Real Time View

There are many instances where being number one is important; combinations of platforms, technologies and databases is continuing to propel NonStop X to the top of the list when it comes to systems anchoring modern data centers. The faint hint of smoke rising from the outside kitchen is a clue that there’s something on the grill, as for the past couple of weeks the weather has simply been too good to stay indoors. The greater Denver area, including Boulder, boasts of being #1 when it comes to sunny days with 300 days of sun per year. Numbers have been very much on my mind this past week and it wasn’t simply because I had been counting sunny days or even because I had passed another blogging milestone with my last post to this blog. I’m not sure what the count is up to, but with the most recent event that took place this month in Sydney, Australia, in support of the OzTUG community and with another next month to be put on by the folks at VNUG at Rånäs Slott, just outside Stockhol...

With this post to the NonStop community blog, Real Time View, I celebrate the beginning of my tenth year of blogging. Keeping to the theme of HPE , Mission Critical Systems and in particular, NonStop, has proved fertile ground for a storyteller and I expect no letup in new topics to cover in the years to come … If there was ever a time when I thought I could simply kick-back, relax and write a few posts as I quietly ease away from technology I can no longer recall when that was exactly. This summer I have spent more time in front of the keyboard than I can recall ever having done before. However, the good news is that well, there’s more good news than ever before. And I cannot recall the last time I said that or said it without harboring lingering thoughts myself over whether or not I was pushing a little beyond the realm of reality. However, putting those thoughts to one side, Margo and I headed to our favorite Boulder steakhouse where we did kick-back and relax while we celebrat...

Blog posts may very well have replaced any need for post-it notes but the goals are similar – simplified newsworthy communications targeting interested parties; for the NonStop community today’s many blogs are where much of what’s interesting about NonStop is disseminated! Where do we get our information today? Where do we turn for the news that matters most? It wasn’t all that long ago that we took real photos and dragged them out only occasionally to remind ourselves of past experiences and as to our friends, well, they were grateful when we kept the evidence of past adventures well and truly hid away. But today? With Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – we can see it all and blog posts keep the storyline moving along, no matter the audience. The question today is what did we do before social media exploded onto the scene as vibrantly as it has of late? In an episode of the now defunct sitcom, Sex and the City, the central character, Carrie Bradshaw, complained bitterly to her frie...

Parking next to an impressive infantry field piece brought up images of big guns and when you consider all that’s surrounding HPE and yes, even NonStop are we seeing the emergence of a big gun in the mission critical transaction processing marketplace? It was hard to ignore the potential metaphor when we first saw the transporter with a self-propelled artillery piece, albeit on the smaller side I have to admit. Nevertheless, the damage it could unleash at any point was unquestionable and just sitting alongside it was cause for something other than casual conversation – no, the driver of the transporter was not prepared to discuss what it was, where it had come from or talk about where it was headed. On the other hand, the color scheme wasn’t very desert friendly and as it was headed to the West Coast, we assumed it was off to the Far East. Experiencing life on the open road is something Margo and I have come to enjoy immensely and there are few NonStop events we cannot reach wit...