DeepGeek's Web Bookmarks Blog-roll

Wikipedia on Darknets

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:20:22 GMT

A darknet refers to any type of closed, private group of people communicating; however, since 2002[1], the term has evolved to more specifically refer to file sharing networks in general, whether that network is private or readily accessible to the public. The phrase "the darknet" is used to refer collectively to all covert communication networks.

Understanding Cloud Datacenter Economies of Scale

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:19:52 GMT

I also want to dispel the myth that only the largest companies can achieve these economies of scale. Don’t get me wrong; providing a cloud service is a scale game. It requires a certain amount of buying power to compete. However,you don’t need to be MSFT, YHOO, AMZN, or GOOG to compete effectively. Buying power can be had at levels much lower than you might think.

In this article, I refer regularly to Jame’s comments in his presentation, so I suggest you watch his video first. In order to minimize confusion, I’ve borrowed some pictures from his slides and inserted them here for your reference. This is a long entry, but it will be worth the read as I’ve got numbers for you which I hope you will find interesting.

Background
Like James, the Cloudscaling team has a history of building large scale services. I’ve worked in this area for 16+ years as has our COO, Adam Waters, and several of our team members. Understanding of the economies of scale, especially for service providers, cloud or otherwise is fundamental to our DNA. For example, see my previous piece describing how oversubscription works.

James Hamilton's Blog

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:18:43 GMT

James Hamilton is an engineer with Amazon Web Services.

Wikipedia on Client Server Computing

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:18:05 GMT

The client–server model of computing is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients.[1] Often clients and servers communicate over a computer network on separate hardware, but both client and server may reside in the same system. A server machine is a host that is running one or more server programs which share their resources with clients. A client does not share any of its resources, but requests a server's content or service function. Clients therefore initiate communication sessions with servers which await (listen for) incoming requests.

Wikipedia on Cloud Computing

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:17:28 GMT

Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.

Cloud computing is a paradigm shift following the shift from mainframe to client–server in the early 1980s. Details are abstracted from the users, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.[1] Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption, and delivery model for IT services based on the Internet, and it typically involves over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources.[2][3] It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet.[4] This frequently takes the form of web-based tools or applications that users can access and use through a web browser as if it were a program installed locally on their own computer.[5]. NIST provides a somewhat more objective and specific definition here. The term "cloud" is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used in the past to represent the telephone network,[6] and later to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents.[7] Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online that are accessed from another Web service or software like a Web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers. A key element of cloud computing is customization and the creation of a user-defined experience.

Magnolia CEO Videocast

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:16:23 GMT

"IT is hard" by a dead companies CEO.

Fuck The Cloud Part Two:Dancing on Magnolia's Grave

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:15:37 GMT

We’re not going to call that problem solved, are we? There’s still the occasional tiny flare-up in that realm and the concerns are ongoing, and valid. Saying “ppft” and “don’t worry your pretty little head” isn’t going to hide the fact that a lot of people, and stick with me here, a lot of people continue not to use ecommerce or online payment and for very valid reasons. Some people buy my documentaries via check and cash and money order. Some of my friends have websites and services that, because some component of them have untoward information or images, are flat-out censored by major credit card firms (of which there are very few) from doing any transactions whatsoever on the front or back end. Oh, and the minor issue where some links in the chain between credit card, vendor and credit firm would be transmitted in poor encryption or cleartext? That kind of didn’t go away, either. But this is nitty gritty stuff, stuff based in facts and history. Let’s ignore that and blow up some servers. Woo hoo!

Fuck the Cloud by Jason Scott

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:13:49 GMT

By the cloud, of course, I mean this idea that you have a local machine, a box running some OS, and a vital, distinct part of what you do and what you’re about or what you consider important to you is on other machines that you don’t run, don’t control, don’t buy, don’t administrate, and don’t really understand. These machines are connected via the internet, and if you have a company then these other machines are not machines run by your company, and if you’re a person they are giving it to you without you signing anything accompanied by cash or payment that says “and I mean it“.

Can I be clearer than that? It’s a sucker’s game. It’s a game suckers play. If you are playing it, you are a sucker.

Knightwise's Homepage

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:12:50 GMT

Homepage of the Podcaster "Knightwise".