File Virtualization

As a core part of Ray Ozzie’s vision to transform Microsoft from an “Old World” software company into a true innovator, Windows Live Mesh represents a hub of the future for the company. Bill Gates named Ozzie as his successor as the company’s Chief Software Architect, and Ozzie has a long track record of innovation including the creation of Lotus Notes. Mesh is simply a cloud-based service that combines storage with services in the company’s attempt to redefine their offerings beyond Vista (and even the core Windows 7.)

Recognizing that the static desktop is part of the past, Live Mesh allows for synchronization of multiple data sources including laptops, mobile phones and web-based accounts. From a technical perspective, Live Mesh centralizes data feeds from a number of devices into a centralized location where you can access and interact with your documents – in this sense, it’s the Windows of the future. Where the product is still fresh, however, is in its breadth: Live Mesh also draws upon various Live services such as News Feeds (a la Facebook) and photo sharing (think Flickr). As a result, the product tries to be everything to everyone, which, in a decentralized world, certainly cannot work.

Where Microsoft has true potential in the product, however, is by taking on Google Gears and Adobe Air directly: Live Mesh can become a delivery mechanism for device apps which actually site in the cloud. An important question remains, however: how will Microsoft’s Silverlight flash-competitor integrate into the product? Based upon existing releases, it should be concerning for consumers that proprietary technology is being used to create a universal OS (in fact, that’s an anathema to the very concept.) The company is undergoing an attempt to redefine itself around the Live brand, which is certainly long overdo but the product, like the larger company, seems to be steadily finding its way in a new era.

Apple and Microsoft have traditionally been akin to oil and water: it has taken a virtual miracle to finally get Macs to run Windows, while Apple has gladly moved into the PC turf by releasing Safari and iTunes to PC users. In the next stage of the Operating Systems wars, the real question is which mobile OS will win out, iPhone or Windows Mobile?

Well, this entire argument is about to become obsolete now that the Citrix Receiver allows for virtualization of Windows-based applications on the iPhone. It remains to be seen what Apple’s response to the software will be, but, in reality, there is little to nothing they can actually do about it (developers can certainly find a work around to any attempt to block or patch it.) The main reason the system will hold up is that’s it’s not a native iPhone App, but, rather, utilizes a connection to the Xen App framework, which means that web connections are possible (so, unless Apple wants to censor browsing, Windows apps are on the way.)

Many users have been worried about the potential conflicting operating systems as mobile and desktop products converge; while many PC users opted for an iPhone, they found it difficult to transmit many of their data sources (Excel spreadsheets for example) to their mobile storage. If Citrix succeeds in creating a virtual Windows platform, which surely can be extended to Android and other platforms, then consumers may end up having an open choice between competing mobile platforms.

Back in May, Hewlett Packard agreed to acquire Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for nearly $14 billion. Enabling HP to catch up quickly with IBM in virtual computing represented key element in the transaction, the company has been quick to expand its offerings in the area.

As pure hardware solutions become a commodity business, HP recognizes that its primary advantage is in providing implementation consulting, especially for firms who are looking to scale large systems. HP has developed a number of business automation tools which run directly on server platforms, enabling them to compete with the likes of SAP, as well. While the company had traditionally been at a cost disadvantage to more focused firms such as IBM (at least since IBM shed their hardware division earlier this decade by way of Lenovo), their foray into virtual computing has enabled them to work with open-source vendors to create cost-effective solutions for corporate environments.

Just a few months ago, the company announced an entire suite of enterprise level server solutions that are directly aimed at the growing virtual IT market. As part of these efforts, the company has launched a series of thin client desktops which are designed as virtual terminals, lowering hardware costs, as well as allowing for improved licensing rates with software vendors (since contracts can be configured on demand.) While a number of firms continue to compete for ground in the space, HP has entered into a long-term alliance with VMWare to provide integrated solutions to corporate clients, leaving Citrix and Microsoft to pair up in what should be the next big growth phase for IT.

When Michael Dell took the CEO role back a couple of years ago, he made a priority of shifting the company’s attention to virtual computing. As part of the initiative, Dell has adapted its sales force to provide custom data sharing solutions across corporate networks. One of the main advantages of Dell virtual servers is the ability to run multiple operating systems on a single network – traditionally, companies were tied to ASP (Microsoft .Net) or Linux, even though their software vendors were usually split between the two. Additionally, partitioning computing power among several machines was resource intensive in and of itself.

As a result, Dell has customized its Power Edge servers to provide data sharing by way of either VMWare or Cirtix hypervisors: with a modular setup, companies can easily scale their systems and store data completely in a secure cloud, limiting the need for server rooms or licenses for expensive in-house firewall technology. Many companies rely upon data to adjust forecasts and prices in real-time; integrating a complete Dell data-sharing solution that doesn’t rely on a chain of isolated physical machines will help improve uptime as well as speed. A few years out, it looks like Dell is finally beginning to turn the corner, much as its founder had envisioned.

Many people still see Dell as a consumer-driven company, which has been unable to keep up with the likes of HP and Apple. As a result, their stock price has been in decline, while Dell himself has been working on a “redo” of his original corporate re-organization strategy. The CEO realizes, however, that improving their core enterprise offerings is a much more sustainable business than chasing a fickle consumer market from trend to trend.

Over the last couple decades, IBM has shifted from an iconic hardware company to a global software solutions innovator. While the vary notion of a dedication IBM PC faded with the acquisition of their Thinkpad and IdeaPad notebook division by Lenovo, the company is rekindling its lead in the desktop space by way of virtual servers. In particular, IBM is introducing a number of solutions that allow IT departments to scale their entire hardware needs from a single set of virtual servers, which can reliable scale and protect data better than a set of physical desktops. With remote support for any machine on the network, it is possible to lower computing costs many times over.

Earlier this decade, IBM made a shift away from the hardware business by selling its ThinkPad division to Lenovo; the recent shift away from traditional IT consulting toward cloud-based computing marks the next era in the company’s evolution. Today, IBM shows little resemblance to iconic hardware company which once pioneered PC sales, nor does it have much in common with the early-stage IT consulting firm that it became just a few years ago; instead, IBM is designed to attack new markets and remains one of the most active research and development departments in the world, resulting in record numbers of patent applications.

For dedicated technology companies, as well as traditional companies looking to improve their infrastructure, IBM has partnered with Canonical to introduce a virtual Linux desktop which is entirely free of Microsoft licensing restrictions. Running a customized version of Ubuntu, complete with Lotus software, the machines are priced under $99 per user, allowing companies to reliably scale at a much lower cost basis. Additional configurations planned include versions of Novell and Red Hat Linux, giving adopters more flexibility on the OS they choose, and further raising the bar of Microsoft.

Earlier this year, VMWare upped the ante on the security of their hypervisor by introducing VMSafe in partnership with major security software providers. The system works by providing APIs that are open only to security companies who can quickly develop and deploy new patches within the system. Traditional computing security problems are only amplified on a virtual system, where hackers can access a larger number of potential loopholes to attack a machine. About two dozen leading security firms are part of the VMSafe program, and have developed dedicated programs that monitor the major components of a virtual machine, including the system’s memory, hard drive and input-output drivers.

Hackers have created a number of dedicated attacks on virtual desktops, including direct attacks on the OS Kernel or hiding Trojan horses in device drivers where security software traditionally hasn’t checked. At this point, it’s an arms race between security vendors and hackers to safeguard virtual PCs. Look for major vendors such as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro to release new software suites dedicated to protecting VMWare-based machines. The notion of installing a basic program (even with real time updates) and ensuring the safety of your machine is out-dated, and VMWare recognizes that. Part of the concern is that anti-virus and computer security programs lag behind early adopters, allowing hackers and criminals fertile ground to explore new techniques. If you are using a virtual OS, make sure that you make every effort to protect your computer, as well as safeguarding your data through both hardware and software-based firewalls.

Amazon’s Elastic Cloud (EC2) remains one of the leading solutions for web-based applications. In fact, when combined with their S3 (Simple Storage Service), you can host and deliver data for a fraction of the cost of traditional delivery. The primary advantage of EC2 is scale: you can shift  to a software as a service model, and provide data-intensive services without incurring expensive data transfer costs using Amazon’s platform; many users are (pleasantly) surprised at the relatively low cost of data transfer through Amazon.

From a technical perspective, the system utilizes Xen virtualization across a number of virtual private servers. Simply, Xen is a virtual machine software released under General Public License (from Cambridge University) which allows multiple virtual guests on a single hardware machine. In practice, this means (in theory) you can have the power of an entire data center on demand and will only pay for the data transfer you utilize; thus, ensuring that you have little or no fixed costs traditionally associated with data centers. The rates for EC2 vary, based on your use, but start as low as 20c per GB of transfer, along with a baseline instance charge for simultaneous users. For companies that offer streaming media or real-time data transfer, EC2 is a highly cost effective route.

A number of compatible solutions allow you easy to run Rails on the Cloud, and there are companies which specialize in helping you setup your software through Amazon. The key question to ask is: will EC2 be a more cost effective route for my web app? The simple answer depends on your bandwidth use, as well as how easily your software can be ported onto the service; a cloud consulting firm should be able to give you an estimate of the startup and marginal costs to help you make an informed decision.