Trevor Doerksen

Cloud computing is said to be the user-friendly version of grid computing. We know grid computing brought together the high performance computers, the middleware, and strategies to utilize hundreds and thousands of computers linked by advanced networks. We know this took place in universities, research labs and medical schools around the world over many years. The Open Grid Forum, a group working on standards in grid computing has been meeting since 1998. Out of nowhere comes cloud computing. Ebay, Amazon, and Google showed even a casual technologist what the power of grid computing was, but it was easy. It wasn't about the standards or the middleware, it was the results and the ease of use. A Grid Today special feature story by Wolfgang Gentzsch captures the differences between cloud computing and grid computing. He suggests that grid has been got caught in the troug... (more)

Cloud Computing: Who Can Help Me Get an Application onto EC2 and Storage onto S3?

Trevor Doerksen's Blog OK, I have a budget, a computing task, a storage task, and even some smart people around me. I don't want to run these tasks on a server in my basement, at the university, or on my existing providers. My existing provider offers quick and virtualized services, but not quick enough - or enough. I want more storage - ran out. To get more from my current U.S.-based provider, I need to provision a new server, take it offline for part of a day, and buy all sorts of new services. I just want more storage than my laptop has. At the same time, I would like to move mo... (more)

Are the Good Times Back for Technology in 2009?

Trevor Doerksen's Blog What is going to happen to technology companies in 2009? If Democrats are good for technology what companies are Republicans good for - that is, what is going to happen to non-technology companies in 2009? Here's a look at some charts that correspond to leadership in the White House and performance of stocks. Have a look at some charts that correspond to leadership in the White House and performance of stocks. Starting with Bush Senior, a Republican, in 1988 you can see that the markets were pretty turbulent. One thing I notice over that 4-year terms is tha... (more)