this relationship reflected in our blogs and social networking groups. You can see AMD blogging for Parallels here.
As you know, Advanced Micro Devices is all about developing the next generation of computing. Parallels leverages these continued advances in computing power in our innovative software. For instance, there are thousands of web hosters using our server virtualization software, Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, because it’s the most efficient method for virtualizing on a wide-scale. These hosters are now more fashionably called cloud providers; a market in which AMD and Parallels have been collaborating since, well… before “cloud computing” was cool.
Containers consume far fewer resources than other virtualization technologies, granting servers higher density and optimized performance: happy servers make for even happier IT professionals. The solutions we provide today wouldn’t be possible without working closely with top technology partners to take advantage of the latest innovations – without the right horsepower and processing architecture, virtualization would never achieve its full potential.
The success of recent industry events such as WebhostingDay 2009 and Parallels Summit 2009 has demonstrated the growing relevance of and interest in cloud computing. This is an exciting prospect for both AMD and Parallels with our long experience with the cloud; we look forward to helping customers evolve their IT infrastructure to be more powerful, easier to manage and – in a struggling global economy – very cost effective.
Here’s to continued success alongside our friends at AMD! Again, don’t forget to check out Margaret Lewis’ guest post at http://blogs.parallels.com/betweenthelines
Bryan Goode is
Vice President of Business Development at Parallels, located in Seattle, WA. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Any claims made herein have not been independently verified by AMD. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
IDC Cloud Computing Forum: Panelists, Editors, Clouds and Fog
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 2:06 PM
I am back in Texas after attending the IDC Cloud Computing Forum in San Francisco last week. My big take away from my trip to the Bay Area: the concept of Cloud Computing as a delivery mechanism for applications, data, and services is gaining some serious traction. We recorded video from the panel AMD hosted, and you will be able to see and hear the discussion around these issues for yourself once we post clips from the event to amd.com.
The IDC Cloud Computing Forum was an excellent venue to dissect this technology. A surprising fact: the event drew a larger-than-anticipated crowd even in tight economic times. We saw the same phenomena earlier this month at the Parallels Summit, another conference that focused on Cloud Computing, as reported by my colleague Neil Kelly.
Security and interoperability were major concerns raised by the audience during the panel AMD hosted and Frank Gens from IDC moderated – which included participants from Accenture, Adobe, Amazon, Red Hat, and The Shumacher Group. Our lively security discussion raised the idea that cloud computing can provide equal to or better security than some of today’s IT environments. A more detailed discussion on Cloud Computing security from the conference can be found in a PCWorld article by James Niccolai
In terms of the interoperability of emerging cloud computing environment, Charlie Babcock of Information Week put the panel on notice with his question “why it was necessary for every hypervisor vendor to launch its own virtual machine runtime format?” As is often the case with emerging technology, innovation comes first and standardization follows. Not very customer centric – but as I pointed out during the panel our virtualization software partners are working together in a more open and timely fashion than I have seen with other technology advances. In fact, I blogged about this topic, as it relates to the Red Hat-Microsoft announcement, last week.
In an interesting turn of events, Intel’s speaker at the conference, Jason Waxman was more cautious regarding cloud computing, and maintained it can be done very well without the use of virtualization. Personally I don’t see it the same way, and I’m wondering if Waxman is aware that Microsoft’s Windows Azure Services Platform effectively uses virtualization technology. He may not, as this technology was developed using the AMD Opteron processor (specifically because of our second level address translation or Rapid Virtualization Indexing).
Unfortunately my trip meant I missed seeing the first demo of “Istanbul” – our 6 core processor due in 2H09. http://techreport.com/articles.x/16448 Note that Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V was up and running a mixture of Windows and Linux virtual machines. The “HT Assist” feature of Istanbul is looking good and promises to help increase performance and efficiency in memory-intensive environments like virtualization. These two events highlight the importance of staying involved with trends on the horizon while continuing to test the boundaries of technologies customers are increasingly adopting today.
Margaret Lewis is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
The Arrival of the “Intergalactic Computer Network”
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 9:45 AM
Sounds like something right out of Star Wars, doesn’t it? Actually the concept of an “intergalactic computer network” was introduced in the early 1960’s by J.C.R. “Lick” Licklider, considered one of the most influential figures in general computing history. His vision was for everyone on the globe to be interconnected and accessing programs and data at any site from anywhere – a vision that sounds a lot like what we are calling “Cloud Computing.”
So, instead of writing yet another blog that attempts to define Cloud Computing, I want to take you on a tour of the history of the Internet and the technology innovations that have brought us to this point in time. This historical backdrop is good preparation for the panel I am hosting at the IDC Cloud Computing Forum in San Francisco, on “Building the Business Case for Cloud Computing: Understanding the Opportunities and Benefits” featuring presentations from Accenture, Amazon, Red Hat, The Shumacher Group, and IDC analyst Frank Gens.
So, it’s back to the 1960’s and the era where mainframe users time-share a centralized computing resource and “cloud” is a telecommunications term for part of the network between two end points. In 1962 our intergalactic network visionary, Lick, was appointed head of the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) at the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). During his term, Lick provided funding to projects that developed the ARPANET – the forerunner to today’s global Internet. ARPANET was officially born in 1969, interconnecting research groups at UCLA, Stanford Research Institute, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.
The first 10 years of ARPANET were dominated by mainframe computers. It saw the development of TPC/IP, the basic communication language of the Internet, and the first “killer” Internet application, email. By 1980 over 218 host sites were on-line. The next 10 years continued the maturation process with RISC-based computers running UNIX becoming the Internet computing platform. FTP, the protocol for exchanging files over the Internet, was developed along with dial-up access and more Internet-based applications like newsgroups and search. By 1990 there were about 300,000 host sites on-line. Not too bad a ramp for a research network that was used mainly by government and academia. But, not exactly what Lick would call intergalactic.
However, between 1990 and 2000 there were cosmic changes in cyberspace that propelled us toward Cloud Computing. Commercial restrictions were lifted from the Internet in 1991 along with the introduction of the World Wide Web. The release in 1993 of Mosaic, the first Graphical Browser, opened Internet to people who were not geeks by nature and “Surfing the Internet,” a term coined by Jean Armour Polly became the rage. Computers with x86 processors running the Linux operating system became viable alternatives to the RISC/UNIX systems for Internet infrastructure. By Dec 2002, Netcraft was reporting 35,543,105 sites on the Internet and concepts like “Grid Computing,” Utility Computing and “Software as a Service” were evolving.
Over the last six years processor innovations have directly contributed in the evolution toward Cloud Computing. The AMD Opteron™ processor, first introduced in April 2003, brought 64-bit capabilities and Direct Connect Architecture to the world’s largest computing community, necessary technologies for handling growing numbers of web transactions and on-line data. AMD is now shipping Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors with the industry leading virtualization and energy efficiency technologies required by large web/cloud compute clusters.
So – where are we now? The term “Web 2.0” is used to describe the era of the Internet, marked by user-generated content and online social media, after the Dot Bomb. Social networks are the new rage, allowing a person to create and publish data to the Web that is accessible by anyone in the world 24×7. And “Cloud Computing” is the buzz word of the moment for both commercial and consumer computing.
The 1968 a paper written by J.C.R . Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, The Computer as a Communication Device, lays out the vision for the era we are entering today “a technological age in which we will be able to interact with the richness of living information.” Move over, Luke Skywalker, Lick had the real intergalactic vision – and we call it Cloud Computing.
Margaret Lewis is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
From Virtualization to Clouds – What Buzz will 2009 Bring?
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 10:13 AM
The Global Language Monitor posted an interesting article the other day that listed the 10 most confusing yet frequently cited high tech buzzwords of 2008. Not surprising “Cloud Computing” is number one – while “Virtualization” is number six.
So, what exactly does it mean to be one of the top tech buzz words (in the “hype cycle” as Gartner would say) – a technology that is on the edge of trend and garnering a disproportionate amount of ink? It indicates a technology that actually has the potential of making a real impact on the market. For a technology to be transformational, it often has to be disruptive, and both Virtualization and Cloud Computing made Gartner’s list of the top 10 disruptive technologies 2008-2012.
How do IT professionals react to this hype? We just held a customer advisory council at AMD and talked first hand with IT executives grappling with the challenge of delivering more efficient IT services in a time of uncertain economy. What we heard: virtualization and cloud computing are more than just hype to many of them. A majority of this group are well on the way to making virtualization a key component of their data centers. One company said its data center will be 80% virtualized by 2010. Many others are not far behind. And the concept of client virtualization is actively being explored. It was interesting to witness the interchange between several customers comparing notes on how they use virtual desktop technology to secure data and ease management of offshore offices. This example reinforces a view posted by Natalie Lambert of Forrester this summer that end users are interested in taming the hype around desktop virtualization.
What did these IT executives think about the top buzz topic: Cloud Computing? In general they are already doing what they consider to be cloud computing – delivering software services to their corporate users. And the cloud computing conversation kept getting intertwined with client computers. One of the attendees drew me a picture of his ideal cloud – where users have the freedom to pick the right kind of client for their job and access necessary data and applications anywhere, anytime. At dinner there was a lively conversation about how media companies could provide home users with thin clients for accessing the “entertainment cloud.” These IT folks know how hard it is to keep client computers well performing, on-line and secure – and they know the average consumer is not equipped to face client management headaches with home computing resources. Would they buy services from the cloud? Several are open to the idea of software services being provided by resources outside of their IT shop. One IT executive described how he had seen his company move over the last 30 years from writing all of their own applications to buying off-the-shelf software – moving forward as technology does is the name of the game.
Some of the issues virtualization and cloud computing bring to these folks? Software licensing is obviously not keeping up with hardware changes – there were lively discussions around licensing by core, socket, and virtual machine. Keeping computing heterogeneous is key – they don’t want to be locked into a single solution. They liked the live migration demo we did with Red Hat showing a virtual machine being moved between Intel and AMD computers because it touches so directly on this heterogeneous idea. How to better use all the cores processor vendors are providing was another lively topic.
Ok – I have to admit I get a certain amount of to satisfaction seeing two of the technologies that I am most passionate about being classified as both buzz-worthy and disruptive. And I really enjoyed getting a chance to have discussions about these topics first hand with our valued end users. Who knows what 2009 will bring in terms of new buzz?
Margaret Lewis is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.
(4.67 out of 5)