The Wisdom of the Clouds

The most common question I get from those I brief about OpenStack's new network service is "How does Quantum relate to software defined networking?"

Especially confusing to many is the difference between these kinds of cloud networking services and the increasingly discussed OpenFlow open-networking protocol.

In part 1 of this series, I described what is becoming an increasingly ubiquitous model for cloud computing networks, namely the use of simple abstractions delivered by network systems of varying sophistication. In part 2, I then described OpenStack's Quantum network service stack and how it reflected that model.

Software defined … Read more

OpenStack's Quantum network service project is an early attempt to define a common, simple abstraction of an OSI Layer 2 network segment. What does that abstraction look like, and how does Quantum allow the networking market to flourish and innovate under such a simple concept?

OpenStack itself is an open-source project that aims to deliver a massively scalable cloud operating system, the software that coordinates how infrastructure (such as servers, networks, and data storage) are delivered to the applications and services that consume that infrastructure. Easily the largest open-source community in this space--others include Eucalyptus and CloudStack--OpenStack consists … Read more

What is the network's role in cloud computing? What are the best practices for defining and delivering network architectures to meet the needs of a variety of cloud workloads? Is there a standard model for networking in the cloud?

Last week's OpenStack developer summit in Boston was, by all accounts, a demonstration of the strength and determination of its still young open-source community. Nowhere was this more evident than in the standing-room-only sessions about the Quantum network services project.

I should be clear that though I worked on Quantum planning through Cisco's OpenStack program, I did not … Read more

In part 1 of this two-part series, I explained why I thought Amazon Web Services is the leader in public infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and why no other company really seems poised to catch it at this point. There is no doubt in my mind that Amazon's developer-centric approach to cloud sets it far apart--and ahead of--the hosting companies trying to compete in that market.

That said, Amazon's market position is not invulnerable, and there are several ways that it can be beaten--or at least challenged. What it will take is a different approach to the public-cloud … Read more

While there has been an incredible increase in the competitive landscape for various cloud computing services, one company stands out to me as unique in both its approach and its success. That company is Amazon, and their Amazon Web Services offerings.

Before you accuse me of being some kind of fanboy, I want to explain why I say this. And in part 2 of this series, I'll point out how this uniqueness will be challenged in the coming year or two. There is no guarantee that Amazon will be the dominant cloud capacity provider forever, but they deserve their … Read more

Chris Hoff, a former colleague now at Juniper Systems, and a great blogger in his own right, penned a piece last week about the weak underbelly of automation: our decreased opportunity to react manually to negative situations before they become a crisis. Hoff put the problem extremely well in the opening of the post:

I'm a huge proponent of automation. Taking rote processes from the hands of humans & leveraging machines of all types to enable higher agility, lower cost and increased efficacy is a wonderful thing.

However, there's a trade off; as automation matures and feedback loops … Read more

Last week's Structure conference in San Francisco was fascinating to me on several levels. The conference centered much more on the business and market dynamics of cloud than pure technology and services, so there was significantly more coherence to the talks as a whole than in previous years.

Vendors had products and services, and customers had private and public cloud deployments; as opposed to previous years where the "vaporware" almost formed storm clouds.

Another key observation from the show was the change in emphasis this year from virtual machines (2009) and "workloads" (2010) to an … Read more

Apple's much-anticipated announcement of cloud services for its OS X and iOS device portfolio was as sleek and integrated as most everything the Cupertino, Calif., company does.

While there has been extensive coverage of last week's announcement, I think the most important aspect of the announcement hasn't been given its due.

Apple now owns the beginnings of what will likely be the world's leading integrated consumer cloud portfolio.

Let's be clear. I'm not claiming Apple is the only consumer cloud service or that it will have the dominant share of cloud services overall. But … Read more

Why, when so many have already begun evaluating and even executing on cloud strategies, are there still so many debates about what is and isn't "cloud"? When we've seen a growing number of stories about enterprises successfully consuming both public- and private-cloud infrastructure services, why are there still so many debates about whether one or the other is a smart thing to do?

The answer, I believe, stems from a growing division (or misunderstanding?) among technology and business decision makers about the very nature of cloud computing. I hesitate to go into cloud definitions, but I … Read more