Cloud Computing: wispy thoughts

With Citrix releasing their XenServer hypervisor as a free product with virtually no limitations, my thoughts have turned to implementing our own private cloud in our data center.

Just now? yep, cloud computing as a service has been around for a while and marketed to death (in my opinion).  It has big players like Amazon and Google, but it has never been a viable option (and won’t be for a while).  Any serious web2.0 company knows that one of the keys to success is to minimize downtime, and using a cloud service takes control of your uptime away from you.  Granted, not all startups are able to run their own data center, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that every big name web site runs its own data center(s).  Think about it.  How do you guarantee uptime when you have no control over a critical service?

Anyway, the idea of the cloud is very interesting.  To have a utility like service that allows you to tap computing power without caring about individual servers is almost like computing nirvana.  And the thing that makes it practical?  With Citrix’s move to a free offering, this type of cloud can be easily (and cheaply!) deployed in your own environment that you control (at least according to Citrix).

I can see it now……..web server instances being provisioned and deprovisioned in response to demand, server instances migrating to functioning nodes in response to hardware failures (eliminating service down time), performing hardware maintenance during business hours without affecting services…….whoah there, I think I might be drooling

I really, really want to start trying this out as I’m begining to wrap my mind around a rough idea of how this would integrate into and ultimately transform our environment.  It’s like that vauge shape at the edge of your vision that you know is there, but if you look at it it slips away.  Ah well, I know it will come if I just have a little patience.  In the mean time…….back to my dream