Real Time View

When we think of virtualization and the coming of clouds and as we consider all that may be involved in transforming to these hybrid combinations incorporating the traditional with the very new, how often does the testing of our applications come to mind? There have been times these past few days where events have reminded me of practices and disciplines that dominated our discussions in former times. I had the misfortune of breaking things and working with insurance companies and I was left without access to more modern methods of communications to the point where I was asked if I could possible find a fax machine so I could receive a fax. It was in the early 1980s when the vendor who employed me back in Sydney, Australia, installed a fax machine in my office and I no longer had to take the long walk over to the telex machine where I would have then spend hours preparing a paper tape for transmission back to my head office in Richmond, Virginia. In many ways it was a sad occasi...

How a few cents of wire lying unnoticed on the road can cripple a vehicle as large as an RV; we continue to value availability and it’s time to double down on the benefits of NonStop! The most essential attribute of NonStop today is its fault tolerance capabilities. Availability is as highly valued as it has always been and yet, there are many parties advocating that it really isn’t an issue any longer. Push apps and data into the cloud – public or private, it matters little at this point – and the infrastructure on offer from cloud providers ensures your apps and indeed you data is protected and available 24 x 7. But is this really the situation and should CIOs contemplating a future for their IT centered on cloud computing be immune to the many ways apps and data can be taken offline? Unintended consequences! We read a lot about such outcomes these days and it is a further reflection on just how complex our interdependencies have become. Push a button over here and suddenly wa...

NonStop keeps on going no matter what system failures may arise – but is this enough? What follows here is purely speculative on my part but is worth raising with the NonStop community. And yes, any and every comment more than welcome … Travelling around Colorado these past few weeks it’s so clear just how much growth has occurred. Lakes and reservoirs are full to overflowing – more than one state park we have visited had pathways closed due to local flooding – grasslands are standing tall and trees and bushes are a brilliant green everywhere you turn. Spring rains have continued into the summer with afternoons subject to intense thunderstorms, most days. I can recall that in the past such storms were forming at this time of the year but rarely did the rain reach the ground, but this year there have been more late afternoon storms than I can recall. Living in a motor coach makes us a little susceptible to inclement weather but so far, we haven’t suffered anything more than a fri...