[LINK] ICT Predictions 2009

[Michael Still]

Jan Whitaker wrote:
> At 11:35 AM 6/01/2009, Michael Still wrote:
> 
>> This will be done with "cloud computing" -- either privately owned
>> clouds running virtual machines of existing legacy software, or some
>> vendor's solution.
>>
>> Running VMs with cloud-like techniques solves the legacy problem whilst
>> still radically improving utilization and disaster recovery
>> capabilities. It is my understanding that the ATO, for example, are
>> already doing this sort of thing.
> 
> TANSTAAFL

True, but there is with utilization. Most systems are speced for peak
load (or some margin _over_ peak load). So, you can pack more VMs into X
machines, than you could if you used "real" machines.

> The costs will still be paid for the space and power, no matter where 
> it's consumed. The question then becomes one of control of one's 
> systems and security. Does cloud computing assist or conflict with those two?

Well, it depends. I recon we're on the way to "private clouds" where the
cloud is in your data center next to your existing machines, so there
are no additional security implications. Cloud computing isn't just
about running on someone else's hardware -- its more about not caring
what specific machine you execute on, parallel processing, and batch
processing. Yes, it does seem a bit like a mainframe.

Mikal