Rajeev Kutty Oct 13, 2009

Omar,

Glenn makes some very interesting comments on the intersection of Networking and Virtualization.  The role of virtualization will continue to evolve beyond the server virtualization to include both Network & Storage virtualization in the cloud. Virtualization is indeed an inherent and mandatory component of the cloud and one of the key technologies that will drive the adoption of cloud based services in the enterprise.

Here is a link to a solution that Cisco -Vmware team developed and it describes some of Glenn’s observations in detail:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/ns836/white_paper_c11-557822.pdf

Glenn Dasmalchi Oct 13, 2009

Thanks Rajeev and Bob for your comments. With respect to network virtualization, I think you can make a good case today that VLANs and VPNs have a role to play in helping to provide tenant isolation and secure connectivity to (and between) clouds. Not the same as the virtualization flavor that gave us VMs, but important nonetheless.

Mark Weiner Oct 13, 2009

Agreed with Glenn here. 

Virtualization is essentially a technological approach to more efficiently use or operate various IT components—be it server CPU cycles (VM), network connections/bandwidth (VPN or VLAN noted above), or storage capacity (VSAN).

Cloud computing/services/infrastructure [public clouds] is a fundamentally different architectural approach to achieving an IT (i.e. storage) or wholesale business process (CRM or other key app), vs. traditional “build it in-house” IT projects/strategies.

kartenleser Oct 14, 2009

I’m seeing a lot of cloud discussions start out the same way that virtualization discussions have often started out: cloud is about saving money. The real benefits to cloud are solving problems that can’t be solved in a traditional infrastructure, agility, flexibility, etc. Cloud discussions today are a lot like the client discussions I’ve had around virtualization a few years ago.