Articles from Joe Weinman

1. Compelling Cases for Clouds Explore GigaOM (Nov 15 2009) Cloud Computing What are cloud services uniquely good for and why? After all, CIOs aren’t going to leverage online services offered on demand just because they’re available, but for compelling business reasons. There are helpful compilations of use cases (PDF) from a technical viewpoint; here I’ve identified key cloud rationales from a strategic perspective. Different people have different definitions of the term “cloud,” but I’m referring to common and flexible services, applications, platforms, content and resources delivered from a public provider. The lion’s share of the reasons I list below apply to most of those definitions, as well as other online/web services. (Read Full Article)

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2. Peaking Through the Clouds Explore GigaOM (Jun 25 2009) Cloud Computing Cloud infrastructure services are particularly good at supporting variable demand and peaks with unpredictable timing or amplitude. Peaks are a challenge for CIOs, because forecasting too low may lead to poor performance or service unavailability, and guessing too high means paying for unneeded capacity. Peaking through clouds, instead of handling peaks with your own resources, can minimize cost while enhancing flexibility. Whenever the peak-to-average ratio is greater than the premium (if any) associated with utility services, a pure cloud infrastructure approach will provide cost savings. In fact, even for more consistent demand, a hybrid data center/cloud solution may reduce total cost. However, given that a recent report showed that cloud services might cost twice as much as an enterprise do-it-yourself approach, a good rule of thumb would be that if your peak-to-average ratio is at least 2-to-1, then cloud infrastructure services should definitely be considered. For relatively flat demand ... (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Amazon.com

3. How Clouds Can Complement Consolidation Explore GigaOM (Jun 18 2009) Cloud Computing A recent survey of Emerson Network Power and Liebert data center users found that respondents plan to double the power densities in their racks in future facilities. The Data Center Users Group survey asked about 120 data center managers questions on data center efficiency. Energy efficiency is now one of the top three concerns for nearly half (47%) of survey respondents, a result that surveys over the past year or so have confirmed. In a similar survey by the Data Center Users Group (DCUG) four years ago, energy efficiency was hardly ever listed as a top concern. Among the findings was that data center managers now design future facilities to handle 15 kW per rack on average, more than double the 7.4 kW-per-rack average today. Langan Integrated Engineering and Environmental Solutions Inc. is one company that has built more efficient facilities. The Elmwood Park, N.J.-based engineering firm ... (Read Full Article)

   Comment Mentions:   Apple   Google

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