November 27th, 2009

Over the turkey virtualization discussions

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Off topic, Virtualization

Tags: Virtualization Technology, Cloud Computing, Storage Management, Virtualization, Utility Computing, Storage, Hardware, Dan Kusnetzky

I was faced with the usual “what do you do for a living?” question over a fine thanksgiving meal and found myself trying to explain virtualization technology and cloud computing to people who use computers to read their Email, news on the Web and don’t care about much else in computing.

When I described virtualization as using hardware and software to create an artificial, illusionary environment that allows functions, applications and whole desktop systems or servers to work in an “ideal” environment.  I faced blank stares. Then I tried to run through the layers of virtualization technology described in the model of virtualization technology I use for analysis of products (see Sorting out the different layers of virtualization). The confused looks didn’t disappear.

When you’re asked about this technology, how do you describe it?

November 24th, 2009

iPhone replacements

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:30 am

Categories: Mobile computing, Off topic

Tags: Apple iPhone, High Tech Computer Corp., Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Wireless Provider, Mobile, Tool, Mobile Operating Systems, Wireless And Mobility, Microsoft Windows

Since I posted iPhone - is it a good tool for traveling business people?, I’ve been getting many Emails from wonderful readers. Quite a few of the messages indicated that these readers view their mobile devices as much more than merely communication tools.  Quite a few appear to entrust their whole life to their mobile device.

Wireless Providers

It appears that nearly all the messages that mentioned a U.S. wireless provider, recommended Verizon Wireless.  They praised the 3G coverage and overall service in the cities I mentioned in the post, Boston, New York and San Francisco.

No one mentioned T-Mobile or Sprint. I wonder why.

So, I rode over and visited the Verizon store. I found their procedures to be unacceptable. Even though the sales people were standing around and the store was empty, no one would speak with me. I spent about twenty minutes looking at various devices and reading about Verizon’s service plans and no one, absolutely no one offered to help.

They spent their time chatting with one another while I walked down the displays and read about the phones.  If they present this type of behavior prior to making the sale, what could I expect afterward?

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November 20th, 2009

iPhone - is it a good tool for traveling business people?

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 4:00 am

Categories: Off topic, Travel issues

Tags: Apple iPhone, AT&T Corp., Tool, Time Zone, Business People, Email Client, E-mail, Smart Phones, Online Communications, Consumer Electronics

Although I like the form factor and user interface of the iPhone, I increasingly question its use as a tool for traveling business people. In no particular order, there are some of the concerns I have about the device and AT&T’s service.

• My work involves travel. I need to be able to rely on a smartphone’s ability to be an internet tablet, a Email client and, oh yes, a telephone. AT&T’s network in Boston, New York, Orlando and San Francisco often left me with poor telephone service, poor internet access or no access at all.  Colleagues using other networks often had no problems whatsoever in the same locations.
• International roaming is unbelievably expensive. Since the iPhone is locked to AT&T’s network, I can’t purchase a low-cost SIM and pay as you go service in another country.
• The calendar handles events scheduled in different time zones very poorly.  Even though many business travelers fly to appointments in other cities, the iPhone calendar offers no way to enter an event that starts in one time zone and ends in another. In fact, there appears to be no way to enter the time zone of an event on the iPhone itself short of changing the default time zone for the entire calendar. There are ways, however, to tag events with a time zone on a host PC or Mac.
• The Email client doesn’t recognize meeting invitations. The client doesn’t even offer a way to look at those invitations.  Once again, the only way to deal with these typical business situations is head back to the host PC or Mac.
• The Email client has no ability to create or delete folders. Once again, the only way to deal with this requirement is to head back to the host PC or Mac
• No multitasking. Need I say more?
• Apple’s cat and mouse game with developers making needed applications, application features and the like unavailable.
• AT&T where is support for tethering?

I’m increasingly finding the iPhone to be a poor tool for business people and am seeking a replacement.  I’ll let you know what I find.

November 18th, 2009

Pressure tactics don't always work

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:30 am

Categories: Off topic

Tags: Journalist, Analyst, Supplier, Analysis, Channel Management, Marketing, Dan Kusnetzky

Although a very rare, on occasion I’ve had suppliers of systems, software or services tell me that they’ll sue if I publish an unfavorable analysis of their products or service, unfavorable survey results or unfavorable opinions about their go to market strategies, products or services. I’ve also seen major suppliers threaten to cancel their subscriptions, stop speaking with analysts and the like.

One supplier of systems and commercial products “fired” me, telling me that they wouldn’t speak with me again because I published an opinion, based upon a long series of annual research reports, that indicated that they were likely to be passed by another product showing strong year-over-year growth. Since they continued to speak with one of my staff, I really didn’t mind.  In fact, that allowed me to publish ever more pointed things about their product announcements. Had they spoken with me first, I might have understood their product strategy and have treated product deficiencies differently.

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November 17th, 2009

SteelEye DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Clustering software, HA/Failover, Linux, Virtual machine software, Virtual processing software, Virtual storage, Virtualization, Windows

Tags: Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Disaster Recovery, DataKeeper Cluster Edition, SteelEye DataKeeper Cluster Edition, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows, Servers, Operating Systems, Software

I’ve watched SteelEye for quite a number of years as they changed from a clustering/high availability software (LifeKeeper) supplier focused solely on UNIX to a supplier of a number of technologies for Windows, Linux and virtual environments.  Recently the company added DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2 to their portfolio. It is clear that availability and reliability needs to be a focus for business critical applications.

Here’s how SteelEye describes DataKeeper for Windows Server 2008 R2

DataKeeper, a highly optimized data replication solution for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, is available in two versions. The first delivers data replication services as an extension to Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, while a second version of DataKeeper Cluster Edition further extends the capabilities of Microsoft Cluster Services and Windows Server Failover Clustering. Both editions support real-time replication of Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines between physical servers across either LAN or WAN connections.

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November 14th, 2009

Engine problems create travel adventure

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:59 am

Categories: Off topic, Travel issues

Tags: Flight, It Services, Recruitment & Selection, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Dan Kusnetzky

I’m still on my way back from the FustionStorm Datacenter Summit that was held in Las Vegas.  Delta flight 1090 had some engine problems somewhere over Arizona and the flight had to return to Las Vegas.  The crew were helpful and informative. That being said, it was a bit of a pain to have 5 additional hours added to the flight. I, of course, missed my connecting flight. I guess that I have to hold onto to the fact that the crew’s actions kept all of us safe.  A problem that could have been life threatening was just a mild irritant.  Good job Delta!

The flight landed in Atlanta at about 3:30 AM ET. I needed coffee in the worst way and discovered that just about nothing was open in the Atlanta airport. The tram wasn’t running and so, seeking coffee meant walking from concourse to concourse. When I couldn’t find a single thing open,

While contemplating about the folks who manage this very large, very busy, international airport, I couldn’t help but wonder why there were no support services available when flights are still arriving at 3:30 AM ET.

November 9th, 2009

Volunteer organizations

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Off topic, Organizational Issues

Tags:

I’ve been involved with the leadership of both commercial and volunteer organizations for quite a number of years and have wondered about the different attitudes I’ve seen.

When told that they have to attend a day-long or week-long training event, employees often go along only grudgingly even though they’re being paid to attend the event. The members of the volunteer organization attend because they’d like to and pay to attend the event. They often work hard to assemble excellent presentations, workshops and creative arts for the event - all because they believe in the goals of the organizaiton and what it is doing to achieve those goals.

Employees will often recognize what the organization needs to do to succeed and will only focus their attention on these needs when told to do so.  They many not call leaders’ attention to the issue until it becomes a problem. They also have an expectation of increased compensation in some form or another.  The members of the volunteer organization often seek out issues needing to be addressed and ask if they can work on a team to address those issues.

While I’m not sure why such differences exist, I do find it intriguing.  Are you member of a volunteer organization such as a church, an organization focused on supporting the arts, an organization seeking a cure for a disease or an organization focused on a sport?  Why do you suppose people are so eager to help there and not so willing at their place of employment?

October 29th, 2009

Preparing for the 451 Group Customer Conference

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:30 am

Categories: Off topic

Tags: Presentation, Data Centers, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Dan Kusnetzky

The 451 Group is presenting its customer conference in Boston next week and I’ve been reading presentations and taking part in dry runs this week. I’ve also been editing my own presentation for the event. The content I’ve seen tells me that the event will be interesting and thought provoking. It is also rather time consuming to attend all of the dry runs and work to enhance analyst presentations.

I did have the opportunity to speak with the folks from Akorri as I mentioned in the post, Examining datacenter operations with Akorri BalancePoint. As I expected, the presentation was interesting. I was impressed by the depth of information this product makes available. I’ve asked to speak with one of their customers and will present a customer profile afterward.

October 28th, 2009

Revisiting the topic of Office versus OpenOffice.Org

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 4:20 am

Categories: Linux, Mac OS, Off topic, Windows

Tags: Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, OpenOffice, Office Suites, Software, Dan Kusnetzky

In my post, Goodbye, OpenOffice.Org. I’m going back to MS Office, I commented on the interoperability issues I had experienced that can be attributed to my choice to use OpenOffice.org on my production systems. Although OpenOffice and its cousin NeoOffice worked well, I kept learning of formatting problems seen by recipients of documents and presentations.  These problems, of course, never showed up on my system when I looked at those same documents and presentations.

When those little “irregularities” became the topic of discussion of my company’s Senior Team meeting, I knew that the tool had become a liability and I went out that day and purchased Office 2008 for Mac. I’ve not, by the way, heard a single complaint from my colleagues since that change over. I’ve been able to easily read documents and presentations sent by 451 Group subscribers or suppliers of IT hardware, software and services.

I haven’t, by the way, totally abandoned OpenOffice.Org or its cousin NeoOffice. They’re still useful when I’m exchanging documents with folks using those products.

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October 26th, 2009

Saying goodbye to Zimbra

Posted by Dan Kusnetzky @ 3:00 am

Categories: Linux, Mac OS, Mobile computing, Off topic, Windows

Tags: Zimbra, Linux, Apple Mac OS, E-mail, Operating Systems, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows, Smart Phones, Software, Online Communications

My organization just completed a move from Zimbra to a hosted version of Exchange. Our overworked, underpaid IT wizards, with the help of the good folks at Rackspace Hosting, were able to complete the move over the weekend and, so far, I’ve not had a single problem.  I’ve been able to access Email from Windows XP, Mac OS, Linux and even from my iPhone.

I’m hoping that when a person misses a meeting that the reason was a surprise customer meeting rather than “Zimbra ate the meeting entry.” I’m also hoping that when one of my colleagues doesn’t respond to a message quickly it is because he/she is really busy not because “Zimbra didn’t deliver the message.”

While no piece of software is perfect, the combination of product feature issues, product quality issues and support issues meant that Zimbra brought me no joy. I’m happy to say “goodbye Zimbra.”