06.10.09
Posted in Home, Work at 4:03 pm by JohnB
It’s been a while since I felt the urge to share my desktop life with the world. It’s been a busy old 6 months, new technologies and solutions are bubbling up to the surface and keeping on top of them has been a challenge in itself, let alone actually doing the jobs I’ve got to do.
I made a decision a few weeks ago that if I was going to be espousing the benefits of Cloud Services, as well as assisting businesses with understanding how to take advantage of them in their various different guises, I should really see what it’s like to be a small-scale consumer of these things and I set out to make MY life as easy as possible using the technologies associated with The Cloud.
Virtualisation is the main hanger for these service. Virtualised storage means access from anywhere - in theory. Virtualised machines provide portability and flexibility. So here is my situation.
I use Macs as my workstation of choice, there are many reasons for this, but suffice it to say that I can do what I want and need to do with ease. There are however a couple of items which mean I also need a PC- read Windows - environment to work within:
1) Visio - I do systems architectural diagrams and exchange these with others
2) Project - Project plans need to be built and shared
3) Groove - As a virtual team we use Groove for shared document library storage and for projects
These applications are not available for the Mac - Boo Hiss MacBU in Microsoft! I know that there are alternatives around which will read file formats etc, but the important thing is that I exchange these with others and I’ve not found a ‘clean’ conversion which works both way in any of the options. Groove is simple Windows only.
My adopted solution is to use Parallels Desktop for the Mac and run a virtualised PC o take care of ‘that side of things’ in my working life. now this has been fine for many months and I actually run the PC off a Firewire connected portable drive so I can use it on my iMac at home and my MacBook when on the road; a nice solution as far as it goes but there is still a catch. My data lives on that Windows PC image. If it goes, it’s gone.
This would be bad in a number of ways, all of which are, I’m sure, clear to all. YES! I could take regular backups, but that is mitigation not resolution I needed to be more portable and more de-risked. My solution is a Cloud Service: Microsoft Live Mesh.
The Mesh allows me to publish a folder structure and subscribe to it from many devices including Mac’s natively, updates are made through the Mesh to all of the devices and things are kept up to date. I no longerneed to carry data around with me. But if we think about it, that means I actually no longer need to carry my Windows PC around with me either, I just need access to one wherever I am.
A new virtual PC was created on each of my device ‘locations’ and was added to my Mesh, now with the right aaplications installed and my Groove workspaces also synced, wherever I am I have access to my data. The Mesh also lets me access my library via the web so if I’m guesting on someone else’s PC for an hour I can still work (No Groove, but.. well… a move to Mesh for the team seems VERY likely!). It’s also worth noting that our email service at Planet is hosted, another Cloud service, so it also follows me around or is accessible via OWA.
I should also mention that my new virtual Windows PC’s are running the Windows 7RC. As I write this, I have a Mac running OSX Leopard with Parallels running Windows 7 AND a Windows XP virtual machine too (Groove syncing!!) and eveything is right with the world. I can leave me desk go to another location and have EXACTLY the same functionality, data and access without carrying anything other than my login details This makes me happy.
And things seem to be moving along nicely too. I read with GREAT interest the updates coming to OSX with the Snow Leopard release, in particular the inclusion of Exchange server support in the OS! As quoted from the Apple site “something even Windows PCs don’t have”.
But I am a multi platform user and I have to say that Windows 7 DOES seem to work… on the whole. I’m aware that it’s RC and that there will be a few niggles so I’m living with them for now, but those aside, it’s reasonably speedy (remember I’m running virtualised too) and easy to use. Having bypassed Vista, my XP tuned brain is re-learning how to do things, but it’s not too bad! Niggles a around file extension handling - especially with Groove!!! - and the way it sometimes provides a little too much technical info about a file type. The apps work well and I’ve not broken anything yet.
Anyway, think about the Cloud but not as a distant goal for corporate strategy, think of it as something hat, with a little planning can free you from the constraints of 1 system, 1 OS and 1 location, wander free and be productive for now is the time!
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06.01.09
Posted in Home at 2:52 pm by JohnB
I’m not a politica animal at all - ask anyone who knows me! I like to be informed and I certainly have opinions on thisngs but on the whole politicionals are grey-suited ne’er do wels who are long on promise and short on delivery. I have come to accept this - apathy rules, as long as that’s OK with you…
I got sent this today though:
Extract of Oliver Cromwell’s speech as he dissolved the long parliament:-
“It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonoured by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.
Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?
Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.
In the name of God, go!”
It could have been written today!
Have we really learned so little? Are we really so disenfranchised and disinterested with our countries gevernance that we’ve allowed these blood suckers to carry on such?
Well, the answer is of course; “It was all within the rules” - so that’s OK then.
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03.20.09
Posted in Home at 7:20 am by JohnB
If there are is a phrase which are generating more debate within the hosting community and in IT generally than ‘Software as a Service’ (”SaaS”) I don’t know what it is!
Many have sought and created definitions over the last year or so and all are without fail both right and wrong, how so? Because everyone uses things in a different way and their perception of them is also different.
The on-line services offered by Salesforce.com have been described as SaaS ( and as such represents probably the most visibly successful deliveries of SaaS ) but I don’t necessarily agree. “Where is the software?” I would ask. If this is Software as a service then show me the boxed product which I can purchase outright. This is of course my opinion only but serves to prove my point.
So for that sake of this article I’m happy to stipulate that Software as a Service is an application delivering functionality over the internet (web-based or via client side applets), in a reasonably platform independent way, on a subscription basis - which I think sounds fair.
So let’s look at this for a moment… we, in the hosting and associated industries are looking at SaaS and it’s delivery and wondering ‘What can we deliver which has mass market appeal’ - the real question here being of course ‘ How can we make some money out of this?’! And it’s with this in mind that I would like everyone to take a step sideways and have a glance at the world of Gameing.
The Games market has grown considerably over the last few years, the birth of the 3rd generation consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3) has introduced high-definition gaming to the mass market and the phenomenal success of the Nintendo Wii, which is really a 2nd gen console teamed with an exquisite marketing and positioning strategy, has shown that with the right products it’s relatively easy to gain a substantial share of a growing market. But there is another aspect to Gameing which is pertinent here and that’s the MMORPG (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) the most popular and most discussed at the moment being World of Warcraft - WoW.
Ladies and gentlemen, in WoW I give you the most deeply penetrative SaaS application never discussed!
If I refer back to my previous stipulation on the definition of SaaS, then WoW hits the nail right on the head. It’s subscription based, platform independent and delivered across the internet. Moreover it further DEFINES SaaS in that updates to the core are made centrally and available to all, whereas expansions in functionality can be purchased separately by those who feel they need or want them. The notion of physical location of the service is never questioned, the communications channel is self monitoring to alert the user should a loss of effective connectivity occur, data is stored wholly centrally and, as long as the subscription is maintained, always available to you regardless of where or when you connect.
In-application interaction with colleagues is part of the service, data objects can be stored for later retrieval by the user or trusted associates, actions are limited and defined by the level of experience and the role which the user has and the environment is persistent, changing and expanding for ALL users based on the actions of ALL users.
There is a lesson here for service providers and SaaS ISV’s: Think outside of the traditional norms when thinking about SaaS and look beyond typical application functionality. If you’re a WoW player (which some of you undoubtedly are) think about how it delivers what it does and hoe WoW as a paradigm for SaaS really does show what’s possible.
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