Software-defined networking (SDN) is a hot topic in the network community. Vendors such as Big Switch, Brocade, Cisco and HP are getting into the mix, and just about anyone in networking is making announcements. Additionally, OpenFlow is an open-source option for building an SDN control plane. To read the full…
Year: 2012
EMC VSPEX
EMC recently announced VSPEX (http://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2012/20120412-01.htm)which is a series of reference architectures designed with: Cisco, Brocade, Citrix, Intel, Microsoft, and VMware. The intent of these architectures is to provide proven designs for cloud computing while providing customer choice and flexibility. Overall the intent is to provide flexible architectures of best-of-breed components…
The Stack Wars: OpenStack vs. CloudStack
The industry is moving up the stack. We’re migrating from a focus on Layer 1 physical to Layer 7, applications. Software is king in the future of IT–applications and services are what matter. Cloud is what we’ve termed it for now, and when discussing cloud, open and standard are key…
Consider Cloud Computing Services Before Your Users Do
Cloud computing is here, get over it. Services are being used, business value is being gained, and budgets are being cut using cloud platforms, be they private, public or other. It’s not something you can hide from, and the longer you drag your feet, the worse off you are. To…
The Ugly Breakup: Time for Your Apps to Part
The marketing is there, and has been for some time. Buzzwords have been coined and your interest is piqued. You sat back long enough to see if this was just vaporware or real, while gaseous. Cloud turns out to be more solid than its nomenclature. You’re ready, in fact you’re…
Zero to Private Cloud in 8 Steps
Here are eight steps for going from zero to private cloud. Note that I didn’t say eight "easy" steps. But don’t let that bother you–nothing that’s easy is ever worth doing anyway. 1. Define business objectives for cloud migration. 2. Prioritize objectives. 3. Create and promote your cloud vision and…
Your IT is Broken
Right this minute your data center(s) are broken. You, monitoring systems or NOC may or may not know it. All of the blinky lights may be green, all systems reporting normal, but the data center is broken, and it’s costing you money and business agility… Full article at: http://www.networkcomputing.com/data-center/232602496 Related…
Private Cloud Lessons You Can’t Learn From Amazon, Google, Etc
When discussing private cloud, questions often come up about how the big boys are doing it; Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. The thinking is that the large scale data centers they are running can teach us lessons about smaller scale infrastructure for private clouds, which, on the surface, seems to make…
Thought Experiment – Forget ROI
Boys and girls, today’s homework assignment is a thought experiment. I want you all to put yourselves in the shoes of the CxO team making a decision to move to private cloud. There is of course one catch; you may not factor in ROI. We’re dropping ROI because it clouds…
Ignoring BYOD Spells Disaster!
Last week in a blog titled "BYOD–Bring Your Own Disaster," I urged caution and scope for BYOD projects. This week I’m playing devil’s advocate with myself. A conversation with Greg Knieriemen (@knieriemen) got me thinking of the consequences of ignoring BYOD. Let’s dive into the risk of burying your head…