Overcast: Conversations on Cloud Computing

Overcast Show #11: May 8, 2009, Matt Asay on Open Source & the Cloud

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Show Notes:

In episode #11 we talk to Matt Asay, vice president of business development at Alfresco and author of the blog The Open Road: The Business and Politics of Open Source on CNET.

• We discuss the multiple roles open source software can and does play in cloud computing
• Matt explains why he believes cloud will help open source companies monetize their technologies
• We talk about the influence the open source movement may have on cloud computing.
• Companies and products mentioned in the podcast include Alfresco, Amazon, Salesforce.com, Heroku, Engine Yard, Enomaly, Eucalyptus, Google App Engine, Morph Labs, Bungee Labs and several others

Overcast Show #10: Apr 8, 2009 - Tax Day Edition with Alex Barnett, Intuit

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Show Notes:

Fitting for Tax Day in the U.S., in this podcast we interview Alex Barnett, Developer Relations Group Manager for the Intuit Partner Platform (IPP) and the Intuit Developer Network (IDN). Intuit, of course, is the maker of TurboTax among other popular financial software. Intuit is often overlooked in the context of cloud computing, but as we find out in this podcast with Alex, they have been quite busy. Among other things we discuss:

• Intuit's activity in the cloud, including Quickbase, Quickbooks Online and other popular software products that they have moved to a Software-as-a-Service model
• What Intuit is offering developers and ISVs in terms of hosting, platform-as-a-service, APIs to access data in their popular software products such as Quickbooks, the Intuit SDK and more
• Alex covers the stack provided by Intuit, including their Database-as-a-Service (based on Quickbase) and the tools for developing Flex applications, made available through Intuit's partnership with Adobe
• We discuss Intuit's take on the Open Cloud Manifesto and its general approach to cloud interoperability and portability
• and much more...

Overcast Show #9: Mar 30, 2008 - Manifestogate!

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We discuss the recent events around the release of the Open Cloud Manifesto.

Overcast Show #8: Mar 13, 2009 - with Chris Hoff, Cloud Security Expert

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In this podcast we talk to Christopher Hoff, renowned information security expert, and especially security in the context of virtualization and cloud computing. Chris is the author of the Rational Survivability blog, and can be followed as @Beaker on Twitter.

Show Notes:

• Chris talks about some of the myths and misconceptions about security in the cloud. He addresses the claim that Cloud Providers Are Better At Securing Your Data Than You Are and the benefits and shortcomings of security in the cloud.
• We talk about Chris's Taxonomy of Cloud Computing (excuse me, model of cloud computing)
• Chris goes through some specific challenges and solutions for PCI-compliance in the cloud
• Chris examines some of the security issues associated with multi-tenant architecture and virtualization

Overcast Show #7: Feb 26, 2009 - with Javier Soltero, Hyperic

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In this show we discuss cloud computing with Javier Soltero (Twitter: @jsoltero), CEO and co-founder of Hyperic, whose flagship product is Hyperic HQ, an open source application monitoring and management tool.

Show Notes:

• Javier gives us a general backround on Hyperic and specifically its activities in the cloud, which include CloudStatus.com and the Hyperic HQ Amazon Machine Image (AMI).
• Javier reveals some of Hyperic's developments in the works, including a technology that allows easily instrumenting Java, Hadoop and Memcached applications and exposing the data  to CollectD. 
• We discuss at length Javier's recent blog post The Cloud Dilemma for Developers, in which Javier writes about the fact that in a cloud environment developers are required to address operational issues, such as monitoring and management. 
• Javier explains how application monitoring and management requirements are different in cloud computing, and why he believes traditional tools won't cut it in the cloud  
• and lots more...  
• Companies and products mentioned in this podcast include Mosso, GoGrid, Google App Engine, Heroku, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce.com, GigaSpaces, Cisco and Windows Azure. 

Overcast Show #6: Feb 5, 2009 - with Randy Bias and Michael Sheehan, GoGrid

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Show Notes:

After a long hiatus we are back with the Overcast podcast. In Show #6 we have a discussion with Randy Bias and Michael Sheehan of GoGrid. Some of the topics we cover include:

• The distinction that Randy and Michael have made in their blog posts between a Cloudcenter and Infrastructure Web Services, and the different approach GoGris is taking to cloud computing compared to Amazon Web Services
• The role of Platform-as-a-Service players, such as Google App Engine, and a glimpse into some of GoGrid's thoughts on opening up their infrastructure for other to offer a PaaS on top of it 
• Cloud computing standards -- do we need them now and it what is the correct approach for achieving them? 
• GoGrid's recent open sourcing of their API and their efforts to work with other cloud providers and related vendors and projects (such as Flexiscale, RightScale and Eucalyptus) to rally around the GoGrid API
• The role of projects such as Puppet and Chef in cloud computing, and GoGrid's plans for these technologies 
• GoGrid's Cloud Connect offering - a hybrid model for dedicated and cloud-style hosting  
• GoGrid's storage offering 
• and more... 

Overcast Show #5: Dec 11, 2008 - with Lew Tucker, Sun Microsystems

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Show Notes:

In this podcast we host Lew Tucker, CTO of Cloud Computing at Sun Microsystems. Cloud is now one of the three major business units reporting to CEO Jonathan Schwartz and headed by Dave Douglas.

Lew's background includes being part of the original Java team at Sun (Oak at the time) and architecting AppExchange at Salesforce.com.

We discuss a variety of topics with Lew, including:

• Platform-as-a-Service lessons learned from AppExchange and the network effect
• The interest in implementing internal clouds at large enterprises 
• Sun's role in cloud computingand relevant compute, storage and software assets it has, such as Project Caroline, Sun Grid Engine, Solaris and more
• Cloud computing's role within the Sun organization

Overcast Show #4: Nov 26, 2008 - with Greg Ness

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Show Notes:

In this show we host Greg Ness, senior director at Infoblox and author of the Archemedius.net blog, which covers virtualization, security, netowrking and cloud computing with specific attention to all things infrastrcuture.

We discuss some of the notions that Greg has been writing about, namely the idea of Infrastructure 2.0: the idea that new IT environments such as virtualization and clouds require a new approach to infrastructure that embraces dynamic, automated and intelligent systems. We discuss with Greg his views on the need for a new approach to networking and other aspects of the infrastructure.

Companies mentioned in this podcast include Infoblox, Cisco, GigaSpaces, F5 Networks, VMWare, and Microsoft. 

Individuals mentioned in this podcast include John Chambers, Dan Kaminsky, John Willis, Chris Hoff, Randy Bias, Reuven Cohen, Nick Carr and Simon Crosby.

Overcast Show #3: Nov 20, 2008

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In this show we join forces with the great John Willis, one of the leading bloggers and podcasters on cloud computing.

We discuss some of the basic elements of cloud computing, including, what is a cloud? Platform-as-a-Service, Infrastrcuture-as-a-Service and Software-as-a-Service, Hybrid Clouds and Cloud Bursting.

We also discuss whether or not the analogy between electric utilities and cloud computing is a valid one and where the wtwo may differ.

Also, see John's post of the podcast on his IT Management and Cloud Blog.

Overcast Show #2: Nov 4, 2008

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Show Notes:

In this podcast we discuss two main cloud computing related announcements from recent days:

• Salesforce.com's Force.com Sites and the new relationship between Salesforce and Amazon Web Services. You can can read more about this on James's blog.
• The announcement of cooperation between RightScale and the open source EUCALYPTUS project from the University of California Santa Barbara. You can read more about this on Geva's blog here and here.
• Also mentions of CohesiveFT, Elastra, Google App Engine, Microsoft and more...

Overcast Show #1: October 31, 2008

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Show Notes

We discuss recent news in cloud computing including:

• New features from Amazon Web Services, such as auto-scaling and load-balancing, and how it affects Amazon's eco-system of partners such as RightScale, GigaSpaces and others; as well as AWS coming out of beta and offering SLAs
• Microsoft Azure and whether or not it will help Microsoft attract non .Net developers to it
• CohesiveFT's new VPN-Cubed product
• IBM's announcement that they are offering Lotus Notes as software-as-a-service

We also discuss:

• The potential roles of IBM, HP and Sun in cloud computing
• The recent debate between Tim O'Reilly and Nick Carr on the Network Effect in cloud computing
• The notion of vendor "vision lock-in" -- announcements aimed at making potential customers take pause before selecting a cloud vendor
• and much more...

Please let us know what you think in the comments below and if there any particular topics you'd like us to discuss in future shows. We'll be having notable personalities in cloud computing as guests in upcoming shows - so stay tuned!