David Bernstein, VP/GM Software Group, Cisco on fundamentals of cloud interoperability and standards. Echoes Russ Daniels' statement that "The cloud is the internet's next stage of evolution". Says pay attention to what google and microsoft are saying and doing in cloud space.
What is Cisco doing?
Cisco doesn't run a cloud. Does run a SaaS application, WebEx. Cisco has helped a lot of people build a lot of infrastructure. Cisco is 'arms dealer' in cloud computing.
Cisco's Cloud Strategy:
- Build right products (unified fabric, unified compute, virtualization aware)
- Technology (Enhanced IP core with tight coupling to Software)
- Referenced software - services-led cloud blueprints, reference software stacks
- Open Standards
- Multi-phased (stand alone to enterprise to intercloud)
See cloud as the 4th wave of application infrastructure: mainframe, microcomputer/client server, web/internet, cloud. This next wave of applications will be highly connected, highly collaborative, media intensive applications.
Cloud adoption phases:
1. Standalone clouds - derivative pricing, external data centers. Folks want better security, SLAs and control
2. Enterprise class clouds - key challenges federation, portability, market
3. Intercloud - dynamic workload migration, apps integrate across clouds, and more
The intercloud is the grand vision.
Consider an intercloud example of dynamically moving a workload (VM) from one cloud to another. Some of the steps to accomplish this:
- Communication (XMPP)
- Naming, Presence (cloud discovery)
- Cloud Trust
- Cloud negotiation (policy, entitlement, security, metering)
- Cloud sets up another cloud (placement, deployment, format, motion)
- [couple of more steps, to move to cloud 2, then mask addressing so cloud 2 is found as cloud 1]
Another dynamic workload example, federation, generalized service access across clouds
- same steps 1-3, then Cloud 1 needs to query Cloud 2 (RDF/SPARQL, OWL)
- Cloud 1 selects, receives protocols, interface (web services, REST)
- Cloud 1 calls services in Cloud 2 (metering, SLAs)
These examples illustrate the technology challenges related to cloud interconnection. How does this translate into what Cisco is doing? Some specific Intercloud Projects that Cisco is involved in to bring the intercloud to life:
- addressing, IETF LISP
- virtual machines - DMTF OVF
- conversations - XMPP.org
- Unified Cloud Interface (UCI) - W3C, Google Code
- Distributed Storage Acceleration - open cloud consortium, UDP based data transfer
David is making a call for participation for folks to help solve these technical challenges. Not a call to help Cisco, but to help the industry.
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