More photos are here.

For fun, we played around with Hummingbird and setup some realtime monitoring:

Learn more about the power of Node.JS here.

Not much else to say really. Simplicity = sophistication.

Have a good weekend!

So with that in mind, I thought I’d do a really quick blog post about how we’d love to come say hi. If you’re not in Melbourne, then you can still demo our system on your own time, in realtime, with a fully functioning account for seven days. Visit our live demo page to fill in your details, and we’ll be in contact.

If, on the other hand you’re in Melbourne, we’d be happy to drop in, pull out our laptops, and show you the system in live. We can answer questions, discuss your requirements, and figure out the best way we can help solve your virtual infrastructure problems. Pain free, no obligation tech demonstrations & live cloud trials. Nice.

In our cloud, we have a control server which provides management, and deploys machine images onto physical hypervisor servers. These hypervisor servers then host and power its assigned virtual machines. In a traditional dedicated environment, a complete server failure could be catastrophic. However, in a cloud architected cluster, if one of the hypervisor servers fails in any way, the virtual machines hosted on that physical machine will have very limited downtime (usually just minutes), before they are automatically deployed onto a new server within the cluster.

Here is a short demo displaying these characteristics within the Dynomesh cloud:

For a free 48hr demo account of our cloud, contact us. To view the video on Vimeo, click here.

You might think this is slightly mad, but staff morale has gone through the roof!

Seriously though, we’ve written our first press release, which we think nicely sums who we are and what we do. We’ve been experimenting with a few services on how to best promote it – Here it is on PitchEngine – Have a read, and let us know what you think!

Cloud Computing is offered as three different models: Software as a Service (SaaS); Platform as a Service (PaaS); and/or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

The notion is that through the cloud, everything will be delivered as a service, from computing power to business processes to personal interactions. HP is calling this ‘Everything as a Service.’ In this sense, service is taken to mean the supply of a utility or commodity, just like electricity or water.

However, if you’ve ever had to deal with a utility company over the phone with a supply or billing issue, you probably have a good idea about how little ‘service’ you actually receive.

There is an important — if not the most important — layer missing from the Cloud Computing model. Having someone who you trust, that you can speak to directly for advice and assistance. This is more important than ever. So, perhaps we should talk about delivering Services as a Service? I define services here as ‘an act of helpful activity’: to be of service, to be helpful or useful. ^1.

We don’t just want to deliver a ‘service’, we want to share what we’ve learnt and to help others address the unique challenges that come with a cloud implementation. Whether this is moving infrastructure into the cloud, or setting up private/hybrid clouds, we’d like to assist others, with ideas and advice, so they can discover the benefits of the cloud for themselves.

One of our clients recently commented on our service-orientated attitude. For him — and for us — this is the real SOA, and the missing piece of the cloud puzzle.

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1. Retrieved from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/service

As we have previously discussed, cloud computing technologies permit the sharing of resources in a manner that dramatically simplifies infrastructure planning.

To reap the benefits of the Cloud you’ll need to determine which cloud architecture is right for you. The type of cloud you deploy will depend on the nature of your data, as well as the different degrees of security and management requirements you have.

Here’s a primer on the fundamentals of public, private and hybrid clouds.

Public Clouds

Public clouds are owned and operated by third party service providers and are accessed over the Internet. Infrastructure costs are distributed across all users, affording each individual client the benefit of operating a low cost computing environment that embraces the pay as you go option. The public cloud is also advantageous in that is typically larger in scale than a private enterprise cloud, allowing on demand and effortless scalability.

Instances in which this type of cloud would be applicable are as follows:

• Many people within your enterprise require access and use of standard workplace applications, such as email
• You need to store, test and develop application code
• You run SaaS (Software as a Service) applications that requires reliable hosting
• You need to scale your capacity in accordance with peak and off-peak times, or for high demand periods such as running an ad campaign
• You need a shared infrastructure to collaborate on projects

Public clouds are characterised by offering the greatest level of efficiency in shared resources. Businesses using the public cloud operate within the same infrastructure; they share a pool of resources with others. These shared resources are managed and supported by the service provider.

Criticisms of this model centre around data privacy, and availability variances.

Private Clouds

Private clouds are those that are fashioned specifically for an individual enterprise, enabling them to host their own infrastructure in the cloud. This mode of cloud computing addresses concerns revolving around data privacy and control.

There are two types of private cloud; each having their own affect on capital and configurability. You will implement either an internally or externally hosted private cloud. The former is managed within a company’s own data centre (or office), providing more commonplace processes and protection. It is usually limited in size and scalability, and incurs the capital and operational costs of owning and managing physical resources. The latter is hosted off-site and managed by an external provider.

The private cloud is appropriate in the following circumstances:

• If your business is in an industry that dictates strict data privacy and security measures
• Your company wants a greater level of control over the infrastructure, and exclusive use of computing resources

Just like the public cloud, private clouds boast rapid failure recovery and the freedom to scale up or down dependant on demand. However, this model is typically a more expensive option because of the costs associated with operating dedicated infrastructure.

Hybrid Cloud

It has become apparent that what people are referring to in the term ‘private clouds’, also has characteristics in common with public clouds, and can thus be classed as ‘hybrid cloud’ architectures.

Hybrid clouds feature some benefits of both the pubic and private cloud models. This genre of cloud enables a company to either fully or partially leverage a third party provider, and use some externally provisioned, on-demand resources to bolster internal capacity.

For example, they could be implemented in the following situations:

• To augment your private cloud with the resources of a public cloud; to manage unexpected surges in workload or provide additional capability
• To be able to quickly provision additional infrastructure that is required only for short periods of time, such as setting up development and test environments
• To ensure some critical data, such as a source code repository, is hosted off-site and effectively managed and backed up

The downside of a hybrid cloud environment is the need to manage multiple environments, and relationships with both internal and external stakeholders.

In summary, Public, Private and Hybrid cloud environments all offer viable solutions to your cloud computing needs. As you can see, each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Public clouds provide the greatest cost savings, but of these options, the lesser degree of security and control. Private clouds provide just the opposite; expenses are greater due to hardware, software and maintenance costs. However, security and control surpass the public model. Hybrid clouds present the best of both words, although they can be more complex to manage.

Our advice: don’t go for a quick fix — do your homework and chose the model that best fits your needs.

Results compiled below:

We’re working hard to ensure we stay ahead of the pack!

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