February 17, 2006
Higher Availability Future: Autonomic Computing or Recovery Oriented Computing?
1 RecommendationIt is fascinating to me that so many smart people can disagree on the best future approach to higher availability infrastructure. The
autonomic computing crowd led by IBM is touting self-healing and self-regulating computing systems. On the other hand the recovery oriented computing (ROC) folks led by researchers at Berkeley and Stanford declare failures are inevitable. ROC proposes the key to higher availability is helping humans to recover infrastructure from failures faster.
I have written here previously about ROC, but its time to start a dialog on comparing and contrasting these two radically differing views on the future of better infrastructure availability.
You notice I am talking about infrastructure availability not individual system availability. As an industry we have focused for decades on building more reliable individual components and systems. But now the reliability problem has moved to a different level. Take all these highly reliable components and systems and put them together with software developed by multiple vendors or adopted from different open source projects and the reality of complex systems settles in.
Can we build autonomic computing infrastructure that is self-healing and self-regulating beyond simple problems and single systems? Or will humans always be an important part of repairing and recovering IT infrastructure?
Our friends from Berkeley and Stanford offer an interesting perspective dubbed the Ironies of Automation. Their argument goes something like this.
Automation does not remove human influence, but instead reduces IT personnel understanding and can actually make their job harder. Automation increases complexity, reduces visibility and provides no day-to-day interaction and learning. ROC argues for better tools to help, not replace people.
So what do you think? Autonomic Computing or Recovery Oriented Computing? Which will lead us to higher availability infrastructure? Send me your vote to thebaum@splunk.com,
White Paper
D2D Virtual Tape Library Replication Primer
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
White Paper
An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
White Paper
Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE 802.11i Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
White Paper
Bringing the Edge to the Data Center
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
- The Top 3 Cost-Cutting Mistakes CIOs Make - And How to Avoid Them | White Paper
- Network-Based Firewall: Extending the Firewall into the Cloud | White Paper
- The Need for Two-Factor Authentication at Enterprise Organizations | White Paper
- Positioning Disk and Tape in a Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape Solution | White Paper
- Right-Sizing Your Power Infrastructure | White Paper
Sign up to receive Networking Resource Alerts
See how AT&T can help protect your network. Make IT Work As One at novell.comHP ProLiant G6 Servers. Perform like a superstar, Save like an accountant.HP ProLiant G6 Servers. Perform like a superstar, Save like an accountant.Unified Communications: Thoughts, Strategies and Predictions. Join the discussionOptimize Linux* for high performance and energy efficiency on Intel® architectureSee how Intel is working across the Open Source ecosystem to help drive rapid technological innovationKeep your IT expertise up to date. Join the Intel Premier IT Professionals. Increase UPS efficiency without sacrificing protectionIn less than 45 minutes, Palisade Systems protects your data
Today’s IT means business. New eBook shows you how to align your IT investments.A new level of interoperability. Make IT Work As One at novell.comLimited-time offer: Save up to $100 on Polycom phones. 64-page prescriptive guide to security, compliance, and IT operations.Drive innovation with Intel and Open Source softwareLinux Contributions and Support from IntelLearn about Foundations of Green IT, from CTO Marty PoniatowskiTDWI checklist helps define data readiness for analytics. Download report.<802.11n Drives an Architectural EvolutionSee IBM CloudBurst's self-service user interface in action
