Welcome to In the Clouds

Wed. Mar. 19, 2008

by Forrest Norrod, VP & GM—Data Center Solutions

Hi, I’m Forrest Norrod - General Manager of the Data Center Solutions division here at Dell. We are very excited to launch this blog on the topic of cloud computing. In just one week we will celebrate the one year anniversary of the launch of our team – which is dedicated to the needs of those operating some of the largest computing platforms in the world. I hope this blog can become a forum for our customers, Dell’s technologists and those from across the industry to gather to talk about this new age of computing.

Since we are still getting questions on what cloud computing is and what sort of conversations we’re hoping to have here, here's a vlog where I explain.

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Cloud computing and SaaS

Sun. Mar. 09, 2008

by Jimmy Pike, Director—System Architecture

KR asked:

"What is the difference between cloud computing and software as a service?"

This is a really good question. Let’s explore this space for a bit and hopefully we can come to a good answer. (I am going to attempt to be brief here so please forgive me it this is not an exhaustive study and lacks some appropriate reference.)

If we look back far enough, we find most of the popular and modern terms describing advanced multi-computing are actually forms of distributed computing, which has been around since the early 1980s. (See A primer on distributed computing) There has been significant hype/spin as well as real advancements that have “clouded” :o) the whole concept (In fact, I am fond of asking; “Please tell me what you mean when you refer to one of these terms, because I can’t figure them out any more!”). There are many facets that have evolved in distinct ways which represent real value and when I get a chance, I am going to create some type of figure showing these interrelationships. For now, we’ll stick with the more recent concepts and I will give you my opinion. (I will say that If you want to know more now, there is a good reference all-be-it a couple of years old from the GGF I would send you to: The Different Faces of IT as a Service)

Most discussion these days involves grid, utility, and cloud computing to which we will add software as a service (SaaS).

Grid computing is a fairly all encompassing concept and as you probably know, can be generally defined as: “a system that uses open, general purpose protocols to federate distributed resources and to deliver nontrivial qualities of service.” Or in other words, it uses standard “stuff” to make many distinct systems work together in a way that makes them useful.
Utility computing or on-demand computing is the idea of taking a set of resources (that may be in a grid) and providing them in a way in which they can be metered. This idea is much the same as we buy electricity or a common utility today. It usually involves a computing or storage virtualization strategy.
Cloud computing is a subset of grid computing (can include utility computing) and as I mentioned in my opening post, is the idea that computing (or storage) is done elsewhere or in the clouds. In this model many machines (Grid) are orchestrated to work together on a common problem. Resources are applied and managed by the cloud as needed. (In fact this is a key characteristic of cloud computing. If manual intervention is required for management or operations, then it probably doesn’t qualify as a cloud.) Cloud computing provides access to applications written using Web Services and run on these Cloud Services.

Now let’s add to this discussion the idea of Software as a Service (SaaS). Usually this means a model where diverse applications are hosted by a provider and users pay to use them. So I would say the key distinction of SaaS and cloud computing is the service and business model provided as opposed to the architectural mechanism used to deliver it. In fact, I think it is also fair to say that a cloud computing architecture may be the key/best mechanism for delivering Software as a Service. Let’s look at a couple of today’s trends and see if this all fits. Probably the best known examples are of course search and mail. There are several companies that offer both freely, they are available via the web, and they are written using web services. (There is a growing set of additional capabilities that are becoming available.) For the most part, these are all free (fee based versions exist). Based on the scale and ubiquitous service they are able to deliver, it is fair to say that there is a cloud behind them. The Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud is noteworthy here. It is a virtual farm, allowing folks to host and run “their” diverse applications on Amazon's web services platform. It represents an excellent example of a business model where a company is providing “Cloud Services” to those who can and are willing to take advantage of them. Software as a Service is the logical next step in evolution. It is going to be very interesting to see how this motion will emerge. Ideally users will be able to “rent” the application and everything needed to apply them to their business in the form of Software as a Service.At some point, we should explore SaaS as it relates Application Service Providers (ASP) and On-Demand computing, but enough for now. I welcome your thoughts or comments...

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Clouds in Context

Thu. Mar. 06, 2008

by Jimmy Pike, Director—System Architecture

In my view, the idea of cloud computing is perhaps one of the most exciting new directions the IT industry has taken in a long time. And it's becoming more real every day - as evidenced by recent announcements, with of course a lot of opinions on how it might work out. The realization that the Internet allows most computing to be performed elsewhere or "in the cloud" is a marvelous advancement from the perspective of the end user. The other side of the cloud is a different matter. There are a host of opportunities and complexities that must be provided and managed in alignment with the very different business models of those who provide the computing "beyond the cloud". Its worth mentioning that cloud computing has been closely related to the grid computing model (although it is distinct) or utility computing.

If we step back and look at larger IT landscape, there are several identifiable trends that are helpful to understand:

Briefly, from the bottom moving up:

Traditional DC: a rigid or perhaps purpose built model with a low degree of automation. It may be too strong to say that this segment is declining, but it is not growing at the rate of other motions.
Virtualized/Consolidate: An extension of the Traditional model, but using virtualization as a means of consolidating and save cost. This is indicative of an organization that is continuing to keep abreast of some technological developments but still may not be on the growing edge of IT.
Virtualization for Agility: In an attempt to get the greatest return possible on IT investments, those who use virtualization as a means to rapidly change or evolve their IT in support of their changing business model will excel. There is much growth and opportunity here, but it is not without complexity and potential expense.
Cloud Computing: This is the last motion I will mention (while there are at least 3 additional motions that may evolve as things progress) it is our current focus using web services to focus on flexibility and OpEx

Cloud computing I believe represents the greatest opportunity in the foreseeable future and may in fact become the basis for most modern IT services in the next few years.

As we begin this journey, I propose that we create a clean definition upon which we all agree and hopefully create an architecture reference model for it. I certainly don't want anyone to post anything they feel contains their IP or the key to their business, but such a vehicle will create a common reference and the opportunity to evolve the industry in the direction we want to see cloud computing evolve.

Here's my take at a definition for Cloud computing: packaging of computing resources in a manner that will provide lower acquisition cost of hardware, packaged in a way that provides a set optimized services to the end user via the Internet in the most cost-effective, operationally efficient means possible.

The team here is looking forward to a good discussion on Clouds and where they're headed so please jump in...

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More Conversations: Dell Launches Cloud Computing Blog

Thu. Mar. 06, 2008

by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

For those keeping score, we launched Direct2Dell back in July 2006. IdeaStorm roared onto the scene in February last year. From there, we began expanding into other languages: Direct2Dell Chinese in March 2007, Spanish in May last year, and Norwegian in September, and there will be more in the future. Most recently, our Investor Relations blog called DellShares went live in November 2007.

From the beginning, the purpose of Direct2Dell has been to educate and to support our customers on a wide variety of topics that they care about. This blog has grown since those early days. And that growth has encouraged more Dell folks to want to have conversations with our customers. Up to now, I've added more categories on Direct2Dell to expand the topics of discussion. That strategy has worked to a point, but now it's time to evolve.

Starting today, members from our Data Center Solutions (DCS) team will support a group blog called In the Clouds. It will focus on cloud computing and the backend server, storage and architecture required to make it work. If you're not familiar with the concept of cloud computing, think using web-based e-mail from Yahoo, Google or AOL (see link for their slick integration with Silverlight), or uploading videos to YouTube, pictures to Flickr, or microblogging with Twitter. When you do those kinds of things you aren't storing them on your local device.. you're storing them "in the clouds," or to a remote location in the Internet.

So, why start with Cloud Computing? The short answer is there's a lot happening in this space right now. Take a look at what Adobe's doing with their AIR product (go Twhirl!) that they recently brought to market. Google continues to surge forward with their Google document apps (Spreadsheet Forms and Google Calendar synch are two recent enhancements that rock), and this week at MIX08, Microsoft is rolling out some cool stuff with Silverlight 2.0 and Internet Explorer 8.

What this all means is that we're at the beginning stages of a shift from the model of the past where applications and all the content created for them were stored locally. This shift has the potential to increase the types of Internet-connected devices we use to consume and create content (check out the good discussion Scoble has going about the battle for web-based content on mobile phones).

So, what does all this have to do with Dell and the kind of content you can expect to see in the cloud computing blog? These web-based activities require reams of server and storage hardware architected around complex custom networks. As such, these environments differ from traditional server/storage environments. Our DCS team's purpose is to help customers make sense of that complexity—see this PDF, or www.dell.com/cloudcomputing for more context. That's the kind of content you can expect from reading Dell's Cloud Computing blog.

If this sounds interesting, I encourage you to subscribe to the Cloud Computing RSS feed. If you'd rather access it directly, go here: