Turn your VI into Cloud….but what the heck does that mean, you dirty cloud blogger?!?I had

Sean: Okay, so you have implemented VMware infrastructure, you’ve consolidated workloads, turned on DRS, and you are “carving” your server resources up into different blobs of resources. But what about utility billing-style charge back, automated provisioning, or preparing to federate with over-hyped external private clouds?  You should consider cloud-enabling your VI.

Random cynical blog reader: Woa, Sean!!  Stop right there.  You are sounding like a dirty cloud blogger right now.  “Cloud-enabling” your VI?!?  You are just using nebulous buzz words to to sound like you know more about the average Joe.  You are simply riding the hype wave to get people to read your lackadaisical blog. Define Cloud now or I’m removing your blog from my Google Reader.

Sean: Hmm…..  Good point, random cynical blog reader.  Must define clouds and even consider alternative language so I avoid dirty cloud blogger label.  VMware as a Service, VM as a Service, automated provisioning, infrastructure de-coupling, infrastructure as as service, platform as a service and software as a service are all labeled as cloud from time to time.  Okay, I’m putting the breaks on further cloud blogging until we can establish a common vocabulary for talking about it.  And there is no use in making this stuff up earlier, (although in such a nascent field of technology, we will end up doing that), but instead I will be researching the community of thought leaders in cloud computing.  This is where standards will undoubtedly emerge, so no better place to start as a foundation of information on cloud computing.  I will bring this research home to this blog, define clouds, and only then does it make sense to begin blogging further about the benefits of cloud computing to SMBs.

In case you are wondering, here is my next step in cloud computing research:

• Christopher Hoff’s http://www.rationalsurvivability.com/blog/

UPDATE: In going through my RSS feeds, I just uncovered Sam Johnston’s appeal to the community to adopt sensible cloud computing nomenclature. Perfect timing considering my research into the area of defining cloud computing.  And yes, Sam’s blog: http://samj.net is now on my short list of blogs to research for cloud computing knowledge.