Tag Archives: Infrastructure as a Service

Even After 14 Generations, Intel’s 2023 “Meteor Lake” CPU will surprise you

Look out GPU makers!

Intel’s use of “Ray Tracing” (a rendering process lighting up a rendered scene by imitating how the human eye biologically sees light). That’s not easy but it allows the Si structures on tiled GPU circuits to “view” an artificial scene and render it as natural.

Now that processing demands enormously complex physics calculations WRT how light actually behaves. This is an amazingly ambitious Si engineering feat, from both computational tasking development and FAB wafer processing perspectives.

The impact on consumers should be felt in Gaming, Media Content Production, Streaming Server Processing, and other GPU intensive applications.

So, finally with the wave of 5G infrastructures being implemented around the globe, Cloud, Mobile and IoT implementations will provide an exciting “Game Changer” in our enjoyment of using technologies.

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Microsoft pays $26.2B buying LinkedIn… Too much????

Is $26.2 Billion too mush?
Is $26.2 Billion too much?

Microsoft seems to be paying a lot to buy LinkedIn if you just look at the “P&L” side of the deal.

But if you examine the long term MSFT strategy of making Office 365 the pervasive business and social platform for documents, presentations and spreadsheets, then it makes the deal worth the investment cost.NewConstructs_LNKD_DeterioratingMargins_2016-06-13

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4K Video’s significant impact on; info consumers, platform vendors and content providers

As we start to see the uptake in 4K video content, suppliers of CPUs, NIC (Network Interface Cards), networks (LAN, WLAN, Wi-Fi) and storage technologies will all be struggling to “step up to the plate” in meeting the challenges of this disruptive Video format.  Also IAAS platform providers will face huge challenges to configure cloud components that can be rapidly provisioned  for 4K content or Video Streaming.  Even the security industry will be affected regarding the video surveillance infrastructure (see this Video Security Magazine article).

SD VS HD VS 4K
SD VS HD VS 4K

This is a Technologies Strategic Directions “Sleeping Inflection Point” for multiple industries, manufacturers, eworkers  and information consumers.

Ultra-high definition (UHD) resolution is 3840×2160 Pixels now used in displays and broadcast., This does not equal 4K (4096×2160 Pixels) used in digital cinema. People tend to used them interchangeably but there is a significant difference in impact on the networking bandwidth required to service consumption of 4K.

We all are aware from a display technology perspective that TVs are now offering this content.  However, how about other network and computer infrastructure components?  When will they be able to handle  the disruptive impact of 4K?

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Debate over Public Cloud TCO is mostly Linux noise

A recent article of an interview with the Red Hat CEO touts the benefits of private cloud implementation. See it at HERE

Maybe your next Server won't be collocated with you!
Maybe your next Server won’t be collocated with you!

 

Public

VS

Private

TCO???

 

This debate is usually short sited and doesn’t include all CAPEX & OPEX cost associated with the “Free OS” type of cloud operations.  Also the reusable components from more sophisticated partner communities afford both AWS & AZURE much greater long term valuations when responsible Enterprise accounting methods are used to drive the cost benefits analyses.  The proper engineering of a cloud infrastructure which includes smart VMs well orchestrated by business-demand-level-driven auto scaling will always push the TCO/ROI argument to a public solution for large scale systems.

Microsoft actually has a TCO tool that they can use to estimate TCO of on-premises vs. Azure. There are many considerations when comparing costs of running an on-premises datacenter with full infrastructure, servers, cooling, power etc to a cloud-based service like Azure where you pay a cost based on the services consumed such as storage, compute and network egress. It can be difficult to know exactly what typical costs are for your datacenter and what the costs would be for services running in Azure. Microsoft has a pricing calculator available at http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/ which can help access costs for Azure services and a VM specific calculator at http://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/virtual-machines/.

When running on-premises, you own the servers. They are available all the time which means you typically leave workloads running constantly even though they may actually only be needed during the work week. There is really no additional cost to leave them running (apart from power, cooling etc). In the cloud you pay based on consumption which means organizations go through a paradigm shift. Rather than leaving VMs and services running all the time companies focus on running services when needed to optimize their public cloud spend. Some ways that can help optimize services running are:

  • Auto-scale – The ability to group multiple instances of a VM/service and instances are started and stopped based on various usage metrics such as CPU and queue depth. With PaaS instances can even be created/destroyed as required
  • Azure Automation – The ability to run PowerShell Workflows in Azure and templates are provided to start and stop services at certain times of day making it easy to stop services at the end of the day then start them again at the start of day
  • Local Automation – Use an on-premises solution such as PowerShell or System Center Orchestrator to connect to Azure via REST to stop/start services
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Mobile World is meeting in Barcelona in March

Over the course of four days, 2-5 March 2015, Mobile World Capital Barcelona will host the world’s greatest mobile event: Mobile World Congress.   See this website for more info: http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/

The mobile communications revolution is driving the world’s major technology breakthroughs. From wearable devices to connected cars and homes, mobile technology is at the heart of worldwide innovation. As an industry, we are connecting billions of people to the transformative power of the Internet and mobilising every device we use in our daily lives.

In short, the hole world is on The Edge of Innovation, and the possibilities are endless. The 2015 GSMA Mobile World Congress will convene industry leaders, visionaries and innovators to explore the trends that will shape mobile in the years ahead.

About the Event

Here are the components that make up this industry-leading event:

  • A world-class thought-leadership Conference featuring visionary keynotes and panel discussions
  • A cutting-edge product and technology Exhibition featuring more than 1,900 exhibitors
  • The world’s best venue for seeking industry opportunities, making deals, and networking
  • App Planet, the Centre of the Mobile Apps Universe, where the mobile app community gathers to learn, network and engage with innovators
  • Global Mobile Awards programme, where we recognise industry innovation and achievements
  • And, all MWC pass holders can attend 4YFN, an event focused on startups, corporations, and investors

 

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Windows10 Hands on Revelations

As a member of the Windows Insider Program I have had a while now to install, investigate and update the Windows 10 Technical Preview.  I took a 12 year old HP Windows 7 PC and upgraded it to Windows 10. All of my hardware & programs worked flawlessly. The new browser (code named “Project Spartan” ) is really a big step forward in performance and functionality. Key features are built-in natively to the browser and their major purpose is to make web-services content easier to read, share and comment on.

At last - A True Ubiquitous Platform
At last – A True Ubiquitous Platform

Other more important revelations have to do with the stated goals of Microsoft regarding their key technology – Windows.  According to the new CEO Satya Nadella, “Windows 10 marks the beginning of the more personal computing era in the mobile-first, cloud-first world. Our ambition is for the 1.5 billion people who are using Windows today to fall in love with Windows 10 and for billions more to decide to make Windows home.”  If you look at the new offerings superimposed on the backdrop of existing “must have” applications, Microsoft seems determined to make itself through Windows the big dog in the internet services arena. According to Terry Myerson, “We think of Windows as a Service – in fact, one could reasonably think of Windows in the next couple of years as one of the largest Internet services on the planet.”

He continued to state that, “Windows 10 is the first step to an era of more personal computing. This vision framed our work on Windows 10, where we are moving Windows from its heritage of enabling a single device – the PC – to a world that is more mobile, natural and grounded in trust. We believe your experiences should be mobile – not just your devices. Technology should be out of the way and your apps, services and content should move with you across devices, seamlessly and easily. In our connected and transparent world, we know that people care deeply about privacy – and so do we. That’s why everything we do puts you in control – because you are our customer, not our product. We also believe that interacting with technology should be as natural as interacting with people – using voice, pen, gestures and even gaze for the right interaction, in the right way, at the right time. These concepts led our development and you saw them come to life today. “

Look at their video on demand announcement here.

This will create many new opportunities for HW & SW engineers to make the continuum user experiences a reality and increase monetization of proving add-ons to the Windows 10 new functionalities.

 

 

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New Technology Coming to Marry the Internet of Things with small appliance world!

My firm has been engaged by one of the world’s largest small appliance manufacturing PRC-based companies to architect and implement a cloud/mobile/appliance IoT offering. This new small wine appliance will be launched in Q4 of 2014.

In fact this is an exciting project where WilQuest is Partnering with Microsoft, interKnowlogy, Tridea Partners and others to create a “Cloud of Things” CoT infrastructre where a global software/hardware engineering team is developing products on Azure,Windows 8,  Android, iPhone, iPad, Intel and ARM platforms to create a seamless web srevices orchestration of devices and applications that each perform a segment of a task that the end user request via gesture/mouse/keyboard action.

 

 

 

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Are Cloud Technologies Replacing on-premise Servers?

It seems that that is the case.  In fact the old-style justifications for on site servers and attendant OpEx costs don’t seem to make sense any more.  Read this interesting article  Is the data center in the Cloud or is the Cloud in the data center?

Maybe your next Server won't be collocated with you!
Maybe your next Server won’t be collocated with you!

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Convergence of Cloud Computing & Big Data????

There’s a lot of buzz stating that Cloud Computing and Big Data are synonymous. See a Forbes article here stating that ”

“Big data is the new cloud computing.”

This sentiment was recently expressed in an interview with Motley Fool analyst Tim Beyers, who analyzed the zeitgeist coming out of the South-by-Southwest (SXSW) conference and observed that cloud computing and big data were now one in the same phenomena, converging on enterprises of all shapes and sizes.”

For those who don’t know what big data is, this Intel Video gives you a “Big Data 101” primer.

The Cloud definitely provides a cost effect and timely way to go after big data problems and then using the elasticity of the cloud’s IaaS foundation, dump the costly resources when you’ve finished or allow them to grow only when needed. But they are not one and the same. Big Data is just the current “Bell of the ball” for enterprise usage of the Cloud.  See below Gartner’s Hype Cycle for emerging technologies 2012. This shows we are either in or approaching the “Trough of Disillusionment” regarding Reduce Map and the offerings of DBSaaS.  I’m eager to apply some innovative ideas I have regarding the trip out of this trough on some upcoming projects.

Big Data Hype Cycle 2012
Big Data Hype Cycle 2012

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Next “BIG THING” for Apps = Inteligent Network Adaptors

Next-Gen "Smart" Server AdaptorAs heterogeneous computing starts to grow, intelligent networking will be the facilitators of smart enterprise systems architecture. Basically hardware vendors are beginning to put intelligent silicon on network adaptors.  This provides the ability through deep packet inspection to realistically provide Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and true Software Defined Networks (SDN) as a part of hardware/software computing infrastructure.  This requires an intelligent NIC, Software Defined Networks (SDN) & Web Services/Cloud Servers must be engineered to “be aware” of the intelligence in the hardware so that software can make smart choices based on business logic context.

See more information about this trend here:
http://www.edn.com/design/wireless-networking/4422820/Next-gen-intelligent-application-adapters-for-100–network-programmability-?goback=%2Egde_35866_member_5798174629294006275#%21

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