{"id":3156,"date":"2001-08-08T15:00:07","date_gmt":"2001-08-08T20:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smperformance.wordpress.com\/2013\/08\/03\/stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080801\/"},"modified":"2001-08-08T15:00:07","modified_gmt":"2001-08-08T20:00:07","slug":"stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080801","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stratvantage.com\/index.php\/2001\/08\/08\/stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-080801\/","title":{"rendered":"StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 08\/08\/01"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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From Evernote:<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 08\/08\/01<\/h1>\n

Clipped from: http:\/\/www.stratvantage.com\/news\/080801.htm<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

T<\/strong>he News \u2013 08\/08\/01<\/h1>\n

IBM Legitimizes P2P <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

IBM is investing $4 billion to build 50 computer server farms around the world to try to turn computing into a utility like electricity or water.<\/strong> Based on the peer-to-peer (P2P) computing concept variously known as grid computing, distributed computing, or hive computing, IBM will allow users to purchase supercomputer-grade computing power that is produced by combining the resources of dozens or hundreds of relatively inexpensive servers.<\/strong> IBM will use an Open Source distributed computing system from Globus <\/a>, a cooperative effort involving several universities, NASA, and the Argonne National Laboratory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To say that this validates the hive computing approach is an understatement.<\/strong> There are various dot-com startups trying to develop the hive computing market, including DataSynapse <\/a>, Parabon <\/a>, Distributed.net <\/a>, and United Devices <\/a>.<\/strong> Many have found it tough sledding.<\/strong> Two of the most publicized early entrants, Popular Power and Process Tree, closed their doors earlier this year.<\/strong> These and other hive computing companies are listed in the P2P for Business Directory <\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The target market for hive computing currently includes companies with large computing needs \u2013 companies that otherwise would need to buy expensive supercomputer time.<\/strong> These include companies in the life sciences (gene sequencing, protein folding, cancer cures), oil exploration (crunching massive geological databases), meteorology (climate prediction), automotive and aerospace (crash simulation, virtual wind tunnel tests, design rendering), entertainment (animation, special effects), and financial (derivatives pricing) markets.<\/strong> However, if hive computing is legitimized and becomes affordable, the market could open to pretty much any large enterprise and used for such mundane tasks as nightly database updates or payroll processing.<\/strong> There\u2019s more on hive computing in my white paper, The Buzz About Hive Computing <\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, there are also many darker applications, such as nuclear weapons design and encryption-breaking.<\/strong> Indeed, any privacy or security scheme that depends on bad guys not having access to tremendous computer resources should be rethought.<\/strong> In fact, an early demonstration of the power of hive computing was the 1997 breaking <\/a> of RSA\u2019s 56-bit encryption key by a network of thousands of computers linked over the Internet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, not every large computing application will be appropriate for a hive computing solution.<\/strong> Any application requiring real time response or tremendous coordination between resources will not benefit from loosely federated hive clusters due to the amount of network latency (delay from transporting information across the Internet or other network) inherent in such an approach.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What the IBM announcement means is that the idea of computing as a service has really arrived.<\/strong> IBM\u2019s $4 billion investment is one more step toward a future where computing is no longer a place you go (to sit in front of a keyboard and monitor) but rather a service of the environment around you.<\/strong> In this case, supercomputing has become not a tremendously expensive investment in hardware, air conditioning and raised-floor data centers, but something you buy by the piece.<\/strong> Businesses with large investments in computing capacity and any business with CPU-hungry applications should definitely explore this new trend.<\/strong> Even companies without accelerating computing needs should be aware of hive computing.<\/strong> Be on the wave or under it\u2122.<\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal <\/a> (requires subscription)<\/p>\n

Briefly Noted<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n