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InfoQ: Virtual Panel On Cloud Computing
A rendition of the vitrual cloud panel; I'm the 2nd one from the right
Earlier this month, InfoQ conducted a Virtual
Panel on Cloud Computing on their website. I was a
member of their vitual panel. They asked six good
questions. Here are my answers - you can read the answers
from the other panelists by clicking
here.
1. What does cloud computing bring to the industry?
We really see cloud computing as a model for enabling the industry to
work smarter. A prefect storm of events is happening to enable the
alignment of a business model (e.g., pay per sip) with evolving
technology (e.g., virtualization) and standards/architecture (e.g., Web
and SOA) to produce a computing outcome that is especially attractive,
given the current downturn in economy. Hence, its appeal has something
for everyone. Business need not pay up-front and/or can outsource parts
of their IT operation – allowing them to spend more precious time on
their core business. IT can focus on scaling their infrastructure based
on application demand (the days of grossly underutilized systems are
behind us). Software developers can help themselves without waiting for
IT to provision systems and acquire the right software.
2. What are the practical constraints that a company should keep in
mind when adopting the Cloud Computing architecture?
When you think about your cloud architecture, we suggest you think
about it using a services oriented approach. Given that a successful
service-oriented architecture starts with some business objectives,
it’s best you have those straight first. Reducing labor and energy and
improving time-to-value are the typical business motivators. Adopting a
cloud, with their low barriers to entry, allow some business (or
departments therein) a chance to play, where using a traditional model
would be a non-starter. I recently blogged
about our cloud architecture and how we like to break the cloud
into a set of services layers – each providing unique value to an
organization. The services layers include Infrastructure, Platform, and
Application Services (while there are other layers – we usually talk
about these three the most). Pick the right cloud service for the right
job, and don’t be afraid to create one yourself. Not all clouds are
created equal – this leads to the questions about private clouds versus
public clouds (and hybrid clouds). The bulk of our customers are
concern about security and isolation of their applications and data –
so most of our customers start with (private) clouds behind their
firewall.
3. What’s your take on vendor lock-in and the need for
interoperability between cloud platforms?
I wish good luck to any vendor that attempts to bring a lock-in
strategy to the table. In this day and age, our customers demand open
software and systems – and the choice and interoperability it brings.
Now, there is a time for a “settling in period” for some of the
emerging standards to mature. However, the usual suspects (vendors) are
already gathering. Let’s take cloud infrastructure as an example; we in
IBM are striving to bring our customers the same benefits as when we
rallied with the industry to bring the world Java-based middleware. The
allure of write-once and run-anywhere is still a powerful thought. Like
with Java, we are now striving to allow our customers to virtualize
their infrastructure once, and dispense it anywhere (cloud and/or
hyper-visor). There are several standards on the brink of bringing our
customers this level of flex – the Open
Virtual Format (OVF) is an important standard that will help
enable this behavior. In fact, at IMPACT
2009, we announced an option to purchase WebSphere
Application Server as a binary, pre-installed, pre-configured
(including OS), virtual image (using the OVF standard). Customers who
buy (or upgrade) to this option, never have to install WebSphere again
(no wise cracks please :-) It just needs to be copied to OVF savvy
hyper-visor – and you’re up and running.
4. Why would someone choose to use private clouds instead of public
ones?
Many of our customers, in IBM, are excited about the prospects of
private clouds. In fact, our cloud strategy starts with the thought of “Rainmaking”.
Which is a term I apply to communicate the thought of enabling our
customers (with products and services) to “seed” clouds (privately) in
their enterprise, and where it makes sense utilize the service of
public clouds. Our customers are building private clouds today – and
our primary focus is to assist them in creating, automating, optimizing
and managing those clouds. Many of them go the private route because
they are concern about security (of their applications and data) and
already have cost sunken into infrastructure and labor that they want
to utilize. We see customers building private clouds to take on many
interesting tasks. Test and Development clouds are becoming very
popular. In fact, we now use a private test cloud (using our newly
introduced WebSphere
Cloudburst technology) to do product testing of WebSphere
Application Server. This gives us a way to share resources, precisely
produce test environments (in a secure and repeatable fashion) and to
reduce the labor of operating daily setups and teardowns.
5. Some cloud vendors offer infrastructure (Amazon) while others
offer platforms (Google), how should a typical application architect
choose?
Infrastructure services excel at allowing a user to run their existing applications and middleware
in a cloud. Most infrastructure service providers enable generic
infrastructure support including operating system and perhaps a basic
middleware stack. You provide the rest - including application and
“know-how” of what makes the application tick (scale, secure, perform).
For example, in WebSphere-land, our infrastructure services attempt to
bake-in the “know-how” based on our 10 years of experience of helping
customers with WebSphere deployments. We introduce the notion of Patterns, which
are virtualized deployments that factor in best practices in security,
high availability and performance. We are also now starting to
offer our software images within public cloud providers, like Amazon, giving our customers a
very low barrier to enter into using our middleware (for development,
test and beyond).
With Platform services – the infrastructure is “magically” provisioned
– and your focus is on the application or services in question. Many
cloud platforms have programming models that are specific to the cloud
in question (there goes that lock-in thought again :-) which makes the
application more predictable, thereby allowing the platform to more
automatically scale, secure and perform. For new applications this is
fine; however, moving an existing application often requires the
developer to re-write their application. These platforms are usually
available within public clouds –that, along with the overhauling of the
application in question - make it attractive to some, and unattractive
to others. There is clearly an
opportunity for the Java vendors to establish a Java "profile" for the
cloud and give our customers some portability across cloud platforms
(both public and private).
There are also hybrids models that I think are quite interesting. For
example, at IMPACT 2009, we introduced BPM
BlueWorks, which is a hosted offering for business leaders. The
BlueWorks application provides a portal for business professional to
learn, share and collaborate with others in creating business strategy
and process. Once the business asset is created it can be exported into
an on premise cloud infrastructure (perhaps imported as a standard BPMN 2.0
document). Thereby creating a model where your assets are developed
using a (public) platform service and run within a private
infrastructure service. Creating a “secure tunnel” between a public and
private cloud is key to creating these hybrids. More on that in a
second…
6. How can a customer enforce regulatory compliance?
One of the interesting aspects of cloud computing is that the
abstraction of the cloud into infrastructure, platform and application
services allows for points of control to be inserted. IBM is majoring
in providing capability at all levels of our cloud architecture to
govern the use of the cloud. Customers can use this ability to gain an
intimate understanding of how aspects of their systems are being used
and also use the cloud as a point of control and enforcement in
accordance to their polices. For example, our WebSphere Cloudburst
product produces detailed reports of who is using the cloud and how
they are using it. Administrators can use this data to generate custom
reports for charging and/or controls. Another example is we see our
customers using our WebSphere
DataPower SOA appliances along with our Service
Registry to discover services and control access (at a fine grain)
to those services both in private and public clouds. DataPower allows
the creation a secure tunnel within your private cloud that can extend
into the public cloud if need be. Using a security gateway, allows you
to both midge threats in your cloud, while providing a point of control
for auditing the two-way application service traffic. Whether a
customer has real regulatory requirements or not, setting up a two-way
(web) application firewall around your cloud is one way to work smarter
(and safer) with clouds.
Categories
: [ Cloud_Computing | SaaS | Virtualization ]
May 28 2009, 10:02:59 AM EDT
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Jerry's Shadow talks about WebSphere Clouds
Last week I created this video on our
WebSphere Cloud Computing strategy. I will be leaving my
shadow behind and making these points in person at IMPACT, in Las Vegas
next week. Please join me if you can.
Also, I've attached a "cleansed" version of an interview
with Smart SOA, that is based on this video. Enjoy and see
you in Vegas. -- Jerry
Using virtualization, connectivity and security
A conversation with IBM Fellow Jerry Cuomo, Vice President and Chief
Technology Officer for IBM WebSphere
Smart SOA: What is your definition of a cloud?
Jerry Cuomo:
I can describe it from a couple of perspectives. From a business point
of view, a cloud lets you work smart by doing more, quicker, with less.
Technically speaking, a cloud is a logical context for
sharing, for example, for sharing hardware and software. A cloud is
rubbery and flexible. It grows and shrinks, based on user demands and
your business needs. Typically, there is a self-service aspect to a
cloud, and this aspect gives you the ability to work agilely, without
having to involve everyone in the organization. A cloud also provides
tracking and management functions allowing you to pay for only what you
use. These are typically the attributes of a cloud that resonate with
users.
Smart SOA: How does service oriented architecture (SOA)
relate to clouds?
Cuomo: SOA is an architectural style for building a
diverse set of applications and systems. Hence, when we look at the
anatomy of a cloud, we look at it in a service-oriented way.
Specifically, we look at a cloud as providing a set of services
abstractions. You can imagine having service abstractions for managing
and automating infrastructure services, platform services and
application services. SOA is our architectural style of choice for
building clouds using these layered services.
Smart SOA: What are some critical requirements for
enterprise clouds?
Cuomo: Our strategy is to enable organizations to
create middleware and application clouds in the enterprise by providing
the right utilities in the areas of virtualization, connectivity and
security. And, where it makes sense, they should also leverage the
public cloud. Using public clouds is a very cost-effective way for
companies to acquire temporary infrastructure to develop or test
applications, while still running their mission-critical function in
their private cloud.
Smart SOA: Describe what you mean by virtualization.
Cuomo: Our goal is to provide virtualized middleware
and virtualized middleware management tools. Virtual middleware images
are readily available so that users just need to personalize them with
their applications and adapters. They can dispense images into the
cloud, and manage the resource pool by updating it, installing patches,
and so on. They can also optimize the images according to business
policy, or what is important to the business. WebSphere together with
IBM Tivoli® solutions supply value-added, on-premise cloud
management features, like software license management,
reporting/billing and monitoring – allowing an organization to
customize the charge-back model used in their cloud.
Smart SOA: Describe the connectivity requirement for
enterprise clouds.
Cuomo: The second critical area is connectivity, or
connecting resource pools. Think of it as a cloud-savvy enterprise
service bus. Cloud A to Cloud B. Allowing secure communication between
clouds. Shaping the traffic, shaping the payloads between those clouds,
protocol to protocol. Cloud B may speak one protocol, and cloud A may
speak a different protocol. As we communicate between clouds, we shift
those protocols. Discovering and filtering services is another area
that is really critical. Allowing you to see the services in a
particular cloud that are pertinent to you– no more and no less. Being
able to filter out the services that only make sense in certain
contexts to certain users. Connectivity can be accomplished using
technologies like WebSphere® Enterprise Service Bus, IBM WebSphere
DataPower® SOA appliances, WebSphere Service Registry and
Repository and WebSphere Adapters. Connectivity should bridge between
the private cloud and the public cloud.
Smart SOA: Describe the security needed in a cloud
environment.
Cuomo: The notion of running applications in a cloud,
or a shared environment where other lines of business are running, can
scare some companies. They’re not just scared about a public cloud, but
also about running their assets in a private cloud, so securing images
is very important. Images can be secured through encryption, and
dispensed to the cloud over secure tunnels. Tunneling is a key
technology extending beyond the trusted domain, through the DMZ, and
connecting out to other trusted sources, such as business partners and
trusted public clouds. This can be accomplished using technologies like
our business-to-business (B-to-B) gateway, B-to-B DataPower appliance,
and WebSphere DataPower XML Security Gateway XS40.
Come to Impact 2009
May 3 – 8 in Las Vegas, where Jerry will be on hand to discuss SOA,
Cloud technology and WebSphere.
Categories
: [ Clouds | WebSphere ]
Apr 30 2009, 01:34:57 PM EDT
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Le Morte d'SOA, La naissance des nuages?
Le
Morte d'SOA? SOA is alive and well, just look at the Clouds
In high school I read Sir Thomas Malory's classic book Le Morte
d'Arthur. This title has always troubled me. At approximately
1000 pages, the book chronicles the fabled life of King Arthur and the
adventures of the Knights of the Round Table. That equates to about
900+ pages of a detailed account of Arthur's glorious and sometimes
troubled life. In the last dozen pages of the book, after the mortal
wound Arthur receives from Mordred, Arthur’s life comes to an apparent
end. Why wasn't the book called The Life of Arthur? I
guess
death is more dramatic as a topic for grabbing people's attention.
Recently Anne
Manes from Burton
Group wrote an attention-grabbing
blog titled "SOA
is Dead; Long Live Services." This reminded me
about the sensationalism of the Arthur book. In the blog Anne
claims the poor economy has lead to SOA's demise and that SOA
is
survived by its offspring including cloud computing
and
Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS). Last month Paul Krill from InfoWorld
interviewed me and asked me to comment
on Anne’s blog. My points
were simple. SOA is as dead as rock 'n roll. It is no
longer sensational; it’s simply the way we write software these days.
Anne’s association of SOA with clouds and SaaS was also interesting.
Clouds and SaaS are certainly examples of applying service orientation
to data center infrastructure (clouds) and software platforms
(SaaS). And yes, clouds and SaaS are the new sensation.
In fact, when I think about WebSphere’s cloud strategy, I like to
think
of a cloud in terms of a service-oriented architecture.
Specifically, our WebSphere cloud strategy breaks “the cloud” up into
three
services layers: Infrastructure Services, Platform Services and
Application Services. Let me tell you a little about each.
Cloud Infrastructure Services –
Cloud Infrastructure Services (CIS) provision the
cloud, shaping it into a shared resource pool that provides some level
of platform service. In this case, a platform service might be
the ability to run a JEE application on WebSphere Application
Server. The CIS provides automation and management services
that enable sharing of physical and software resources, which
significantly reduces cost and labor. WebSphere’s CIS
uses virtualization technology to facilitate the creating, dispensing,
optimizing and managing of WebSphere virtual images to hypervisors.
Cloud Platform Services – By
platform, we mean a runtime platform. In the
WebSphere family, this could equate to application server, process
server, an enterprise service bus or a data grid. A Cloud
Platform Service (CPS) gives a user the ability to directly deploy
their
application (or process, or mediation/transformation, or data query)
without the worry of provisioning the underlying
middleware. The CPS virtualizes the middleware for
multiple users (tenants) and promotes reuse of the underlying resource
that the middleware runs on, without compromising the isolation and
security of the application. The CPS meters and
monitors the use of the platform, such that the cloud provider can
apply a financial model (i.e., charge money). By utilizing CPS
customers greatly reduce the time it takes to develop, test and run
applications because all attention is on the application, not the
infrastructure or the platform it is running on.
Cloud Application Services –
Cloud Application Services (CAS) assume that both the
infrastructure and platform have been provisioned, configured and
optimized to run in the cloud. CAS offers a specific
application function as a service. Unlike the CPS layer, in the
CAS layer, you don’t deploy applications; you
configure and customize the application function provided. For
example, in the WebSphere portfolio, commerce function is the most
natural fit for Cloud Application Services. You can also
imagine WebSphere desktop tools running as a service in a
cloud. For instance Eclipse-based desktop tools like Rational
Application Developer (RAD) and WebSphere
Business Modeler can be made
to run in a cloud as a service.
On/Off Premise Clouds – WebSphere’s
cloud strategy is tilted
towards supporting the creation of on-premise clouds - clouds
that run behind the corporate firewall. The WebSphere team
is partnering up with our Tivoli group to supply value-added on-premise
cloud management features like software license management,
reporting/billing and monitoring – allowing a customer to customize the
charge-back model used in their cloud. While on-premise
clouds are a prime focus, we are not ignoring the public, off-premise
cloud either. We recently announced the support for certain
WebSphere run-times and tools to run on Amazon’s public cloud.
Utilizing public clouds can be a very cost-effective way for customers
to acquire
temporary infrastructure to develop or test applications while still
running their mission-critical function in their private
cloud.
In summary, SOA is not dead – it is alive and well. SOA is
at the cornerstone of our WebSphere cloud strategy, where we have
defined three services layers to provide function to allow our
customers to
“do more with less and do it quicker” in a public or private cloud.
At IMPACT
2009, we are planning to announce several new products and
services around this cloud strategy. Stay tuned.
-Jerry
Categories
: [ Cloud_Computing | SaaS | Virtualization ]
Mar 08 2009, 06:17:51 PM EDT
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WebSphere Cheaters?
IBM Research; an Extra Ace up WebSphere's Sleeve
This wouldn't be the first time I was accused of cheating.
When I was nine years old, my (material scientist and IBM Researcher)
dad and I were
accused of cheating during a Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby
event.
Perhaps there was some validity to the claim (and eventual
disqualification). The car was composed of as much teflon
as it was
wood - and I think there is a rule against that sort of
design. Well... My dad and I chalked it up as our first real research collaboration.
Anyway... A couple of years ago, I (on behalf of WebSphere) was
similarly acqused of being a
cheater. But this time, the "cheating" did not lead to
disqualification. On the contrary... It led to sustained
innovation and market leadership. During an
industry conference, after describing WebSphere's new high availability
capability - a colleague (from a competing company) shouted out
"cheater!" He went on to say; they (our WebSphere team) were able
to build this compelling technology because
"they have their own Research division" working on advanced technology
and "that's not fair". Well... As they say, all is fair in
love, war, and application server development. And if
collaborating on innovations with our Research team is cheating, then
YES; guilty as charged.
Over the past 10 years, IBM
Research has made substantial contributions to
WebSphere products. Here are some examples of "the cheating" that has been taking place over the recent past:
- High Availability and Resiliency Services
- Java Platform Messaging
- Low Latency Messaging
- Virtualization Technology
- sMash Flow Engine and Web IDE
- Dynamic Fragment Caching
- XML Standards, API, Implementations (XSLT) and optimization
technologies
- Web Services Standards and runtime implementation
- Web Security
- Work Flow and Process Management Technology
- Servlet Engine and Web Server Plug-in
- Java Garbage Collection
- Realtime Java
- Voice Server
- and innovations in Message broker, Premise Server and Component
Broker.
I have a special place in my heart for the Research team, as I've spent
a considerable part of my career in Research. We have a
good thing going - and even with a slow economy we are not slowing down
our investment in WebSphere-related research in 2009. This year,
we are continuing to collaborate with Research on topics like
Virtualization, Business Process Management, Middleware as a
Service, and more.
Categories
: [ IBM | Research ]
Feb 07 2009, 10:44:48 AM EST
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Jerry's 2009 Top 10 WebSphere Trends and Directions
Happy 2009!
Each year, I outline a few technology areas that we are eagerly
focusing on in WebSphere-land.
Here is my top ten list for 2009. (in no particular order):
- Business Mash-ups
- Business Rules
- Middleware-as-a-Service
- Rainmaker
- Extreme Scale
- WAS.NEXT
- Restful - Agile
- DataPower-lution
- POWERful Middleware
- Industry-savvy Middleware
My old friend Dave Letterman asked me to present them on the Late
Show, the
other night - Check out the video.
A more detailed version of these ten areas are now available to read.
Floyd, and the team from InfoQ,
were kind enough to publish my article, containing a more detailed
description of each of these items. Enjoy.
Categories
: [ Trends | WebSphere ]
Jan 07 2009, 10:01:36 AM EST
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The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!
The
New Phone Book is Here! Steve Martin, The Jerk
I sometimes identify with Navin R. Johnson (Steve Martin),
in the
movie, The Jerk.
He has a simple way of putting things, that is often profound.
Case in point:
Navin
R. Johnson: The new phone
book's here! The new phone book's here!
Harry
Hartounian: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.
Navin
R. Johnson: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 - Johnson, Navin
R.! I'm somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday!
This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that
makes people. I'm in print! Things are going to start happening to me
now.
Or would it be more appropriate to shout; "The New DataPower book is
here!"
Well... It is, and I'm really proud of the team that wrote this
handbook; including Bill Hines, John Rasmussen, Jaime Ryan, Simon
Kapadia and Jim Brennan And I was flattered to be asked to write a
foreward for the book.
The official title is IBM WebSphere
DataPower SOA Appliance Handbook. Click the link and you can
browse parts of the book.
If you have any interest in using the DataPower SOA Appliance(s),
this book is a must have (and NO, I don't get a royalty).
Categories
: [ Appliances | Datapower | WebSphere ]
Dec 31 2008, 04:03:03 PM EST
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The Five Levels of Engineering Nirvana
Well. The new year is almost here. Given the new
year, I thought I'd try something new for blogging in 2009; video blogging. So, to
get things going I will end the year off with a video blog (as practice
for next year).
The subject is something that I've been talking to engineers about for
the past few years. I call it, Jerry's 5 Levels of Engineering
Nirvana. As you will see in the video, the
levels are:
- Implementing the Requirements
- Innovating a Solution
- The Marketable Idea (also known as
the consumable idea)
- The Money-maker
- Enjoying what you do
This blog is under 4 mins (I will try to keep the blogs short.)
See you in the new year!
Jerry
Categories
: [ Cuomo | Engineering | Jerry | Nirvana ]
Dec 30 2008, 04:29:51 PM EST
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Tree Hugging at Energy Camp
David Sparks ' interview with me at Energy Camp in NYC.
Last week, I waited on line 50 minutes to fill up my car with gas
because of
a mini-panic brought on by Hurricane Ike .
This week, gas prices in N.C.
are over $4 US. Needless to say...
Categories
: [ EnergyCamp_NY | Interop | WebSphere ]
Sep 19 2008, 09:23:52 AM EDT
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My Virtual Knee and video interview on InfoQ
Virtualized
knee to assist in surgery
I seriously injured my knee during a Hapkido class in July.
I am now
recovering from surgery, which took place two weeks ago.
The surgery involved repairing a fracture of my knee cap (which
required
drill...
Categories
: [ InfoQ | Virtualization ]
Aug 18 2008, 12:38:22 PM EDT
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Top Performances of the Dark Knight
Heath
Ledger - Top Joker Performance
I was one of a few hundred folks to stay up Thursday night to watch the
opening of the new Batman movie, " The Dark Knight ". I
was really impressed with Heath
Ledger' s Joker performance. Ledger set a new...
Categories
: [ Performance | SPEC | TPC ]
Jul 22 2008, 11:31:23 AM EDT
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DataPower-lution
IBM
introduced the Type 285 electric bookkeeping and accounting machine
in 1933.
Purpose-Built Systems
Ryan Betts, from the WebSphere
DataPower team, turned me on to a paper, written by Jim
Barton - CTO and co-founder of Tivo ,
called ...
Categories
: [ Appliances | DataPower | Tivo ]
Jul 03 2008, 04:04:46 PM EDT
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WAS.NEXT; It's got some spring in its feet.
"Jerry
kicking back, no worries about Spring or his feet"
The folks from SpringSource
caused a buzz last week with an announcement of their Spring
Application Platform beta. An article on InfoQ ,
broke the story and my Inbox lit up like a...
Categories
: [ App | OSGI | Server | SpringSource | WAS ]
May 06 2008, 05:13:57 PM EDT
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Impact 2008
6
days of peace, love, middleware and 6000 customer
Well, it’s here, IMPACT
2008 . The WebSphere team is converging on
Las Vegas for 6 days of peace, love and 6000 plus customers for a big
dose of SOA and an impressive line up of IBM executive...
Categories
: [ Agility | Impact | SOA ]
Apr 07 2008, 12:44:49 AM EDT
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Rainmaking
Virtualization
Progression - Machines, Servers, Clouds, SaaS
It seems like 'virtualization', ‘cloud computing’ and 'software as a
service' are all big industry
buzzwords that get tossed around with varying definitions. I am getting
more and more...
Categories
: [ Cloud_Computing | SaaS | Virtualization ]
Apr 04 2008, 03:20:16 PM EDT
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Found a business needle in a haystack of events
Business
needle in a haystack of events
Our business event processing (BEP) story is really starting to come
together. In past blogs, I've said that BEP is
an abstraction atop Complex Event Processing (CEP).
The BEP abstraction manifests itself,...
Categories
: [ BEP | CEP ]
Apr 01 2008, 05:00:29 PM EDT
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