Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2013. Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed article by Arsalan Farooq, CEO, Convirture
Déjà vu – It’s Platform Proliferation All Over Again
Here
is what we see in our crystal ball, which stems from proliferation - this time
around with cloud platforms. This phenomenon is really no different than what
we've seen before with proliferation of virtualization types used in data
centers - and before that, operating systems.
Specifically,
here are four predictions.
1-
Today's data center seems to have at least two of everything (when customers are
offered a choice between A and B, they usually choose A ... and B) - and that's
not going to change. We're going to see more diversity, not
less. Data centers are now a virtual Tower of Babel of technologies
and tools.
2-
VMware's dominance is
eroding and that will continue - with KVM the biggest
gainer. The primary force driving this change is cloud computing
based on open source technologies.
3-
Cloud platform
(CloudStack, Eucalyptus, and OpenStack) wars end with no dominant winner except the
customer.
4-
Add all this up and the next big problem becomes evident - platform
proliferation is the "new norm". Achieving a converged infrastructure
will require unified management. Physical servers have an operating
system layer, virtual servers have a virtualization software layer and clouds
add another layer. By the way, none of these is equipped to handle management of
the different OS'es, hypervisor technologies or cloud
platforms. We're seeing standards emerging, which will help, but that tends to be a long process. The answer requires an
investment in technology to manage everything.
Reality
is, 2013 is when data center managers are going to have to deal with the new
norm brought on by the proliferation of different platforms. This time around,
adding clouds into the mix.
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About the Author
Arsalan Farooq
is CEO and Founder of Convirture, which he started in
2006, with more than 15 years of systems management experience. Previously, he
founded Oracle's Application Service Level Management division, growing from two
engineers to a multi-national organization. Arsalan's
career started as a software designer and in college, he founded a technology
consultancy. He holds degrees in Theoretical Physics and Computer Science from
Reed College and Caltech.