Larry Lang

Author Archives: Larry Lang

IDG Contributor Network: SREcon17: Brave new world of site reliability engineering

Last week, I was fortunate to participate in SREcon17 Americas, a conference organized by USENIX for site reliability engineers. What’s a site reliability engineer (SRE)? Ben Treynor, founder of Google's site reliability team, once explained it’s "what happens when a software engineer is tasked with what used to be called operations."An important role in the DevOps practice, these engineers concentrate on reliability (of course) and scalability (at amazing levels) in highly distributed systems (microservices multiplying like rabbits). They run some of the largest websites on the planet and are inventing a new field of expertise while they do it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Public cloud services sneak in through IT’s back door

“I’m a back door man, I’m a back door manThe CIO don’t know, but the users understand.”Well, maybe those aren’t the exact lyrics sung by Jim Morrison (or Howlin’ Wolf). Yet much of the information technology used by enterprises is first snuck in the back door by users rather than invited in the front door by the CIO.The personal computer was a prime example of back door technology. Back in the 1980s, while the IT department ran their mainframes and minicomputers, department managers were stuck tracking budgets and forecasts with adding machines and pads of paper. But a PC with spreadsheet software made those tasks much simpler and quicker. (By the way, you can still download and run original VisiCalc. Only 27,520 bytes!) A departmental budget could absorb the cost of several thousand dollars, and getting started was simple enough. Soon PCs were showing up everywhere.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Private jets and private clouds

What’s your reaction when you learn that a company keeps a fleet of private jets? Does it suggest that the company is generally frugal and prudent with shareholder money? Or does it raise concerns that perhaps the company is spending in ways that wouldn’t withstand closer scrutiny? Given the tremendous expenses involved, objective financial analysis usually recommends against it, instead using commercial air travel services, maybe with upgrades in certain exceptional circumstances.Similar concerns should arise when you learn that a company keeps private data centers. Objective financial analysis of owning and operating such complicated systems increasingly shows that other choices make more sense. That’s because of the growing availability of so many attractive commercial information technology services, ranging from software-as-a-service to public cloud infrastructure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Private jets and private clouds

What’s your reaction when you learn that a company keeps a fleet of private jets? Does it suggest that the company is generally frugal and prudent with shareholder money? Or does it raise concerns that perhaps the company is spending in ways that wouldn’t withstand closer scrutiny? Given the tremendous expenses involved, objective financial analysis usually recommends against it, instead using commercial air travel services, maybe with upgrades in certain exceptional circumstances.Similar concerns should arise when you learn that a company keeps private data centers. Objective financial analysis of owning and operating such complicated systems increasingly shows that other choices make more sense. That’s because of the growing availability of so many attractive commercial information technology services, ranging from software-as-a-service to public cloud infrastructure.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Novelty seeking and networking

You’re seated in a restaurant you’ve never visited before, and the waiter hands you the menu. As you scan the items, do you look for something familiar you know you’ll like? Or do you want something you’ve never tried before?People respond differently to new situations and opportunities, sometimes with opposite reactions. “Better safe than sorry,” caution some, while others urge, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”+ Also on Network World: 3 tips to foster a culture of innovation + Such reactions, engrained deep in our temperament, are described by psychologist and neuroscientists as our degree of novelty seeking. The trait is associated with positive aspects, such as curiosity, and negative aspects, such as impulsivity. It follows a normal distribution in the population, and scientific research even suggests a genetic basis, which makes sense considering our species has sought novelty strongly enough to inhabit almost every part of the planet and beyond.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Novelty seeking and networking

You’re seated in a restaurant you’ve never visited before, and the waiter hands you the menu. As you scan the items, do you look for something familiar you know you’ll like? Or do you want something you’ve never tried before?People respond differently to new situations and opportunities, sometimes with opposite reactions. “Better safe than sorry,” caution some, while others urge, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”Such reactions, engrained deep in our temperament, are described by psychologist and neuroscientists as our degree of “novelty seeking.” The trait is associated with positive aspects like curiosity and negative aspects like impulsivity. It follows a normal distribution in the population, and scientific research even suggests a genetic basis, which makes sense considering our species has sought novelty strongly enough to inhabit almost every part of the planet and beyond.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: A night to remember: Engineering lessons from the Titanic

Some 31 years ago, the RMS Titanic was discovered resting on the ocean floor. The legend of its sinking has been retold many times in books and movies. One compelling aspect of the story is the safety claims made by its creators. Even as reports of the disaster began to filter into New York, the vice president of the White Star Line stated, without qualification, “We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable.” Obviously reality betrayed those maritime engineers’ confidence.What lessons might this famous disaster teach engineers in modern data centers? In particular, how do we prevent hostile attacks—the “icebergs” that lurk on the seas we sail—from causing catastrophic breaches?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: A night to remember: Engineering lessons from the Titanic

Some 31 years ago, the RMS Titanic was discovered resting on the ocean floor. The legend of its sinking has been retold many times in books and movies. One compelling aspect of the story is the safety claims made by its creators. Even as reports of the disaster began to filter into New York, the vice president of the White Star Line stated, without qualification, “We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable.” Obviously reality betrayed those maritime engineers’ confidence.What lessons might this famous disaster teach engineers in modern data centers? In particular, how do we prevent hostile attacks—the “icebergs” that lurk on the seas we sail—from causing catastrophic breaches?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: A night to remember: Engineering lessons from the Titanic

Some 31 years ago, the RMS Titanic was discovered resting on the ocean floor. The legend of its sinking has been retold many times in books and movies. One compelling aspect of the story is the safety claims made by its creators. Even as reports of the disaster began to filter into New York, the vice president of the White Star Line stated, without qualification, “We place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe that the boat is unsinkable.” Obviously reality betrayed those maritime engineers’ confidence.What lessons might this famous disaster teach engineers in modern data centers? In particular, how do we prevent hostile attacks—the “icebergs” that lurk on the seas we sail—from causing catastrophic breaches?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here