[MLUG] Cloud Computing

[Pascal Charest]

Hi,

I actually foresee an increase in the technical expertise required of system
administrator and as a direct consequence an impact of value & interest that
such position hold.

Putting servers 'to-the-cloud' is the equivalent of the 'utility-computing'
/ 'on-demand computing' concept we start seeing quite a while ago. Not to
start a flame-war or a big debate, but system virtualization (which is a big
part of the whole concept of cloud computing - forget what Microsoft show on
tv, plz) does help to push the ratio of servers per sysadmin higher, and
then trigger requirements for configuration management (such as Puppet).
This, in turn, make system administrator (or network administrator) a very
interesting job, as it's not only hard-disk changing / configuration push,
the infrastructure get more complex to deploy (but easier to maintain).

At the very end, the same job must be executed, but cloud computing help
create some kind of separation between technicians (which change HD in
redundant SAN, no impact on system) and system administrator (which manage
services). The exact number of system administrator required might be a bit
lower (ratio changed), but any services company still need 24/7 coverage of
the IT business, at lvl 1->3. Couple that with the fact that more companies
are requesting 'integrated services' (so more companies searching for
sysadmin), I'm pretty sure you have a 'neutral' impact on quantity (but not
on quality).

As to why people move to 'the-cloud', its open for a another debate. In
articles written a few years ago, I make myself quite clear on the fact that
'private-virtualized infrastructure, with configuration management, with
rapid-deployment tools' are cloud. They are just owned by another group in
the same company (NOC vs System administrator).

P.

btw, email is drafted pretty quick before my next meeting, if I didn't make
myself clear, which is very plausible, feel free to ping me.

--
Pascal Charest, skype: pascal.charest
Cutting-edge technology consultant @ Les Laboratoires Phoenix
http://www.labsphoenix.com


On Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 1:08 PM, Andre Courchesne <courchea at net-forces.com>wrote:

> Well, first I think that there will still be demand for sys-admin as
> someone has to admin/maintain those networks that compose 'the cloud'
>
> Now... the cloud... I don't want to start a debate or flame war, but what's
> the point anyway??? Why would I feel confident in sending my corporate data
> to an unknown network of computer ? ANd with the poor bandwidth (especially
> upload) and traffic caps, why is that such a good idea? You can do the same
> with your data safely stored on your server (provided you have redundancy
> and good backup strategy) and use a VPN to access your data from
> anywhere...
>
> I hate to see those add from Microsoft with the guy saying "To the cloud"
> and then showing him playing a movie from his home computer to his laptop in
> an airport. Man I have been doing that for year with a simple VPN... And my
> data is secure and I do not have to pay extra $$ per month for that...
>
> Just my 2 cents...
>
>  ---
> Andre Courchesne - Consultant
> http://www.net-forces.com
> MSN: courchea at net-forces.com
> Skype: VoipForces
>
>
>
> L'information contenue dans le présent document est la propriété de Andre
> Courchesne. Et est divulguée en toute confidentialité. Cette information ne
> doit pas être utilisée, divulguée à d'autres personnes ou reproduite sans le
> consentement écrit explicite de Andre Courchesne.
>
> The information contained in this document is confidential and property of
> Andre Courchesne. It shall not be used, disclosed to others or reproduced
> without the express written consent of Andre Courchesne.
>
> On 2011-04-05, at 12:42 PM, Leslie S Satenstein wrote:
>
> With many shops moving to the cloud, what is the impact to the
> system-maintainer / system-administrator?  Will there be a drop in jobs?
>
> Would you recommend a person, as a good career, study to be a sysadmin?
>
> Maybe my question belongs on Facebook, but then too much spam.
>
> *------------------
>
> *
>
> Regards
>  *
>  Leslie
> *
> *Mr. Leslie Satenstein
> *40 years in IT and going strong.
> Yesterday was a good day, today is a better day,
> and tomorrow will be even better.
>
> mailto:lsatenstein at yahoo.com <lsatenstein at yahoo.com>
> alternative: leslie.satenstein at itbms.biz
> www.itbms.biz
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