As I’m traveling back home to LA, California from a totally out of control fun weekend in New York City. Sitting at the brand new, hi tech JetBlue T-5 terminal in JFK airport (which I couldn’t wait to be in since I’ve heard of the free wireless internet that it’s been boasting, I can’t help but notice the striking juxtaposition in front of me: on my left, a huge, freshly squeegeed window: an A320 waiting outside, luggage being transported to it, other planes taking off into a sky stuffed with white fluffy cumulus clouds. And to my right rows of chairs with passengers waiting, the majority who, not surprisingly are hunched over with focused eyes on their notebooks…but mostly the ever present glaring Apple. One look back and forth again and it’s obvious, that computers are as common as the clouds in the sky. Okay, okay, I know that sounds a bit cliché, the analogy, but the two—the world of computer science and the internet itself, and these meteorological phenomena—are very similar. Both are untouchable and seemingly infinite. They are intangible to our touch, yet hold intricacies and power that impact us immensely.
Now enter the field of Virtualization technology—the abstraction of operating systems—and Cloud Computing (pun intended), and the metaphor of the cloud becomes even more and more fitting.
So where does the name Punching Clouds come from? I’ve sort of explained the “Clouds” bit, but what about the violent fist movement part of the title? Well… its just my way of simplifying complex topics. What can I say, I know its a bit out of the ordinary. Because the idea of punching a hole in a cloud is EXTRA-ORDINARY, a defiance of nature and what we know, see, and accept. Actually, a “Punch Hole” cloud is the name given to a cloud that is formed from an aircraft dissipation hole or trail. They are not uncommon where jet flight paths intersect cumulus layers, but what is uncommon is when they form in a perfect circle that persists for a length of time to be widely observed.
Relating this back to computing, we are making unbelieveable breakthroughs in the field of virtualization, cloud computing. Advancements that, like Punch Hole Clouds, are phenomena that are changing the ordinary, and taking us above and beyond what we are familiar with.
This blog will capture these breakthroughs and solutions within the Virtualization industry, in particular the advancements that are being made in the field of Cloud Computing. I’ll “Punch” through topics such as security issues, implementations, and new technologies using videos and how-to demos.
Virtualization and Cloud Computing technologies will offer us limitless possibilities. Everything that we know of computers, the internet, space and time is changing because of these advances, and this is the place to find out about it. This blog is about Punching Clouds, making marks in the unmarkable, holes in the invisible, being super-natural. Hell, just call me Punching Mike if you will.
