“To the Cloud!” I hear that statement or something like it everyday. I admit my circle of friends/coworkers is a bit nerdy but it happens even with those in the “know”.  If you have been paying attention for the last couple of years, you have heard something about the “Cloud”. Ever since the Windows 7 launched,  Microsoft mentions the Cloud in every commercial.  Apple went so far as to base their latest update to their iDevices around the “Cloud”. If you’re involved with IT then you know that every vendor you have keeps talking about their cloud offerings… endlessly.  But… what is it?

One would assume that since every vendor has a Cloud offering, there must be clear/common/concise definition for what the “Cloud” is.  That assumption would be wrong.  So for this series of posts on the cloud, we start with what the cloud is.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is probably what most people think of when they hear about the Cloud. Wikipedia defines SaaS as “a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally (typically in the (Internet) cloud) and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.” Simply put, the software and storage are out there somewhere on the internet, not on your computer.  Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail are some of the most recognizable SaaS service in the email space.   Google has a whole host of SaaS products that they give away for free.  (In addition to Gmail, think Google Calendar, Google Docs, Picasa and for that matter Search.)   These were always considered consumer products but in the last year, many vendors have begun pushing their cloud based products towards the Enterprise.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Describing PaaS is a little more difficult as the concept is a bit more abstract.  Think of PaaS like this, it is a platform with which to develop and run your own application.  The platform “stack” will usually provide web services, database management, storage, collaboration and application life-cycle management tools.  In this model, you don’t get to pick your database server, web server and other software, the provider usually has the platform built and you use what they already have available. The simplest example of PaaS is Yahoo’s Store offering.  Yahoo Store gives you hosting for a site, a shopping cart and credit card processing.  You have to build the site, manage the product, import that data into the database and selling the product. PaaS is usually a pay as you go service model based on transaction volume. The more you use, the more you pay.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS goes by many other names…  Virtual Private Server, Virtual Machine (VM), Dedicated Servers, Co-location and more.   Imagine picking up your existing server/infrastructure or building out your new infrastructure on someone else’s hardware located somewhere other than where you are (you can do this on your own hardware at your own facility too – more on that in a future post).   Basically, a hosting company provides a set of physical or virtual servers, switches, routers and storage for you to run your operating system and application.  You still do your own patching, upgrades and monitor your servers and applications.  The most well known IaaS offerings are from companies like Rackspace and Hostway.

(…)

If you have read this far, we now have a common understanding of the basic underpinnings of the three types of cloud offerings.  If you’re thinking “haven’t I heard of all of this before?” you’re ahead of the game.  Post two of this five part series will dive deeper into SaaS.  Stay tuned…

Airborne

Kevan

I have started playing with chan_mobile for Asterisk 1.4. This is a great add-on for Asterisk. It allows you to use a bluetooth cellphone as a trunk for incomminging and outgoing calls. You can also utilize a bluetooth headset as an extension. (Incomming calls…) Last night I was able to compile chan_mobile for Asterisk 1.4.13 on my Trixbox 2.3 beta box. Once I have FreePBX configured to work smoothly with chan_mobile, I will put together a howto. (I might wait until Trixbox 2.4 is out.) A revision of the chan_skype howto is also coming for the pending Trixbox 2.4 release. Hopefully 2.4 will be released soon.
K

TimeWarner is implementing packet shaping for all RoadRunner customers. Looks like they will drop the priority of VoIP, file sharing and video traffic.

Here is the DSL reports thread.

No word on whether business customers will be affected.

Join in the fight for Network Neutrality

K

Here is some footage of my landing at Shawano, WI airport (3WO) back in August.

Kevan

I have to hand it to Amsafe Aviation for having a great idea… A portable 1 pound harness that replaces the need for a car seat on a commercial flight. The FAA approved the device today…. Here is a link:

The Cares Device

I have been very busy over the last month and a half and haven’t had the time to write much on Geek-Pages.com. This weekend I plan to create some forums:

• General Discussion
• Linksys NSLU2 – Unslung and OpenSlug Discussion
• DD-WRT Advanced Configurations
• Asterisk at Home / Trixbox
• ENUM at Large
• Avaya Definity / Communication Manager (maybe)

I am also working on two articles – The first one is on configuring a NSLU2 with OpenVPN and rSync. The second will be on wireless power settings on the WRT54G/S/L.

More to come soon…

Kevan

I came out this morning to clean my pond prefilter and found these swimming around in the shallows.

After a little research I figured out that they are American Toad tadpoles.  There are at least 50 of them swimming around.  The fish don’t seem the slightest bit interested in them.

Kevan

This might be a little bit of shameless promotion but here it is.  I have been writing articles for the site on and off for the last two weeks.  Here I am a few articles under the bridge and I am out of ideas.  I think it is just writers block. I hope anyway…

If you have any ideas let me know…

Kevan
Need  help with you Linksys WRT54g? Asterisk at Home?  VPN? Check out Geek-Pages.Com

This is probably a weird way to start my blog but it is on my mind.  I have my private pilots license and I came to my attention a couple of weeks ago that my life insurance policy through my employer doesn’t cover me in the event that I die while acting as a pilot.  This presents a huge problem for me and my family.

I started shopping arround for life insurance that would cover me if I was acting as pilot and the only policies that I could find were via Avemco (a major Aviation insurance provider) and the AOPA (Aircraft Owner and Pilots Association).  The rates for both policies are around $500 per year…  1/2 million coverage, 20 year term, I am 29.  Seems like a bit much to me.  I don’t want to fly again until I have coverage and I can’t seem to find anything cheaper.

The who exercise seems like a joke because small aircraft accidents are less likely than automobile accidents.  They claim it has something to do with pilots living a more risky life style.  (We are allegedly comparable to scuba divers, hand gliders and sky divers.)

Hopefully I will figure out this life insurance quandry this week.

K