Avastu Blog: Sustainable Global Clouds

I know lots of folks don't really want to listen to podcasts. So here comes the textual version of "The Versatilist". PS: I should be done by tonite (When my migraine has settled down) Update 3 Nov 2007: This will be done this week!

Click on the title to listen to this Audio Blog. I will write more on this later here at TarryBlogging. Or listen on my Audio Blog here . Aristotle, Plato and the likes were true versatilists. But those were the good old days. They had all the time in the world. And then we have you. A regular IT Joe/Jane. A true specialist and even proudly touting as a generalist . But is it enough for you to stay afloat? Enough for you to keep your job? Enough for you to advice your kids to take up a Sysadmin job as a profession? Answer = NO! How are you going to cope with the ever changing scenario and at the same time stay competitive. Its hard to stay motivated with the rapid globalisation, massive outsourcing, new technologies sweeping you off your feet and constantly feeling like a lost zombie when suddenly being exposed to some 17 year old who has done a lot of work like yours just for fun !!! Anyways this part 1 we will try to Talk about what a versatilist is like? See how to embrace it Ge...

Pete Loshlin argues that the proprietary aspect of Virtualization which forces end users to use Servers/HW that are supported by top virtualization vendors like VMware, Microsoft, VirtualIron, to name a few, will eventually be washed away with Open Standards. I do too believe with open standards and eventually (I've been saying this about everything) a lot of things that we use to trade (meaning busy and sell) will be just free! Anyways, this is what he says about the future What does the future hold? Virtualization will gain importance, particularly as hardware vendors continue to rollout new products that support so-called "bare metal" virtualization, under which the hardware platforms perform some of the functions currently offered by virtualization software. Because it changes the way server and OS software is installed, Microsoft will continue to view virtualization as an important opportunity. Ultimately, they will either attempt to dominate the market by purchasing...

Well everyone wants to help this virtualization reach commoditization ASAP! And why should apple stay behind ? VMware like they say. I just wonder sometimes if it'll lose it charm. I mean soon people will want to look back at the market leader again (after having been woed by the other virtualization types).

Lots of news on Virtualization. The need to effectively put Virtualization to use in the production environment is really growing. Look for yourself what Pfizer is doing. Pfizer aims to make 14 WebLogic application servers (running on 14 hardware servers in the data center) into a single virtualized resource by the end of this month using Cassatt's Collage grid management software and the vendor's recently unveiled Web Automation Module. Under the module's virtualization capabilities, Pfizer business apps will not necessarily run with the application server on the same piece of physical hardware where the application is located. Apps encountering the most demand will get application server services from wherever they are underutilized across the server set. Running Cassatt's Collage and Web Automation Module "will allow us to manage our WebLogic environment as if it were one machine," even though it's spread across multiple servers, says Richard Lynn, VP o...

Because I say so...OK kidding. Lets just get some straight facts and see what they both have in common. Forget all the biased and unbiased opinions, both of these companies rock! have a solid engineering base are sound are young (at heart and age) are mean and lean have (and will continue to have) ideas that could blow off all the punditry and make the *analysts* again try to figure out yet another way to blow the competition away! are in need to set up a good face against Microsoft, I mean if MS doesn't like then it'll try to eat them alive. are moving rapidly towards the datacenter/utility computing model and since their approach is fresh and new , they can set up a whole new standard for ways where new startups can just get on to doing business, cutting lose from the cultural boundaries which limit us from doing what we so badly should be doing (listen to what I have to say about , set yourself free/Floating identities) and besides then I just have to send my resume to one...

Well we've seen Scott rallying about "Are you buying sun, Larry?" (In his interview with Larry Ellison). And sending letters to Hurd (HP CEO) about trying to work together and also talks about Scott planning to step down given that Sun is in somewhat safer waters. This news (or gossip) of Google (somehow being forced to buy Sun, IMO) to buy Sun is something that I hope does NOT happen without careful analysis. Anyways we'll see how it goes. The original guy who started the talks does get some rubbing from this Inquirer Journalist .

OK everyone's been screaming about security since sure if a product is doing so darn good. Maybe we can crack it by pointing to its vulnerabilities. Sure lots of talk about how VM Rootkits would kill VMs! VMware's R&D guy explains that it isn't VM but the OS. And hey OSs have been vulnerable all the time, they're just running as a VM now , that doe not necessarily mean that if they get hacked your VM is to blame! Anyways I also saw this upcoming product Reflex VSA on securing the ESX Server to start with. The news article says... Reflex VSA is a virtualized network security appliance that operates within a virtual network and replicates the operational attributes and interfaces of a physical network security appliance, while supporting the Reflex Security apps. And this is what the company has to say... Product Benefits: Reflex VSA solves the problem that traditional network security such as IPS and firewall appliances currently can not sol...

I think this news is kind of confusing or atleast talks about a bit of confusion. Anyways as new customers and existing customers, my advice will be VMware's GSX server is a great product, it's just getting free. It still remains a good solid product. GSX (and then the later renamed Virtual Server) will remain for a lot of purposes like QA, Development, Testing. ESX is superior than GSX as it runs closer on the bare metal, so if you expect better (or near HW ) performance, you know what to go for. Sure Microsoft and Xensource are trying to catch up but to you your good and healthy GSX server in production is your concern. And moving to ESX from here is a recommended path anyways (I'd advice it even if VMware's GSX server wasn't being freed) Don't forget that you have a World class virtualization product in house, no other product can replace it. Please don't let any FUD bother you. If you didn't have it , it wasn't yours either. Even if you continue...

I was reading this March 2 Article from SQLMAG and came across this pilot which a couple of guys from Microsoft were doing. Utility computing or pervasive computing is going to change a lot of things forever. OK we've heard all that before but what does it all have to do with SAN and SATA. Well Utility services has better be cheap. So ask yourself this: Do I pay too much on your electricity bills, water bills, garbage, gas ? Well OK the prices do rise once a while, they are not exorbitant! How does Amazon S3 Web Services Program offers space to attract developers, prices as cheap as 0.15$ per Gigabyte! (thinking of it I pay 11 euros for 4G at my current ASP), for the same money I should be getting 100G space!!!! (I have signed up for that Amazon S3 Web Services Program BTW, you too should go ahead and try it) Why don't my Company costs go down at all? Why do I keep ending up on discussion table with vendors who only want more money? As a developer/enthusiast (like myself) you...

As Mendel Rosenblum talks to ComputerWorld here . Excerpt... Q:Ten years from now, how will virtualization have changed the PC and server landscape? A:Virtualization will provide all the computation, all of the disks and all of the networks in your organization. You'll have decisions to make about when I buy more storage bricks or compute bricks based on scheduling of the workload I need to do. It might give me hints that I might need to buy more of this resource or the other, but it's all totally anonymous to me. That's fundamentally different from the way we work today. Right now, people bring up a server and give it some name so they can personalize it. That will be gone in 10 years. You'll no longer think of a server as being something other than how you think of a disk in a disk array today. Today, you put the world's most general-purpose operating system on [a server] so you can multipurpose it for anything you want. In a virtual world, you build virtual machi...

Here I talk a bit about how the advent of technologies and products offered by VMware will, while leading the virtualization products , also help businesses revive their drying and dying wells with some fresh boost of innovation (with amazing ideas all ready to be put to test, if not use) self reflection (for instance ,ask yourself if outsourcing is the smart way to fix your problems) new and bold ways to work towards success I think a lot of companies will end up rediscovering themselves and get on to doing business like never before. PS: These are my opinions, they have nothing to do with VMware's own vision or strategy. But of course you knew all that :-)

This is not bad at all. Check it out! Free as in beer (at your in-laws!)

Here I am going to talk a bit about what bounded awareness blocks crucial and critical information from registering into our consciousness. You could be a CEO, a Project Manager, a Father/Mother facing a teen issue, just about anyone. Now getting locked into this kind of mode will not help us come to a decision which might help us make a Killer Decision . Here I talk about my experience from my maritime career where I kind of compare it with a situation in dense traffic in a busy English Channel . It's real busy channel and you are navigating with all possible means. Radars Watchmen Extra watch on the forecastle (front part of your ship) multiple GPS Land Bearings (taking positions of multiple landmarks/beacons to mark them on the chart) Advanced Electronic Charts And lots more by now I'm sure (I quit in 99) Still known and experienced Captains have had head on collisions! Why? Listen to what I have to say about it. We will also continue the article later...

I'm also allowing comments as mp3. Just make sure that you have them under 1mb. We'll talk more so stick around :-). Hear me talk here! and/or just click on the title and play it in your browser. PS: Its not the wind but just my mouth too close to my mic ;-). Will make sure next time it's even more clearer. Take care, Tarry

I searched and searched and found a couple of neat but paid only audio blogs and vlogs. Then I came across this rather simple but yet powerful podcast tool called Loudblog . And I went ahead and installed it. I will work on the template later (although nothing wrong with the current one) but we will start talking right away. Check it out and stay tuned :-) Cheers Tarry

I have a simple webmaster account with Lycos and saw here that they also offer VDS. Well the package really sucks actually. Look for yourself here . Well the best deal is... 512 Mb RAM 10Gb (pay 0.69 Pound against 0.15 US $per Gb for every extra Gig No thanks I don't need no trial here. And what they say here is... What is a VDS ? VDS stands for Virtual Dedicated Server. This is the most advanced step in server virtualisation technology. This technology is used to partition a single physical server into many isolated virtual dedicated servers. Each virtual dedicated server looks and behaves exactly like a real networked server system, complete with its own set of init scripts, users, processes, file systems, etc. A VDS provides all of the control, security and flexibility of a dedicated server for a fraction of the price. And they're definitely using Xen for that purpose, I'm sure. (If it really is what they say, virtualization thus). OK I read through the FAQ's and fou...

Testing my VideoBlog at Blogmatrix !