Utility computing: a dream deferred

“Toolkits like Globus,” Chee says, “enable standard software to make calls to the grid using MPI.” But although they take the headache out of grid data communications, porting applications to this model still isn’t child’s play.

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“To work on a grid,” Aubrey says, “the software still has to be multithreaded.” This multithreaded architecture is outlined in the Posix 1003.1C standard posted by the IEEE. “Porting software to this model still means a good deal of work,” Chee agrees, “but the MPI toolkits at least make it manageable. Before them, it may as well have been rocket science.”

Aubrey points out that multithreaded application design has gotten easier thanks to the industry’s concentration on Web services and SOAs. “SOA is by definition multithreaded,” Aubrey says, “so managing the migration of these applications onto a utility paradigm is really becoming possible this year.” The Globus Consortium, a group promoting the tools created by the Globus Alliance, announced its intent to extend the OASIS WS-RF (Web Services Resource Framework) to include specific features aimed at grid computing.

The long road ahead
Grids are only one example of utility computing’s technology challenges. Other areas that need work include storage, WAN issues, security, and compliance. “That’s really unavoidable right now,” HP’s Daniels says, “since the ramifications of computing as a utility are so hugely complex.”

Daniels goes on to cite HP’s commitment to creating a utility-storage model. “After all,” he says, “where’s the data? Companies that need additional computing resources typically have large, even vast, quantities of data. That means for utility computing to be viable, you’ve got to have a working model for utility storage.” HP has released several products and management initiatives aimed at providing a utility model for storage, but it has yet to tie any of them into a coherent utility-computing offering.

So how does IT plan for a migration to the utility model? “Start by understanding your application diversity,” Penguin’s Becker advises. “What runs on what? This is important, as you’ll need a management solution that works for each platform.” He also advises moving to a standard hardware platform, the Intel/AMD model being his favorite, for obvious reasons. “Finally, look to move to a single operating platform,” he says. “Presently, Unix is the system of choice for all things utility, as you simply have more options under Unix than you do Windows.”

Within this framework, begin evaluating all new technology purchases with utility goals in mind. “Don’t just look at a single vendor’s commitment to utility,” King says. “Make sure that every vendor you work with from now on can support as much of your infrastructure as possible.” Each technology player should be evaluated against a utility goal that reflects an organization’s unique combination business needs.

“A real utility pioneer is Oracle,” University of Hawaii’s Chee says, “and its 10g database release, which is one of relatively few ‘standard’ enterprise applications available with utility features included in the form of specific support for grid computing.” Oracle10g supports a feature called RAC (Real Application Clusters), which was first introduced in Oracle9i. RAC allows Oracle administrators to perform server virtualization and fast software provisioning in response to performance demands. It even performs these functions across pools of hardware resources, allowing new blades to be included or excluded as needed, with the whole pool behaving like a single computing resource.

Although software products such as Oracle 10g are still evolving, the hardware platforms are maturing rapidly. But even without specific software support, products such as Knotts’ ClearCube have plenty of benefit to offer all by themselves, enabling IT managers to begin evaluating a move to a utility-based datacenter today.

“Sure, there are still important tools missing,” Forrester’s Gillett says. “But the cost benefits of this architecture are simply too compelling to ignore.”