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Back Home .... to NonStop

I have just returned home to Boulder - a place that really does give me an opportunity to think. I suspect that all of us, particularly those in business that have to travel a lot, have one place that they really call home. That place where they can relax and feel comfortable. Back to the basics. My home field where I have the advantage - where I have all the local knowledge.

I have really been appreciative of the emails I have received over the past few days. The early blog posting have all been part of an experiment - a prototype really. Can I develop the discipline to write every few nights? Can I get excited about opening this window to talk about NonStop and Tandem. The emails I have receive to date have been incredibly encouraging - and so I will continue.

But to return to my opening remarks. For many of us, our comfort zone with respect to NonStop has a lot to do with availability, scalability, massively parallel shared nothing environments. This is solid ground for us - this is home. But how will we react if this changes - what if NonStop moves in different directions?

I had a really good chat with Fred Laccabue last week - and I am still mulling over some of the things we talked about. It's too early to go into the specifics and this is mostly because I need to do some homework here myself. I really do need to dig a little deeper. But in talking with Fred I was reminded that the only constant is change - and when you start to look at chips and chip sets and how we are all headed to a multi-core future, then a couple of things we have considered familiar territory, could change. What we have considered as our safe and trusted turf may be moving underneath us.

Too cryptic? Well, in part yes - I sense a lot of change coming in the next year or so - but before I launch into it, I want to reach out to you all. Do you sense change coming? Do you embrace it? Are you really prepared to talk openly within your corporations about the future of NonStop and how you can use it?

I am now back in Boulder and enjoying it. I never take it for granted when I get the opportunity to relax at home. But as I kick back and think about what NonStop is becoming and where it potentially is headed - with talk of blades, virtualization, hybrids, etc - I recall the conversations I had with folks inside HP. There's so much talent and so many gifted folks - but I can't ignore the reality that, from a technology perspective, there's no such thing as a home field advantage. It's OK if you a dog and it's your territory, you pretty much always win (any fight), but for NonStop engineers, there's no time for relaxing. Only pursuit of what's next.

As I read the comments, whether its about the events ITUG puts on, or the Tandem fundamentals (availability?) the one sentiment that comes through each time is the genuine desire to grow the community. To understand where the NonStop plays best and provides real value. And about the special roll for NonStop within the whole heterogeneous computer model we all work with.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to the new NonStop world? Do you welcome the change? Where will we find a place to call home in the future - and will it even be relevant or important in the future?

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is a real plus for ITUG...keep up the good work!
-Hal Massey
Anonymous said…
What a fantaistic idea Richard and something I am sure will prove to be a tremendous value add. Thank You for inviting me to view your creation. Best Regards, Jon Lindberg

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