Friday, October 12, 2007

Cloud Computing, Google and IBM

A while ago, I mentioned some of the cool stuff coming out of IBM R&D. Now, we're teaming up with Google in a new cloud computing initiative.

cloud computing
Cloud computing basically encompasses rich applications that are designed run on the Internet (or "cloud"). In the cloud computing paradigm, software that is traditionally installed on personal computers is shifted or extended to be accessible via the Internet. These "cloud applications" utilize massive data centers and powerful servers that host web applications and web services. They can be accessed by anyone with a suitable Internet connection and a standard web browser.

It seems however, that here in the US training is pretty limited for this kind of powerful and highly complex computing. So Google and I.B.M. are announcing a major research initiative to address that shortcoming.

Most of the innovation in cloud computing has been led by corporations, but industry executives and computer scientists say a shortage of skills and talent could limit future growth.

“We in academia and the government labs have not kept up with the times,” said Randal E. Bryant, dean of the computer science school at Carnegie Mellon University. “Universities really need to get on board.”

IBM and Google will provide hardware, software and services to augment university curricula and expand research horizons while lowering the financial and logistical barriers for the academic community to explore Internet-scale computing.

IBM and Google have already dedicated a large cluster of several hundred computers for this program, which is planned to grow to a few thousand servers over time.

The IBM solution includes, not surprisingly, an Eclipse plugin that will also work with Rational Application Developer.

For more information, see this New York Times article, or drop by the IBM web page.

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