Saturday November 19, 2005 David Jones
Saturday November 19, 2005
Testing Ecto
This is a test blog for Ecto, a blogging client for the Mac. I've often thought that this whole blogging thing is a bit primitive. Years of evolution into WSIWYG editors and word processors and I end up cutting and pasting HTML across editors and then fixing it up on the other side.
It reminds me of the days writing white papers in TeX. I was working in Reservoir Simulation writing white papers on Numerical Modelling. You haven't lived until you've written partial differential equations in TeX.
Even today, I still don't know of any other word processing system that can do equations like TeX. It's interesting that this technology hasn't moved. Speaking of Numerical Modelling and Partial Differential Equations, this ecto stuff makes it a lot easier to put a picture of my boat into a blog!
November 19, 2005 09:35 PM PST
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Tuesday November 15, 2005
Dynamic Infrastructure: The SOA Data Center
I attended the Sun Software Summit last week in Santa Clara. It was a good meeting. I was asked to present on one of Sun's latest offerings called the Dynamic Infrastructure for Web Services .
There was a lot of interest and stimulating conversation during the meeting. I was a Data Center guy in the midst of a bunch of software geeks. I'll have to admit, I'm a bit of a closet software architect and can claim to delivering an EJB project when I was working in PS a number of years ago. I also have written more Fortran than I care to admit in a mixed audience.
I also attended Deepak Alur's SOA@Sun overview presentation and the conversations that we had in both meetings really got me really excited about what we're doing.
In the Dynamic Infrastructure, we're applying SOA principles to Data Center Architecture. In SOA, you assemble new business services from application components. In the Dynamic Infrastructure, we are taking that concept to the next step and assembling the Data Center with standardized computing components.
The Service Delivery Network Architecture
The Dynamic Infrastructure uses an architecture methodology that we've developed at Sun called the Service Delivery Network Architecture. In the SDNA, the fundamental building blocks are called Service Instances, and from there we create what is called a Service Domain.
Service Domains are logical grouping of related services and the Service Instances that make them up. The Service Domain serves as the core repeatable pattern in the network architecture design. When we start talking about patterns, we develop them based on the non-functional characteristics of the service, such as how it scales or is made highly available. We call these Systemic Qualities, or sometimes just the -ilities.
We asesemble these repeatable patterns into what we call Service Modules that form the basic building block of the Service Delivery Nework. Service Modules represent the assembly of network service components into a business service. This is where you can start to see SOA concepts applied to the data center infrastructure. Standardized application components, assembled into business services, using a network architecture methodology to organize the components.
Through the SDN and Service Modules, the network can be partitioned according to Security or Compliance requirements, Quality of Service characteristics, etc. As in any architecture, the overall network service QoS is a function of the individual components that make up the service and their individual QoS. This is where there is value in working with Service Domains vs. Service Modules. You can deal with the QoS and systemic qualities of the components independently of the assembly into a business service.
The Point of Delivery
Now it starts to get interesting. Depending on the service, we can introduce what we call a Point of Delivery or POD. The POD can be described as a software+infrastructure stack that delivers a Network Service. Depending on the architectural model for the service, a POD may provide a single component of a SOA application, such as HTTP or Data Base Services. How systemic qualities are achieved really contributes to the definition of what constitutes a POD.
A POD is a repeatable pattern of that provides the Systemic Quality of the network service. A POD may contain a stack that provides a component of the application service, for example, you may have a Web Server POD or a Database POD. However, if your business service scales with broader granularity, then a POD may contain all of the components of a Service Module and provide a higher level applicaiton service. It depends on the composition of the unit that can be applied to scale or provide availability to the service.
This is a flexible concept within the DI and we have seen it applied in differently depending on the application set. We have some religious discussions about the definition of a POD and then some customer just comes along and changes it anyway.
The Dynamic Web Service Part
Here's the cool part about working at Sun. We've taken these architectural concepts and integrated a system using our software and systems management stacks. Web Services are supplied through the Java Enterprise System, Sun's software system for the Industry. The Operating Platform is Solaris 10. We use Solaris Containers to encapsulate the services and manage their security and efficiency. Sun's N1 Grid Provisioning System allows us to deploy network service stacks just-in-time according to the changing business conditions. Because we're using Solaris Containers, we can manage the deployment instance in a consolidated architecture.
The end result is the ability to securely deploy Web Services using the Java Enterprise System, into Solaris 10 containers into a highly efficient consolidated architecture. The Web Services are deployed into Network Service PODs, that are dynamically configured using N1 Grid Provisioning System. The architectural control point for this capability is The Service Delivery Network Architecture.
We've built all this into an offering from Sun called the Dynamic Infrastructure for Web Services. We used our Sun Grid rack system as the foundation and Solaris 10 running on our Galaxy line of products. The integration was a fairly smooth process and we also submitted a number of RFEs that will help make the products better and better. I've attached the Marketecture below so you can see what controls what.
This offering is one of the spinoffs of an internal program we have at Sun called JXSON that's being run by James Baty and Jason Carolan. There's a good size team of talent on it and I can't name them all. I'd like to take some credit for it but they just call me their "Marketing guy". Sheesh. Thank God I have a Mac and know some Adobe Illustrator, or I wouldn't be able to hang out with them at all.
See you next time...
November 15, 2005 09:00 PM PST Permalink
Sunday November 06, 2005 Convergence and Evolution
We're witnessing some interesting phenomena in the world these days.
I
think it's a combination of
convergence and
evolution. Through
convergence I mean in the device space.
Now take the Sony PSP. This is some kind of device. It is the first one of my son's games that I have really been impressed with. Plays games with a fantastic screen, movies, photo album, also plays wirelessly over the internet. It's got an Internet browser. Memory stick. Incredible.
Now here comes the evolution part.....
My son is 14. He gets the PSP for his birthday. The first thing he does is grab the manual and start configuring the thing. Hooks it up to the PC. Sets up filesystems so it can handle photos, play movies, operate wirelessly. Grabbing software off the internet and hooking our PC up to it and all that. I look at him playing it on the couch and he tells me he's playing a game with a kid in Canada... from the couch.
I'm thinking I am witnessing evolution. When I was 14, the things I was most was concerned about configuring was my Schwin Stingray with a Banana Seat. Kids today are doing thing we never did as kids. These kids are going to be inventing things tomorrow that we can't even comprehend. That's the exciting part.
Throughout all this, I'm reminded a presentation from a few years ago from Greg Papadopoulis, our CTO. This was the discussion about the waves of the Internet and the exponential growth of devices on the Network. We're seeing this now w/ Sony PSP, Treo's, iPODs, BlackBerry's, Wireless access everywhere.
It's an amazing time to be seeing these things and the impact they have on the Industry and my family.
Evolution....
November 06, 2005 01:00 AM PST Permalink
Sunday May 15, 2005 Blog.reboot
I have committed to blog after a false start late last year. Especially after seeing that my colleague and peer with Sun's Client Solutions Organization, John Crupi is blogging now, I have experienced guilt and performance anxiety over the inadequacy of my blogging. The first step... “I admit that I am powerless over the phenomenon and that I have a responsibility to blog”.
That being said, I have no doubt that Crupi is probably only blogging to show off Sun's project with U2 that he sponsored, and his picture with Bono and Brad Pitt. I'm sure it's hard to live with John these days. It was all a part of his grand scheme. He still calls me “Grid boy”, although I would think Dan Hushon should be giving that title a run for it's money.
My role with the Sun organization is Chief Technologist of the Global Data Center Practice. I've been with Sun over the last 11 years, mostly living on the West Coast of the US and running technical operations in one way or another for Professional Services over that time. It's been a very interesting career at Sun; starting before Java really started to take hold, through Sun's server introductions, the .com boom, and the burst of the bubble. Now I see Sun developing in very new and very interesting ways and influencing the industry the way we have before.
My interests and subjects that you can expect to see from me might include the following:
Sun's Service Optimized Data Center – This is a strategy that we are sharing with our customers to optimize their IT environment through Standardization, Service Architectures, and Automation. This program has allowed some great collaboration between the Practices and it's been very helpful to customers. The SODC represents much of what we do in the Data Center Practice and beyond. It's been a great project.
IT Architecture Governance – In deploying open systems architectures, Sun has much to share in terms of how to establish architecture standards and management of a technically diverse and always changing organization. Over my tenure within Sun, we have acquired many companies, formed “planets”, collapsed that organization and cycled through many industry fluctuations. In all that time, the approach to IT Architecture Governance has held steady. Bill Howard and Bill Vass should get a lot of credit.
Distributed Computing and Grid Topics – Before I came to Sun, I did research in Parallel Processing for Chevron and was there for 10 years. Chevron is a great company and many of my friends and colleagues are still there. In many ways, the culture of Sun and the Research lab of Chevron were very similar. Advance science, do interesting and productive work, help customers. I've been blessed over the last 20 years to work with what are no doubt some of the smartest and most interesting people in the world.
Travels - My current position takes me to many corners of the world. You fly half way around the world and often find yourself sitting in a Sun conference room all day with a bunch of Sun guys, talking about a bunch of Sun stuff. As glamorous as it sometimes sounds, you might as well be sitting in Menlo park. Given the normal jet lag situation, I often find myself jogging early in the morning in a strange land. You get a real view of the local cultures and people if you're up and out at 6am.
I'll blog on lots of things because most things are interesting for me. Disaster Recovery, SOA, Southern Utah, Kids..... When I was at Chevron I used to have a .sig. “Scuba, Kayaking, Parallel Processing.... What More is there?”
You get the idea.....
Dave Jones
Saturday October 02, 2004
I bought my parents a computer last Christmas. Nice little cheapo Dell for $400. Hooked them up with AOL, the whole shot. My Dad's 86, Mom's 80. Today they asked me to take it back. They don't grok. It is too stressful.
I'm wondering at what point I will be unable to keep up with the “next thing”. I was surprised with the challenges and concepts that they couldn't grasp.
The fact that there was a square on the screen that popped up with information and that you had many of these. The fact that they overlap and pop back and forth or that you move them. The connection between this little thing on the side of the keyboard and a little arrow on the screen and between the two of them you do things with this little square. There was also the part about you have to “dial-up” to “connect” to the Internet and then you're “on-line”.
When I think back at the first time I was really using a PC, it was probably 15 years ago. I had a Macintosh. My Dad was 70 and pretty much done with work and having to figure out how to use the next productivity tool.
When do you stop caring about the next thing and letting progress just start washing over you? What's computing going to look like in 20 years when I stop caring and will my son and I be sharing the same frustrations that my Dad an I now share.?
The experience has been an interesting education in perspective.
October 02, 2004 09:25 AM PDT Permalink
