Cloud Computing Technologies

April 16, 2010 By

This major/mega trend has translated into an emerging discipline we need to track with much more fidelity. What is cloud computing? The term is used two different ways in the IT community. To most users, cloud computing is any capability delivered over the network. If it is not local computing it is from the cloud. To these users, almost all enterprise IT is cloud computing. Technologists and enterprise architects use the term in a different way. To them, cloud computing implies new ways of providing capability on demand by use of virtualized resources. It involves pools of storage, network, processing and other computational resources that can be efficiently allocated on demand. It also implies far more agility in support of operational missions. Technologists view cloud computing as a means to most efficiently deliver computer power via an application program interface (API).

As noted on the Apps.gov website:

“Cloud computing plays a key role in the President’s initiative to modernize Information Technology (IT) by identifying enterprise -wide common services and solutions and adopting a new cloud-computing business model. The Federal CIO Council under the guidance of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), Vivek Kundra, established the Cloud Computing Initiative to fulfill the President’s objectives for cloud computing.”

Apps.com also notes that cloud computing offers the following features:

  • Significant Cost Reduction: Cloud computing is available at a fraction of the cost of traditional IT services, eliminating upfront capital expenditures and dramatically reducing administrative burden on IT resources.
  • Increased Flexibility: Cloud computing provides on-demand computing across technologies, business solutions and large ecosystems of providers, reducing time to implement new solutions from months to days.
  • Access anywhere: You are no longer tethered to a single computer or network. You can change computers or move to portable devices, and your existing applications and documents follow you through the cloud.
  • Elastic scalability and pay-as-you-go: Add and subtract capacity as your needs change. Pay for only what you use.
  • Easy to implement: You do not need to purchase hardware, software licenses or implementation services.
  • Service quality: Cloud service providers offer reliable services, large storage and computing capacity, and 24/7 service and up-time.
  • Delegate non-critical applications: Cloud computing provides a way to outsource non-critical applications to service providers, allowing agency IT resources to focus on business-critical applications.
  • Always the latest software: You are no longer faced with choosing between obsolete software and high upgrade costs. When the applications are web-based, updates are automatic and are available the next time you log into the cloud.
  • Sharing documents and group collaboration: Cloud computing lets you access all your applications and documents from anywhere in the world, freeing you from the confines of the desktop and facilitating group collaboration on documents and projects.

Some key Cloud Computing Trends:

  • Increasingly organizations will leverage computing power from other organizations.
  • Device and location independence enables users to access systems regardless of their location or what device they are using, e.g., PC, mobile.
  • Multi-tenancy enables sharing of resources, and costs, among a large pool of users:
  • Centralization of infrastructure in areas with lower costs, e.g., real estate, electricity, etc.
  • Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load levels)
  • Utilization and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10-20% utilised
  • On-demand allocation and de-allocation of CPU, storage and network bandwidth
  • Performance is monitored and consistent
  • Reliability is enhanced by way of multiple redundant sites, which makes it suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery
  • Scalability meets changing user demands quickly without users having to engineer for peak loads. Massive scalability and large user bases are common, but not an absolute requirement.
  • Sustainability is achieved through improved resource utilisation, more efficient systems, and carbon neutrality. Nonetheless, computers and associated infrastructure are major consumers of energy.
  • Security typically improves due to centralization of data, increased security-focused resources, increased ability to patch and upgrade, increased ability to monitor, increased ability to encrypt and many other reasons. However, there are concerns about loss of control over certain sensitive data. When designed in at the beginning, security of cloud architectures is significantly higher than non-cloud approaches. Enterprises requiring significantly enhanced security should consider private clouds, where the data center is controlled by the enterprise vice outsourced.
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Information Access: Search and Discovery

April 15, 2010 By

Search: In this context, we mean the computer based but human focused/driven examination designed to find that which is concealed. Search helps you find what you know exists and what you know you need.

Discovery: Helps users find what they need, even if they don’t know what to look for. This is a much more open ended problem. Gartner tracks both search and discovery in the category “information access.” Federated, semantic based search capabilities will continue to improve. But it is a flawed approach to think that an analyst must think of every possible question and search every database for every possible question. That does not scale. Discovery is the domain of Endeca.

  • Expect continuing advances in new, more powerful search capabilities including in-stream media management using new multi-threaded capabilities. However, these powerful search capabilities are not keeping up with the drive to interconnect and access increasingly large data sets (which is required for horizontal interoperability). We will continue to face search-scaling problems.
  • We expect richer, higher bandwidth interfaces into more human senses, including the use of more interactive interfaces. This is a movement away from entering terms into a web-based search box.
  • First- the search box gets on every app, but later the search box goes away and is replaced with a statement of desire and then guided navigation/iteration of results.
  • Federating and integrating results a long term challenge. Ensuring attacks on relevance also a challenge.
  • Capabilities provided by leaders in “guided navigation” like Endeca provide disruptive capabilities we will want to accelerate into the environment.
  • Architect so data finds data, the right info (and relevance) finds users, and users continually access relevance.
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Virtual Reality

April 15, 2010 By

Virtual Reality: In this context, this is technology that allows a user to interact with a computer-based simulated environment. The term encompasses modeling and simulation.

              • New ways of modeling and simulation and collaboration will be created for our analysts and for our enterprise operators.
              • Our workforce and our users, like other American IT workforces and users, is graying. Skills shortages will fuel an increasing automation of IT processes and user processes. This graying of the workforce will also drive simulation, modeling and prediction technologies– making this a major technology shift.
              • Other uses of virtual reality will be found by our analysts and collectors.
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    Application Development

    April 15, 2010 By

    Applications: Software that does stuff. Of most importance is the mission focused software of the enterprise. The primary point of user interaction.

    • We will not have a single IDE or a single favored development tool/method/language. Expect .NET and J2EE battles long into the planning period. Also expect more LAMP and SAMP (LINUX or Solaris with Apache/MySQL/PERL/PHP/PYTHON)
    • Expect stronger enterprise management of application development and more code reuse and service reuse. Also expect more efficient ways of transitioning code to operations.
    • Services allowing users more power over their own app creation, including creation of composite apps (giving the ability to create applications to the people closest to the problem). Situational Software.
    • Need apps and solutions that can empower users to get data/info their way and rapidly collaborate/create/share. Too few of today’s apps do this well. Apps must access/leverage the Data Layer and fit in to the Service Oriented Architecture.
    • A strong player has disrupted the application development world: Flex.
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    Operating Systems

    April 15, 2010 By

    Operating Systems: Software which ensures all computing devices can manage hardware and software. Orchestrate CPU, keyboard, monitor, mouse and other devices.

    Linux and Windows have significant growth ahead, but a heated fight will probably present opportunities for Solaris
    The long term future of Unix is not easy to predict at this stage. Today, it is the most powerful, secure OS in existence, and over the planning period it will remain so.

    Will there be an OS for the cloud?

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    Servers

    April 15, 2010 By

    Servers: Computers which host applications (and operating systems) for remote users.
    Data centers are increasingly made up of disaggregated devices. But looks for Data center
    powerhouse companies to change that.

    • ATCA standards from telecom world will benefit all data centers. Everything hot swapable. But with fewer moving parts that is actually less of a big deal.
    • Trend is for more comms direct to server core. We can buy off the shelf systems today with 20GigE direct to multiple core servers. Infiniband scales higher direct to core and across the enterprise fabric.
    • Moore’s Law is not the best measure of computing performance. Core’s law is alive. The number of cores per chip will double every 24 months.
    • Best measure of computing power is becoming compute power per watt
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    Devices

    April 15, 2010 By

    Devices: User hardware. The things applications and solutions run on. Workstation, Keyboard, Monitor, Mouse, Phone, etc.

    • Many completely stateless devices, but also traditional PC.
    • Expect continuing heterogeneity.
    • Integrated/converged VOIP/PC/Web service platforms.
    • Very high resolution geo-temporal displays.
    • Advanced video tele-collaboration.
    • New means of interacting with data (gesture).
    • Require advanced high res vis, wideband, agile human interfaces.
    • Need good HMI on the front-end of everything (good use of both sight and sound).
    • Must load the human perceptive systems optimally.
    • Need low power, long life devices. Some wireless power.
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    Robots

    April 15, 2010 By

    Robots are electro-mechanical devices that can perform autonomous or preprogrammed tasks. Robots can operate under the control of humans, like the Predator UAV.

    What type of things can we expect to see from robots in the coming years?

    • Expect incredible increase in sensor feeds from unmanned ariel vehicles (UAV), unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), Unmanned Submersible Vehicles (USV) and other robots.
    • Robotic sensors will place very high demand on our communications and computing infrastructures
    • Storage of data and ability to search across it will also be impacted by the rise of robots.
    • Collection management applications will need continual enhancement.

    For more on Robots, please see our companion site at: http://robolicio.us

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    Communications

    April 15, 2010 By

    Communications: Most of which are IP based.

    • Comms between fixed facilities will be enhanced by a factor of 100 over the next 5 years.
    • We will need this enhanced capacity to enable true all source intelligence fusion
    • Enhanced comms is required for full support of virtualization and enterprise storage strategies.
    • Expect DoD to transition to a HAIPE-based, IP infrastructure with an end-to-end pseudo-wire approach
    • Comms to most mobile users will always be unique.
    • Expect some use of technologies like WiMax for SCI over the battlefield
    • But the tactical environment cannot depend on the use of infrastructures required for commercial-like communications
    • The critically important demands of the tactical environment will always present challenges to dissemination of national intelligence to battlefield users.
    • IPv6 in use at about 1/2 of 1% of US circuits.
    • Comms must support real-time tele-presence and tele-collaboration and enhanced video
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    Storage

    April 15, 2010 By

    Storage: In this context, the ability of the enterprise to securely hold information. Our enterprise approach to storage is moving us away from storage tightly coupled to individual programs/projects towards storage that is managed as an enterprise mission/function.

    • Enterprise storage options remain DAS, NAS, SAN with SCSI and iSCSI options. iSCSI will grow in the enterprise (different value propositions guarantee the continued coexistence of these options).
    • All will drop in price and increase in capability.
    • Rapid increase in sensor feeds will outpace our ability to store.
    • Disparate, heterogeneous storage will be the norm well into the future. Distributed data synch and the software to manage data as an enterprise is the key requirement. Simultaneous shared access to large file storage systems. Data encryption at rest. More meta than data.
    • Growth to multi-petabyte online distributed, federated archives. High performance grid storage.
    • Massive Arrays of Idle Disks (MAID)
    • Deduplication is important. Not just deduplication of backups. One to watch: Data Domain.
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