Joyent

EC3: Enterprise Class Cloud Computing

Yesterday I talked with the head of Enterprise Architecture for a Fortune 500 company. Late last week, it was the VP of Operations for a Fortune 100 company. And, every day, I talk with many CTOs from Web 2.0 style start-ups. They are all interested in Cloud Computing.

What is new is the number of “traditional” companies that are starting to take a serious look at Joyent Cloud Computing .

The attention around Cloud Computing

Why are all these new types of companies reaching out to Joyent? I think some of it has to do with people hearing about how companies like LinkedIn have scaled applications up to a Billion page views a month on us. A lot of the interest also comes from articles like these:

• Enterprise cloud computing gathers steam by Dion Hinchcliffe
• Cloud Computing and the Enterprise by John Willis
• Finding A Friendly Cloud by Don Clark
• CIOs On Cloud Computing by by John Foley

3 Patterns of Enterprise Adoption of the Cloud

At Joyent, we are seeing three patterns for enterprise adoption of cloud computing.

1. Approx. 65% of our large enterprise clients are Light Engineering Development Teams that jumped at the chance to quickly deploy new solutions on Joyent’s cloud. These L.E.D. teams are turning to Joyent for two reasons. First, they do not have to go through the process of getting approval to run an experimental application inside a legacy data center. Getting that approval from a large company IT organization is especially difficult when the legacy data center also runs things like the company’s general ledger and email system. Second, the L.E.D. teams often tell us that Joyent is significantly cheaper than the internal transfer costs they would be charged by their own IT departments.
2. Approx. 20% of our large enterprise clients are brought to us by top tier outsourced development shops such as SolutionSet. Large enterprise users hire SolutionSet to build them everything from marketing / brochure sites to Facebook applications to core e-commerce sites. Depending on their clients’ needs, and especially in instances where their clients require flexibility, SolutionSet might end up recommending Joyent.
3. Approx. 15% of our large enterprise clients come to us directly through the office of the CIO / CTO. The interesting thing here is that 1 year ago, this percentage was much smaller.

Now, it is growing, and it is growing quickly. CIOs and CTOs are turning to Joyent Cloud Computing because they realize that they have the same problem we do. They realize that they have multiple internal tenants who all require flexible malleable infrastructure.

Addressing the Issues that CIOs have with Cloud Computing

A lot of the discussion around enterprise adoption of cloud computing misses the real issues that we typically discuss with clients before they decide to use Joyent’s cloud.

• Security questions are easily addressed Generally, while our clients ask about security issues, we typically find it easy to allay their fears. An enterprise-class cloud like Joyent does not force people into monolithic centralized storage solutions. No shared database means much less risk. Beyond that, Joyent takes a unique approach to virtualization. Fundamentally, we use the same Solaris kernel that banks, insurance companies and health care providers have used and trusted for years. Amazon’s EC2, for example, relies on a completely different “hypervisor” technology based on XEN. In Amazon’s approach, each time you bring up an EC2 instance, you get a new IP address. While you can map a static IP address back to the EC2 instance, you still fundamentally have a server behind the scenes that has a random new IP address. With Joyent’s approach, each time you bring your Joyent Accelerator back up, you get the same static IP address. From a security point of view, this means that Joyent can lock down access to these specific IP addresses via a Tagged VLAN that is defined and controlled in our Force 10 routers. That means that on Joyent, when our clients are concerned about security, we can set it up so that Client A can’t even see the IP addresses associated with Client B. Beyond this, Joyent can provide enterprise clients with all the other security features of Solaris. Because they get full root access, and because they know how to lock down their own systems, Joyent clients can be just as secure as if they were running their own data centers.

• CIOs don’t want to have to re-write apps when they move to the cloud Google App Engine, for example requires that you completely rewrite large sections of your code before you can run on them. When CIOs talk to us about using Joyent’s cloud for a new or existing application, they always ask if they are going to have to rewrite any of their code. The answer is always “no problem”. If it is a JAVA, PHP, Python, Ruby, Ruby on Rails or Erlang application, it can run on Joyent straight out of the box. CIOs often tell us that they like knowing that they can leave Joyent if they want to. If you don’t have to re-write your app to move onto Joyent, you don’t have to re-write your app to move off. So one major advantage of our approach is that it reduces the risk of adopting a cloud solution.

• CIOs are concerned about operational management overhead Whole companies, such as RightScale, have sprung up to try and help users deal with the complexity of running ethereal virtualized servers on Amazon’s EC2. For example, Amazon forces you through a range of complex steps when an instance needs to be rebooted. These steps include emapping IP addresses and drives back to failed AMIs, porting data back from S3. These “extra” operational hurdles simply do not exist at Joyent. Cloud computing promises flexibility, but it shouldn’t force enterprise users into an expensive tradeoff where they have to deal with additional operational costs simply to gain that flexibility.

Enterprise Class Cloud Computing has already begun

There definitely are issues around enterprise adoption of cloud computing. However, it is important to understand that not all cloud computing vendors are the same. When people concern about enterprise use of cloud computing, they often point to down time experienced by large monolithic systems like S3. While it is reasonable to express concern about large monolithic systems, not all clouds work like that.

Large enterprises are starting to adopt Joyent cloud computing. And so far, it looks like we have been able to achieve our goal of delivering a cloud that is addresses the needs and concerns of both small developers and large enterprise CIOs.

Going forward, we still expect a large percentage of our growth to come from small developers who hit it big. Hopefully these smaller teams will be happy to know that if and when their system becomes the next big thing, our growing experience with large enterprise users means that we will be ready to support them.

Apple's MobileMe and Joyent's Connector

When we open sourced Joyent Connector last year, one thing we hoped to see was the beginning of some usability standards for web applications. Application design is not page design.

So, with that said, when I saw the design of Apple’s new MobileMe service, I smiled:

And here is Joyent’s Connector:

Nice. This is not a rip-off. It is rationality. Pure text-based interfaces must be “read” every time:

iPhone 3G Review

The touch display of my iPhone EDGE stopped working a couple of weeks before the launch of the iPhone 3G, and, who am I kidding, I was going to get one anyway, so I stood in line three times July 11. By 8PM I had the iPhone 3G 16GB (black) and was on my way.

I composed a list of things I was hoping to see remedied in the iPhone 3G back in May. The touch interface continues to annoy, but I’ve jumped into learning how to type on the virtual keyboard and I’m getting the hang of it. But it does take time.

The iPhone 3G still does not serve as a modem either wired or via bluetooth (yes, I’m aware of NetShare). But who cares, one discovers, with the iPhone 3G, that 3G isn’t a feature. The 3G reception is awful. I’m sitting here with one to two bars on the iPhone 3G is 3G mode. My Nokia N95 has 5 3G bars. And the iPhone 3G consistenly drops calls when flitting between 3G mode and EDGE mode. The 3G is not reliable. So I don’t use it.

Let’s talk battery. Maybe the awful 3G reception on the iPhone 3G is why the battery life sucks. This is the worst device I’ve every owned when it comes to battery life. With normal use, the battery of the iPhone 3G needs to be charged twice a day. What’s normal use? Just talking, playing a bit of Dizzy Bee. Nothing dramatic. I’m not using the 3G network, for goodness sakes. My iPhone EDGE needed a charge every day and a half. If I turn off the 3G and only use EDGE (therefore rendering the phone the iPhone ersatz 3G), the battery life still sucks. I’m using the word “suck” on purpose. You can almost watch the battery drain in real time.

I have seen people claim that 3G phones have awful battery life in general. Anecdotally, I can’t see how this makes any sense. I’ve turned off the 3G and it doesn’t seem to improve battery life. Besides, my Nokia N95 is in 3G mode all the time and lasts for two days on a single charge. Yes, your mileage may vary.

Synching the iPhone 3G with my Macintosh can sometimes take 45+ minutes. Most of the time seems to be in “backing up”.

The App Store is great. I don’t know why I bought the “Slots” game, but there are a number of very nice applications. I recommend:

• Things for task management.
• GrandDialer for using your GrandCentral account.
• Facebook for using Facebook.
• Twinkle for using Twitter.
• WordPress for posting to WordPress blogs.
• Dizzy Bee as a great, addicting game. There’s also a free version available.

Apple has done a great job helping to keep applications up-to-date on the phone. However, whenever I update applications, the arrangement and order of the icons on the iPhone 3G is changed.

The iPhone is a great platform. The iPhone 3G remains the phone in my pocket because of the browser and now the applications. SMS is excellent. But the phone functionality, well, to misquote Mr. Jobs out of context “[should] not have been delayed without consequence”. Can the modem functionality, the bad 3G, the battery life be fixed in software. I hope so.

Joyent is Hiring

We are excited to be opening a development office in Seattle, WA next month. If you are a world class web applications developer in the Seattle area and would like to work on some disruptive cloud computing technologies, please send a note to jobs [at] joyent [dot] com. In your note give a sense of your past, your present, and your future as a developer. Tell us what you would like to see from a cloud computer as a developer. If we like what we see, we’ll reach out to you. No recruiters, thanks.

A Loving Cloud

Yesterday several members of Joyent’s team attended Structure ’08. Jason Hoffman was on a panel that produced some interesting debate about whether clouds should aim to be open. The story was even picked up by the Wall Street Journal’s Don Clark in an article entitled Finding A Friendly Cloud

Jason Hoffman, founder and chief technology officer of a cloud-computing specialist called Joyent, was particularly pointed in warning that Google’s App Engine could represent a lock-in to developers. It is possible to build “a loving cloud,” he argued, that would make it easier to create applications that could be easily moved among different services. Other panelists kept calling Google’s App Engine “proprietary,” which to many techies is equivalent to labeling it both evil and outdated at the same time.

Here’s video of the exchange Jason had with Google’s Christophe Bisciglia

1 Billion Page Views a Month

Here’s a video detailing how LinkedIn built an application (Bumpersticker on the Facebook platform) using Rails (and C Ruby!) that serves up more than 1 billion page views a month.

In my opinion, this ends the debate about whether Rails scales. Rails is a component, it is how the components are architected and delivered that comprises the magic. LinkedIn did amazing work taking advantage of Joyent’s technology stack including innovative ways of leveraging Joyent Accelerators and our BigIP load balancers.

Congratulations to the LinkedIn team. Great accomplishment! You can read more about the how LinkedIn scaled bumpersticker on Joyent in a post on their blog entitled Web Scalability Practices: Bumper Sticker on Rails

View the video.

Update: ZDNet writes about the story.

Joyent Summer Sale

Now’s a great time to get awesome pricing on Joyent Accelerators during our Summer Sale. Accelerator commits of one or two years are discounted 40%. For example, a typical 1GB Accelerator goes for $125 per month. If you commit to 12 months, you can the same Accelerator for $75 per month. And every Accelerator gets to burst to 95% of the CPU resources of a given machine node in the Joyent cloud.

Click here to get started now.

We have customers doing more than 1 billion page views a month on Joyent Accelerators. Joyent offers you clear and unmatched advantages:

• Joyent’s compute cloud provides a highly scalable on-demand infrastructure for running Web sites, including rich Web applications written in Ruby on Rails, PHP, Python and Java.
• Joyent Accelerators are built on OpenSolaris, multi-core (8+), RAM-rich servers (32GB+ each) and vast amounts of storage.
• Joyent Accelerators are deployed in the best routing and switching fabric (Force 10) and the best load-balancers (F5 Networks) available.
• Joyent Accelerators are next-generation virtual computers that can grow and multiply (or shrink and consolidate) – that means you’re not locked into inflexible contracts.

Convinced? Sign up is fast.

Still need some more details? Shoot us an email at support@joyent.com to set up a consultation.

Beat Email Bankruptcy in Three Easy Steps

Step One: Take a Flight Somewhere

I recommend Southwest with a couple drink coupons. More laptop room, somewhat mentally lubricated. But get on a plane and go somewhere for around two hours. This gives you enough time to order the double-cocktail, lubricate the mind, and work yourself out of bankruptcy. Let’s get started.

Step Two: Open Your Email Client and Sort by “From”

Most of your email bankruptcy is on account of poor email management. You answer email, but you don’t move it out of the inbox. Those 1,276 messages are mostly answered email. Also, you can safely ignore co-workers. Scan and move. Especially if a message is more than a month old. Someone you talk with every day? Move all that mail automatically. Most of your mail falls into this category. With those messages culled, you can focus on “Who is the message from” and answer accordingly.

Step Three: The Mail You Do Answer, Try to Move the Ball Back Into Your Correspondent’s Court

Example:

From: correspondent@gmail.com
To: david@joyent.com
Subject: Agreed, let’s partner
Blah, blah, but what’s the 17th prime number after 3, blah, blah, blah?

This one is going to make you work. Don’t. Here’s your reply:

From: david@joyent.com
To: correspondent@gmail.com
Subject: re: Agreed, let’s partner
Is the 17th prime number the issue? Or the millions we’re going to make? FTW.

Optional Fourth Step

To: team@joyent.com
From: david@joyent.com
Subject: If you need something
I accidentally deleted all the mail you sent me. If you need something from me, please ask again.

It’s not bankruptcy, friends. It’s leverage.

Plurk

I just signed up for Plurk. Proves there’s still room for innovation in the SMS-sized multicast messaging arena. It’s a mashup of Facebook and Twitter with the different concepts of Friends (a la Facebook) and Fans (a la Twitter). There’s the idea of “Karma” which you get from your own and your friends’ activity on the service. This provides Plurk the virality of a Facebook application. Nice. Now they need to make it easy to suck from Friends and Fans from FriendFeed, Twitter, Pownce, etc. etc.

Joyent Presents Application Hosting Options at Upcoming Social Media Business Schools

SocialMedia Networks is hosting several one day conferences, focusing on passing on real information about what’s going on with social platforms for advertisers and developers.

The next one will be held in Los Angeles on June 5th and will feature deep talks on analytics, marketing, brand advertising, performance advertising, and business planning. The conference will leave you with a real sense of the latest information on how the platforms work and techniques for success.

Joyent will be on hand to lead a session on Application Hosting Options where folks will learn about the options and economics associated with running your apps in-house versus outsourcing.

If you are developing applications for Facebook, OpenSocial, etc – this is a must attend event. Tickets are now available and we hope to see you there!

There will be Business Schools in Seattle, New York City and London as well coming in June. Check the SocialMedia Networks website for more details.