Many of us work in an environment where productivity is hurt because centralized information is not available where and when it's needed. Some examples:
All of these bottlenecks would be gone if we could instantly access the information we needed, where and whenever necessary. In most cases, ROI has been discussed year over year about how to get proprietary handheld devices to the workforce without crippling IT, tech support, the CFO, or all of the above.
Now, what if we stop thinking about MAKING people use a hand-held device for their job and start talking about ALLOWING them to do so. Today, many of us are already mobile enabled to a varying degree. And based on current trends for smart phone adoption, we’re on our way to a crowded mobile Web – one with a myriad of applications (just consider what Apple has unleashed with its App Store!).
Why is this important? Because if we ALLOW people to use their own preferred device to improve the way they work, they tend to do so. Let's look at the examples above to see how:
It's pretty clear the “consumerization” of the Web experience – from the mobile Web to the App Store – is driving a new business opportunity unknown five years ago. If you build it, they will come.
If you're interested in jumpstarting a mobile Web initiative, Systems Alliance can help – from modeling a business case to delivering a full-blown mobile site. Visit our Web Effectiveness site to learn more or call 1-877-797-2554 to schedule a consultation.
Most IT pros responsible for Web environments understand the need for adequate network, CPU and memory to ensure Web server performance. But how many consider the benefits of using solid state drives (SSDs) to increase Web performance?
SSD technology is finally going mainstream – and it can dramatically increase the performance of your Web environment. For those of you paying attention, you know the cost of SSDs has also dropped significantly in recent months.
Cool. SSDs are more affordable and offer great performance advantage – they just need to be properly configured. Let’s find out how…
By their nature, Web environments are read-intensive. Now, consider a high-volume Web environment, such as a college during fall enrollment. The course catalogue pages are getting pounded like never before. If we could somehow cache them onto a SSD, which provides 100x the IOPS of an HDD, the resulting read performance of the catalog application would increase several-fold.
So how do we do this? The best way is with ZFS (Zettabyte file system) available for free with the Solaris 10 operating system.
ZFS lets you designate a SSD as a cache device with one simple command. For example, let’s assume we’re using Oracle’s Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220 server. This particular server – based on Sun’s Chip Multi-Threading technology – is optimized for Web performance. It also has the capacity to contain up to 16 disk drives, including on-board SSDs. As we continue analyzing our Web server, we decide we’re going to have two mirrored drives for our operating system and two drives for our Web content. Let’s add one more drive, a 32 GB SSD to act as our read cache for the Web server. Remember, in this example, all disks are internal. We can also do this on a SAN, but that’s for another day.
Now we have our operating system loaded and mirrored on our OS drives, and we’re ready to create our content space on the remaining drives, using ZFS to optimize the SSD as read cache. Let’s assume the physical disk device names of our content disks are HDD0, HDD1, and SSD0.
Here’s how we do it. Simply login as “root” and issue the following command:
# zpool create <webcontent poolname> mirror HDD0 HDD1 cache SSD0 <webcontent poolname> is whatever you decide to call the content storage pool.
We’re done. You’ve just created a ZFS storage pool, mirrored for data protection that will utilize the SSD as read cache. ZFS will dynamically store a second copy of the target data on the SSD for fast retrieval, dramatically increasing the performance of your Web pages.
Now you need to create the desired ZFS file systems within the pool, and you’re ready to add content. The process of creating the ZFS file system is also easy and is described nicely here.
Let’s recap:
To learn more about Web effectiveness, content management and using SSDs to optimize your Web environment, get in touch with your Systems Alliance rep, call 1-877-797-2554 or click here for a no-obligation assessment.
Even with all the hype surrounding its launch, back in October 2009 few customers I talked with were excited about using Windows 7 as their desktop virtualization OS. What a difference a few months can make. Increasingly, IT directors are excited about Windows 7 because it provides a rationale for justifying investments in desktop virtualization.
Deploying Windows 7 in a virtual desktop environment can save companies a load of time and money because they no longer have to worry about whether their current desktop PCs meet Windows 7 system requirements. Plus, they can avoid the hassle of backing up their current XP desktops and reloading – and configuring – those systems with Windows 7.
For the past month or so I have been testing Windows 7 on a laptop configured with dual core AMD CPUs and 8 GB of memory. Having worked with lots of different desktop virtualization architectures, I wanted to see if the Windows 7 operating system could handle two different types of type 2 hypervisors (Sun’s VirtualBox and VMware Server running on top of a desktop operating systems). There was no problem running these desktop hypervisors on Windows 7 with actual virtual machines running (VMs). In the past, I have tried running just Virtualbox on Windows XP and had problems with the application being unresponsive (this was on a laptop configured with 3 GB of memory and an Intel Core Duo CPU)!
As we move through 2010, this will definitely be the year of desktop virtualization, partially because of the desire to support Windows 7. One thing companies need to keep in mind when considering Windows 7 for desktop virtualization is how Microsoft handles virtualization licensing. VECD (Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop) is a license that Microsoft requires for customers implementing desktop virtualization. The VECD license must be purchased in addition to the base Window operating system license – one for each virtual system.
Even with the added licensing cost, desktop virtualization implementations produce a solid return on investment (ROI) – in my experience 18 to 21 months is realistic. Not bad, especially if you consider swapping desktop PCs for a true zero-administration thin-client device, such as the Sun Ray.
Unlike PCs, Sun Rays can last 10 to 15 years (they average 200k hours MTBF) and use a lot less electricity than an average desktop PC (< 8 watts vs. >80 for the PC). If the device fails, you can replace it with another device and keep on computing, no need to call IT for hardware support !
So if you’re looking for a way to get your end users on board with a transition to desktop virtualization, choosing Windows 7 for your desktop is a good way to go – it will definitely get your users excited!
Systems Alliance has some great tools for assessing the potential benefits of VDI in your environment. To learn more sign up for a no-cost VDI assessment here. Or call your local Systems Alliance rep to arrange an on-site meeting: 1-877-797-2554.
Will You Be Deploying the Longines Symphonette or the RCA Console with Hi-Fi Stereo in Your Data Center This Year?
Much has been made recently of the ongoing battle between Cisco and HP as they stake out a presence in the emerging market for consolidated infrastructure components. Cisco is touting its Unified Computing platform as a “virtual data center” and “ladder to the cloud,” while HP has introduced the Blade System Matrix that provides a “cloud in a box.”
Buzz-worthy indeed, yet the way forward for both Cisco and HP is a bit confusing, cloudy perhaps.
I have tremendous respect for John Chambers and his ability to continuously grow Cisco's business. Cisco, like HP, is now increasing its focus on products and services for markets beyond the enterprise. A growing portion of Cisco's revenue is coming from video conferencing and consumer products like Linksys routers, set-top boxes and Flip cameras... Yes you too can now experience a “Digital Crib” from Cisco. A broader revenue base is good for Cisco stockholders and maybe for enterprises that have made large commitments to Cisco and need to be confident about their future.
Likewise, HP continues to grow revenue outside of the data center with a heavy focus on consumer PCs, laptops, netbooks and printers, as well as specialized printers for commercial and industrial graphic arts production (see: http://h10088.www1.hp.com/cda/gap/display/main/index.jsp?zn=gap&cp=20000_4041_100 for a look at how graphics created with an HP Scitex printer were used to wrap a train, yes a train, to promote Disney's A Christmas Carol.
Against this backdrop of diversification, Cisco and HP are betting we'll embrace the concept of single, consolidated infrastructure for enterprise-class data centers.
Not so fast…
The Technical Architects at SAI spend a significant amount of time analyzing and debating the emerging technologies and products offered by our alliance partners and other industry leaders. As our team has looked at the “use cases” for consolidated infrastructure, they have raised questions about the implications of deploying components that are “in between” the current model of dedicated components and a future that may be populated with purpose-built IT appliances.
And here's where the Longines Symphonette (LS) comes in. Yes, back in the 1960s and 70s consumers were offered interesting combinations of TVs and stereo components in non-descript faux wooden cabinets – perfect for the easy listening sounds of the LS. These systems initially met with acceptance in the marketplace due to their positioning as a piece of furniture that captured all of your entertainment needs.
This did not last. In short order the quality of home audio components improved, new technologies were introduced (eight tracks and audio cassettes) and musical tastes evolved – how about the first time you heard Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Consoles lost their appeal as purist disdain for moderate quality performance in each area lead to the eventual dis-integration of the components.
During the last two years, we have seen large enterprises make fast and significant progress ( increasing infrastructure utilization rates and decreasing capital costs and operating expenses) with faster and cheaper servers and storage coupled with virtualization tools. Against that backdrop, it's hard to imagine that the current crop of consolidated infrastructure components will gain ground. As these devices evolve to purpose built appliances, the dynamics may change. For now, best of breed individual infrastructure components appear to be a lower cost and higher performance solution.
Yesterday's announcement by the EU regarding its objections to Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun highlights a growing trend of European protectionism.
In addition to favoring homegrown companies of those based in the US, the decision also provides fresh evidence that European regulators are out of touch (or worse) with our industry.
The EU's principal objection appears to be centered on the potential for Oracle to influence the future course of events at My SQL, a competitor in the open source database arena which Sun acquired in 2008. Various other objections raised in the US (sustained support for JAVA development principally) and in the press were addressed by Oracle and Sun prior to the DOJ’s approval in the US several months ago.
Oracle, with a well deserved reputation for strong competition and aggressive sales tactics, has gone well beyond expectations with a commitment to increase funding and provide extensive support for My SQL development after the transaction closes. Oracle's past performance with InnoDB offerings (the engine beneath My SQL) and Berkeley DB, another open source database product add credence to Oracle's commitment to support My SQL.
This brings us to the question….. why would the EU block this deal, in a marketplace where a combined Sun-Oracle may actually bring new competition to IBM and other global IT providers? One possible and unfortunate answer lies in a news story that broke in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/11/09/sun-microsystemss-statement-on-the-ecs-objection-to-oracle-deal/) regarding SAP’s involvement in the EU decision.
SAP CEO Leo Apotheker apparently wrote to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in mid September, a couple of weeks after the EU announced the probe, indicating that he was interested in meeting with Oracle to discuss SAP's opposition to the Sun transaction and discussing other matters of mutual interest. The WSJ opined that there may be a link between SAP’s interest in the Sun deal and their interest in resolving a multi-billion dollar corporate espionage suit that Oracle brought against SAP after the alleged misuse of Oracle's data by SAP employees.
Given Oracle's commitment to invest heavily in My SQL in the years ahead (more here: http://www.oracle.com/ocom/groups/public/documents/webcontent/038563.pdf) and their prior support for other open source products, it’s difficult to understand the EU’s reasoning for prolonging approval of the Sun deal. I don’t recall the EU running swiftly into the fray to protect Microsoft's small business application portfolio when SAP pushed into the mid-market. Nor do I recall the EU attempting to constrain SAP as they have acquired a large chunk of the BI and analytics application vendors (IBM and Oracle have also acquired a bunch) over the last few years.
It's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the EU is merely attempting to protect SAP and constrain future competition by slowing Oracle's acquisition of Sun. Unfortunately thousands of Sun employee jobs hang in the balance while the market waits for the deal to close.
If you find the EU's decision as troubling as I do, take a stand – forward your comments to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk: http://www.ustr.gov/about-us/press-office/ask-ambassador.
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