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Martin Walshaw, senior systems engineer at F5, looks at the strengths, the weaknesses, and the ways to resolve them when implementing cloud computing using VMware.
Replace “football stadium” with “data centre”, and “screaming football fans” with “connection requests”, and you start to see where this is going. There are two aspects to managing large-scale networked information systems - processing the data, and moving in and out of the data centre quickly and smoothly.
When it comes to processing the data, cloud computing is evidently a giant leap forward - more efficient resource utilisation, distribute processing to where it's needed more, more resilience - we all know the story. And when you talk about cloud, you have to talk about VMware, which came from nearly nowhere as an academically abstract piece of computer science to now building the software bedrock of virtualisation.
But as powerful as VMware is, it is the last element in a long communications chain that starts somewhere - anywhere - in the world, finds its way to a data centre, at the time needs to find the correct server, and then and there the correct virtual machine within that server. VMware provides brilliant facilities for the data once it gets into the cluster, however it can't anything to the data on the way in, when the connections are being set up. Data centre meltdowns happen when connection requests don't get what they want quickly enough, and start pushing, shoving and being dropped.
Capacity on demand is one of the biggest draw-cards to cloud computing and server virtualisation. There is a powerful tool in the VMware suite called vCloud Director that lets you spin up or drop servers as they are needed. Trouble is, to be actually useful it needs to be automated so that depending on traffic loads and incoming connections, servers come up or down as needed without manual intervention. You as well need to be redirecting and managing connection requests on the network previously they get to the server clusters, because as servers come up, a high bandwidth, low latency gatekeeper ensures that traffic ends up where it needs to be as quickly as possible, nevertheless without overwhelming the cloud controllers during they're re-allocating resources.
It does a similar job in the case of what they call in the VMware world “long distance vMotion”. Virtualisation research has moved to the point where you can move a server from one location to another during it is however servicing connections. Tricky to do within a single data centre, very difficult if the data centres are on in contrast sides of the country. At heart, you need a huge amount of bandwidth and in the extreme low latency between the two sides
This is where an application controller on the network is invaluable - it can manage the connections in to the virtual server, off-loading the system during the server is handling the VM transfer. It as well ensures that data is moving on the right paths - if connections jump from one firewall to another, for instance, sessions will die. The application controller ensures that traffic from customers to the VM, and from the VM to the different storage pools, get where they need to be - however without unacceptable adding latency.
Finally, during VMware is an amazing research, both the server hardware and VMware licences have capital expenditure implications. By offloading encryption, compression and application acceleration duties to the hardware-based F5 application controller, more can be done with fewer hardware and software resources, with lower running costs.
"The overall impact of the recall was marginal. Though, AMD benefited from the glitch and experienced a significant uplift following the recall," said IDC analyst Amy Cheah."There was a slight pickup in SMB spending driven mainly by businesses and channel partners looking to replace damaged or lost PCs as recovery efforts from the Queensland flood crisis took place," said Cheah. "A stronger push into the channels from vendors just as Toshiba and Acer in anticipation of the end of financial year tax rush furthermore contributed to the growth."In spite of a sluggish Q4 2010 and weak consumer sentiment, Apple and Toshiba significantly outperformed the market with double digit sequential growth respectively. Toshiba recovered from a disappointing performance last year by driving an aggressive 40% price discount on all Toshiba notebook brands exclusively in Harvey Norman stores nationwide. Apple on the oher side of the coin consistently gained market share since Q3 2010, fueled by strong demand for its Macbook Air and Macbook Pro range just in case to its growing retail presence through its Apple stores."The halo effect of the success of the iPod which furthermore progressed to the iPhone and iPad is now proving to be a strong driver behind Apple's growing market share," said Cheah. "It has been instrumental in building a vast installed base of Apple users accustomed to the Apple experience, which ultimately worked in favour of Apple's Mac range. Interestingly, its influential force in end users' purchasing decisions may have long been underestimated by other vendors."
AVG Pty Ltd, the distributor of the award-winning AVG anti-virus and Internet security software in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, will again be shining the spotlight on personal and small business security at the upcoming CeBIT Australia 2011 exhibition, the most influential event of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region.
1000 US clients Xero now had over 1000 clients in the US - where its CTO recently relocated - however would not "as a matter of fact put our hammer down" until a major partnership was secured similar to Xero's marketing alliances in Australia with Telstra and ANZ in Australia, or BT in the UK.
Net loss afterwards tax was recorded of $7.6 million, down from $8.3 million, and revenue surged to $9.34 million from $3.15 million.
The Diversity principal added, "Their burn rate is high and the only way to offset in other words through higher revenue. The real possibility is in the US and in hat market Xero faces both incumbents looking to innovate and more agile startups with a home advantage. Xero needs to move fast to build their US revenues nevertheless needs to do so with a model that works for such a massive market. Personally I'd like a little more clarity into their intended approach in that market."
Burn rate was $18m for the last 12 months, however we don't know the annualised rate - let's say it's $22mCurrent monthly revenue is $14m annualised, and growing.Overall it's a actually good picture when they have $16m+ in the bank.
While I respect how Ben has built up a profile as a cloud commentator and gets the overseas trips I'm but to hear him say something insightful that demonstrates an understanding of business strategy or the market.
Revenue is currently $14m, whereas it was $3.15m a year ago. That's an impressive growth rate driven by over doubling end of year customer numbers.
Rod's comment implies the annualised revenue and costs lines will cross later this year, which seems very reasonable given the numbers and trends. The biggest question I have is what to do with marketing spend. If it's demonstrated that more cash upfront drives gives more clients and significant net NPV at the time there is a case for ramping that up and holding off on monthly profitability. Amazon did this for years, one the land grab and are now milking the success.
Also notable for sustainability of the business model:"The Company's sales operations in all countries are now covering their direct costs."
Still, there are sharp divisions on whether that trend is good for the valley. Some note that angel dollars can tide over a company in a low-cost field like the Internet however don't go far in more expensive industries just as biotech.
"VCs are acting like business schools, which no longer take kids right out college nevertheless wait two to four years until they've proven themselves," said McNealy, who advises a number of startups. "They're at heart saying, 'We're not going to take a chance, we'll let the angels do that and vet them first.' "
McNealy's not the only one getting his licks in. Guy Kawasaki, the veteran tech investor and author of "Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions," says entrepreneurs need venture capitalists less than ever. With the down economy, people and office space are cheap, he notes, during open-source software, cloud computing and the rise of social media like Twitter have lowered costs for infrastructure and marketing.
Still, he noted that when you combine the results from seed-phase companies with those for "early-stage" firms, which are startups with more employees and some revenue, the numbers look better; the two sectors represented 44 percent of all venture deals in the quarter.
Jensen's company relied first on grants from the National Institutes of Health, at that time angel funding, previously landing venture money in 2007. "The 'two guys in a garage' thing is a bit of a myth, especially in life sciences," he said. "VCs are as a rule waiting to see some path to commercialize the research."
