Cloud Computing and cloudy apps have been the buzz for several years now. However, until standards become a reality, clouds are going to be split into two camps. The cloud application platform like Google Apps where the cloud service ONLY hosts apps....you don’t have any say about what lies underneath. The second and so far most popular is the virtualized server, where corporations are moving large portions of their data center into the clouds. Regardless of which version you’re thinking about, virtualization will be an important part and eating the learning curve on just how to interact with a virtualized system is an important survival skill. I’m going to talk about some of the free or cheap virtualization systems available that will let you get your feet wet, bleed a little, but make the paradigm shift in a way that won’t affect your enterprise. I’m quite enamored with personal virtualization systems since you can paint yourself into a corner, and start over painlessly.

Brian is the Director of the Advanced Network Computing Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). He is also a senior contributing editor for InfoWorld Magazine and serves on the network advisory board for the Interop trade show.

Only one Pizza Meeting per Month!