Cloud State Of Play - September 2024

This is the September 2024 episode of Cloud State Of Play (CSOP).

I had the pleasure of welcoming back the UNFORGETTABLE Paul Bevan.
Paul is the Director of Infrastructure Research at Bloor Research.

September topics:

1 - Cloud Computing is simply a consumption model.
The underlying technologies are what has made it possible and so successful.

2 - Why the backlash against Microservices?
Is Microservices architecture the only game in town? Why the hate against Microservices, all of a sudden?

3 - What is a Data Fabric?
Not to be confused with Data Mesh (see previous episodes for that topic). Paul is an expert on the subject so he takes us through it all.

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1 - Cloud Computing is simply a consumption model.

Paul talks about the "indiscriminate" use of the word cloud by vendors, whether justified or not. This confuses executives who are already (still) having a hard time understanding what Cloud Computing is.

I was a little surprised by this statement from Paul, but he does interact in those circles, so I do not doubt it but I do react to that in the talk.

Pau mentions the NIST definition of Cloud Computing because even a managed service or outsourced environment seems to be referred to as a 'cloud' these days, which is outrageous and patently false!

https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/leg...

There's many misconceptions about the Public Cloud's Shared Responsibility Model as well. I don't think anyone has ever understood this properly! Early on, we had misunderstandings about back-up + recovery, then it was security. Now, it's cost, it's design, it's Operating Model and it's artefacts that create services in the cloud, such as DevOps being challenged by Platform Engineering, for example.

Certainly, data sovereignty and security remain thorny and nebulous topics and this is exacerbated even further in the Private Cloud concept, whereby even software defined and Hyper Converged Infrastructure (HCI) vendors started calling their solutions 'cloud'. This is utter nonsense!

Even if you look at IBM, Dell, HPE and Lenovo hardware divisions - they all now have the word "cloud" in their marketing nonsense!

For me, the idea of Private Cloud is a complete misnomer for what amounts to no more than a mish-mash of systems, cobbled together to make a Frankenstein Monster of a platform, with the label "Private Cloud" slapped in front of it!

For me, Private Clouds are those that can operate independently but can also lend themselves to become Hybrid Clouds. But their most essential characteristic is that they offer the Shared Responsibility Model approach and thus, services.

I explain the Parallax Effect to Paul:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

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2 - Why the backlash against Microservices?

Microservices are getting some hate, all of a sudden, in the press. I think a great deal of this is the pundit/press vultures are circling, and while I'm all for iteration in Public Cloud, it's a little premature to pronounce Microservices as being "dead"!

Microservices Architecture: This approach breaks down an application into small, independent services that communicate via APIs.
Cell-Based Architecture: A more advanced version of Microservices, in which services are grouped into "cells." Each cell has everything it needs to operate independently but can still interact with other cells.
Composable Architecture: This focuses on assembling and reusing components to build applications. Components can be APIs, microservices, or any reusable building block. The concept of the "Modular Monolith" may well be a good example of Composable Architecture.
In summary, while Microservices break down apps into single-function services, cells group these into independent units, and composable architecture emphasises reusability and flexibility.

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3 - What is a Data Fabric?

Paul discusses the virtues of Data Fabric - not to be confused with a Data Mesh.

Interesting posts on Data Fabric:
  / gartner_gartnerda-datafabric-data-activity...  

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dvella...

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Thanks again to my regular guest, Paul Bevan, for his insights. All opinions expressed in this video are solely of the person who gave them and do not reflect opinions/stance/policy of any other person(s)/employer(s)/organisations/entities/vendors, etc. All copyrights are of their respective owners and are used here (in various formats) purely for reference purposes and under fair use policy.

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Intro + Outro Track: "Know Myself" - Patrick Patrikios (YouTube Music Library).

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#publiccloud #multicloud #microservices #microservicesarchitecture #cloudnative #cloudtherapist #cloudstateofplay