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Cloud Computing

Why virtual machines should be the 1st choice to run your systems

Jul 2nd, 2009
by david.
1 comment

Lately, I’ve been on phone calls with several companies to discuss whether they should run their applications on virtual machines or physical machines. Typically, some user or software person has been told the plan is to run their application on a virtual machine. They believe their application is “so special” and will not work properly if it runs on a virtual machine. In general, the concerns are:

  • Vendor Support
  • Performance

To be frank, when possible, I don’t tell users if the machine is virtual or physical. I’m not hiding this, but I don’t volunteer non-relevant information. Part of planning an application has to do continue reading » »

Software licensing in a “cloudy and virtualized” world

Jun 14th, 2009
by david.
1 comment

“Cloud Computing” is being called the “next big thing”. In 2008, Gartner Group identified “Cloud Computing” as one of the top ten disruptive technologies. I’m sure there is going to be a lot of FUD spread about what the “cloud” can and can’t be used for; however, I’m confident that over the next 5 to 10 years the reality of “Cloud computing” will set in.

It appears that a “perfect storm” of events are “brewing” at the same time: Social Media, Web 2.0 and smart phones. I believe these forces will drive the delivery of application services to the cloud. What is clear, to me, is that “cloud computing” will use hardware virtualization as its foundation. Hardware virtualization turns a physical machine into a virtual machine, which resides on a physical machine. However, the virtual machine can be moved around. If the system requires more resources than what is currently assigned to it, then more resources can be added to ensure the system meets your customer’s service level agreement. One question in my mind is: are the underlying software licensing mechanisms keeping pace with these changes? continue reading » »

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