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10 years and counting…

Ten years today cancer free…  I’ve reached the end of the beginning.  How did I get here at this milestone?

Sometimes I still think it’s a dream, in fact it is, but I’m living and breathing that dream.

I’m thankful for being able to battle the last 10 years and watch, what back then were 3 small children become young aspiring adults.

Those scary thoughts from 10 years ago of thinking about the undue burden that I would impose on my wife Ellen, if I did not make it through my battle.  That in itself was enough initiative to fight each day the mental and physical challenge of staying on the earth breathing at least another 20 years.

Unfortunately this past year I once again watched some folks who lost their battle because they either lacked luck, resolve or simply ignored their health for too long.  Luckily the burden for me continues year to year of helping others take their heath seriously and/or help motivate them through their own battle.

I continue to struggle with children stricken from cancer.  Kids that are sick with cancer are stronger than adults.

For me the work continues to stay healthy, help others to stay healthy and to battle one day at a time for those that have lost the battle to cancer.

Until next year, happy 2nd b-day… Thankful to still be here.

9 years and counting…

It’s a year later and I’ve hit my 9th year being cancer free. Being only a few months short of my 50th birthday I’m at an age that I thought I would never see due my diagnosis back in Aug 2001.  Our 3 kids were small back then and my wife is a positive thinker.  For me, I’m a realist and engineer and the data on the statistics was what scared me.  The statistics of missing early detection still scares me.  Mental focus is the thing that saved me.

It’s still difficult to hear of familiar people who unfortunately have not been saved.  This past year has been one of hearing about colleagues and their loved ones who have been claimed by the disease.  For me reaching out and helping still remains and will always be part of the responsibility of surviving.

This year I was glad to see a colleague get a good prognosis on bladder cancer.  Through early detection, action and diligence the outlook is bright.   In fact this is the best medical treatment: early detection, removal and monitoring for certain types of cancer.

In my opinion besides undetected cancer that has metastasized, denial and procrastination are the two attributes that end up costing people their lives.  I’ve always been a get it done type of guy with everything, as my wife Ellen and kids will attest, so it helped me with my battle of cancer.  It still does today as I’m “tone locked” on what I have to do each year for follow-up.

I keep fighting 1 year at a time to remember those who can no longer fight…

Get yourself a check up.

It saved my life.

Is AP Testing Out of Control?

There is a growing trend that in order to keep up with “the standard,” kids in the U.S. are expected to take AP (Advanced Placement) courses during their 4 years of high school.

In my opinion this has also extended into the areas of sports, dance, music, etc. to the point that some people think that if you are not participating you must not be serious about your participation.

Are some parents putting too much pressure on their kids?  I think so.  It’s clear that Advanced Placement does have a place for those who have been given a gift of talent.  However AP is not a place where you can be expected to acquire the talent through brute force.  In the end kids become adults and it’s more than just AP elitism that transforms them into functional adults.  Just because you are on a travel chess team does not mean you will become the next Bobby Fischer.  There’s something to be said about being normal and being raised as normal.

There are too many successful people that are normal throughout the world.  The trend is going to continue along with the occasional Albert Einstein, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordon and George Patton.

Each one of these people had their own road to success that didn’t involve an expectation that AP would help get them there.  Albert Einstein believe it or not had a difficult time in school and getting employment before he broke out and changed the scientific world.

So taking the normal college prep route in high school doesn’t mean your not destined to become a successful musician, doctor, biologist, lawyer, engineer, etc.  A lot of it has to do with attributes not found in any AP course…

The Oracle acquisition of Sun is complete – New Opportunities

I’m absolutely excited that Oracle has completed the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Inc. No other enterprise software company is better suited to leverage the large suite of Sun technology than Oracle.

Acquisitions of this magnitude require changes as well as new beginnings.

I’ve concluded the timing is right for me and I will be leaving Oracle/Sun.

I will certainly miss the many talented people at both Sun and Oracle.

Just as in Major League Baseball; inevitably most players and coaches move among teams to compete and work for the betterment of the industry.

I wish the best of luck to the new Oracle and my many colleagues there.  My personal thanks to each and every team member of mine over the years at Sun.

I plan to continue with my blog which has been migrated in its entirety to http:\\bobporras.wordpress.com\

You can also subscribe to my WordPress RSS blog feed by clicking on the orange icon to the left.

Click here to go to my WordPress blog page and sign up for email delivery (at the blog page scroll down and look to the right for EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION and follow the directions).

I can be contacted via LinkedIn, Facebook or bob.porras@gmail.com

Enjoy.

The views expressed on this [blog; Web site] are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle.

What Progress was Made at Copenhagen 15?

The fifteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference is over.  Copenhagen hosted this 12 day conference which gained worldwide attention for leaked speculative data on actual planet temperature data.  There are many opinions out there as to what are the scientific facts of the effects that humans contribute to global warming. Developed countries have learned both the economic and human effects when dealing with hazardous waste.  Hopefully other countries will not be willing to sacrifice their people and ecosystems.

However here is where a dilemma is created.  Developing nations may perceive pollution conformance as a means to slow down their economic growth, especially if developed countries are strong advocates.  Global climate change conformance puts a large financial burden on the countries that are out of compliance compared to the developed nations.

I have been to developing countries where it hurts to take a breath… literally.  I also remember the days of leaded gasoline, asbestos and mercury thermometers in the U.S.  Do you think that developing nations feel that developed nations polluted their way to prosperity so why can’t these countries do so as well?

There is a large amount of public data available on global warming.  Fossil fuels seem to have the largest target on them for producing greenhouse gases which contributes to global warming.  I recently finished reading SuperFreakonomics.  There is an interesting chapter called “What Do Al Gore and Mount Pinatubo Have In Common?”  It’s a good first step into seeing a counterpoint to the global warming scientists data.  For example Lowell Wood, who studied under Edward Teller, thinks that the current climate prediction models are “enormously crude.”  Another well known scientist Ken Caldeira, who was misquoted in the book, shares his thoughts as well.

As for my opinion, all nations need to be environment responsible, especially the largest emitters of pollution.  However I’m on the fence with the data.  I have a feeling that there are signs of an economic agenda… as always is the case.

IT インフラストラクチャーの製品、パートナーシップ、道具

統
合インフラストラクチャー技術に関する発表が最近活発になってきました。コンピューティング、ストレージ、およびネットワーク用のインフラストラクチャー
ハードウェアを提供している複数のベンダーは、互いにパートナー関係を結ぶか、「一匹狼」戦略を進めています。ソリューションが緊密に統合されることで
IT を購入する顧客にメリットがある点に疑問を抱く人はいないでしょう。

これまでもずっと、IT ソリューションは統合されることが要望されてきました。そのため IT 業界は何年もかけて標準とプロトコルを策定してきたのです。これは言い換えれば、企業や顧客の情報を移動、処理、および保護する、業界で広く受け入れられた方法ということです。従来、巨大で複雑な IT ソリューションは、VAR (Value Added Reseller)、経営コンサルティング会社、またはコンサルティングサービス会社が特定顧客向けに統合していました。これは変化の始まりなのでしょうか。また、IT ソリューションは密に統合されたハードウェア部分だけでできているわけではありません。

ベンダーのハードウェアプラットフォーム上で実行する必要のある各種アプリケーションを忘れてはいけません。こういったアプリケーションに加え、ベンダー統合のハードウェアプラットフォームの使用率を最大化するために仮想化が標準的な要件となりつつあります。インフラストラクチャー提供業者は、ハイパーバイザー技術のおかげで使用率と効率が大幅に向上するので、ハードウェアの販売量が減少するかもしれない点に注意する必要があるでしょう。

この統合への関心の高まりは、異機種環境が集まり、それゆえ広く普及しているソフトウェアスタックに良い影響をもたらすのでしょうか。IT ビジネスは成熟産業になりました。常に新しいアイデアは出てくるものの、IT は未来も変わらずハードウェアとソフトウェアでできているでしょう。

よいたとえは自動車産業です。自動車はこの 100 年で大きな進化を遂げています。たとえば自動車製造方法や燃費で数多くの改善や効率化がなされています。ここ 20 年の間では自動車に組み込み電子機器が活用されています。しかし、自動車の基本的な部品 (タイヤ、エンジン、ブレーキ、ハンドルなど) は変わっていませんし、近い将来も変わらないでしょう。

ブログはこちらでもご覧になれます。http://blogs.sun.com/bobp

IT инфраструктура: продукты, партнерство и инструменты

В
последнее время появляется все больше сообщений, касающихся интеграции
в IT-инфраструктуре. Большинство поставщиков промышленного аппаратного
обеспечения для вычислений, хранения данных и работы в сети либо
становятся партнерами, либо опираются на политику независимости. Вряд
ли найдутся желающие оспорить тот факт, что дальнейшая интеграция
решений принесет еще больше выгоды для клиентов IT-индустрии.

Однако в области IT-интеграции всегда существуют определенные требования и ожидания. Ведь все IT-решения строятся на основе стандартов и протоколов. Это
общепринятые в IT-индустрии методы перемещения, обработки и защиты
информации, как для бизнес-приложений, так и для простых пользователей.
Как правило, крупные информационные решения по интеграции выполнялись
фирмами-посредниками (VAR), компаниями по менеджмент-консалтингу или консалтингу в сфере IT
под каждого конкретного клиента. Будет ли эта ситуация изменяться?  А
ведь IT-решения – это нечто большее, чем просто сильно интегрированные
узлы аппаратуры.

Давайте не будем забывать о и многообразии приложений, которые должны работать на любой аппаратной платформе от любого поставщика.  А ведь кроме приложений, есть еще и виртуализация,
которая постепенно становится стандартным требованием для максимально
полного использования любой интегрированной аппаратной платформы.
Поставщики должны быть готовы к тому, что распространение технологий
гипервизора снизит объемы продаж оборудования, поскольку использование
уже закупленной аппаратуры станет более полным и эффективным.

Будет ли новое направление консолидации поддерживать все множество пакетов программ, состоящее не только из неоднородных, но и весьма распространенных
продуктов?  Информационная индустрия становится зрелым бизнесом.  Будут
появляться все новые и новые идеи, но IT и дальше будет состоять как из
ПО, так и из аппаратуры.

Хорошей аналогией может быть автомобилестроение…  За последние 100 лет
автомобили очень сильно изменились.  Множество изменений произошло в
техпроцессе изготовления машин, значительно повысилась эффективность
использования топлива и т.д.  Кроме того, за последние 20 лет
автопроизводители сильно продвинулись в плане использования встроенной автомобильной электроники.
А вот основные компоненты автомобиля – шины, двигатель, тормоза, руль и
т.д. – почти не изменились, и в обозримом будущем вряд ли изменятся.

Блог также доступен по адресу: http://blogs.sun.com/bobp

¿Una cápsula de tiempo para la empresa?

En
Halloween he actualizado el lado escritorio del ordenador de Windows XP
a Windows 7. En medio de múltiples reinicios, instalación de
aplicaciones, recuperación de correo electrónico, configuración del
servidor de impresión, etc. mi mujer preguntó, “¿Por qué tiene que ser
tan difícil?” Mientras ella se hacía la pregunta yo miraba la cápsula de tiempo de Apple
colocada sobre un pequeño armario del sótano. El único elemento visible
en la cápsula de tiempo es el cable de alimentación que la conecta a la
red eléctrica. En casa se ejecuta como un cliente inalámbrico conectado
a la red doméstica para la copia de seguridad de los datos, que pueden
ser tanto imágenes como vídeo clips, canciones, los deberes escolares
y, básicamente, cantidad de archivos de todo tipo (algunos de los
cuales son importantes).

Con el transcurso de los años, mi red (LAN) doméstica, formada por unos cuantos ordenadores conectados a un viejo router 802.11b, ha crecido hasta convertirse en una de banda dual (802.11g/802.11n) con un router que proporciona conexión a numerosos clientes inalámbricos. Entre ellos, hay dispositivos XBox, iTouch, un servidor de impresión, OpenSolaris,
Ubuntu, Mac, Windows XP, Windows Vista y Windows 7, formando un entorno
básicamente heterogéneo. ¿Llegarán a desaparecer algún día las
versiones más antiguas de Window? Sí. Los clientes Unix/Linux se
conservarán tanto por necesidad como por afición, y actualmente es muy
difícil vencer la experiencia Mac. Añadir una cápsula de tiempo a mi
red doméstica ha sido relativamente fácil. La utilidad de instalación Airport setup
ha actualizado el firmware de la cápsula de tiempo y ha configurado el
dispositivo en unos pocos pasos muy sencillos. No ha sido tan
“divertido” para un “fanático de la tecnología” como dicen los comandos
CLI,
pero se podría definir como “divertido” para la mayoría de
consumidores. La actualización completa de Windows XP a Windows 7 ha
sido un proceso doloroso, pero he de admitir que la experiencia de la
configuración en red ha mejorado notablemente. Me ha sorprendido
gratamente que funcionase el freeware de los servicios de descubrimiento Bonjour y que el sistema W7 configurase la cápsula de tiempo como un elemento utilizable.

Uno podría trasladar una situación similar al espacio empresarial. Para
una empresa de negocios, el término “divertido” se define como un alto
margen de dólares basado en una fuente de ingresos cada vez mayor. Por
lo general, esto
suele significar contención en los costes, implementación continua de
mejoras en eficacia y simplificación. Los proveedores de la industria
tecnológica están tratando de proporcionar un aparato o “cápsula de
tiempo empresarial” auténtica. Ha habido una gran cantidad de
innovación tecnológica en los últimos 20 años. Sin embargo, la
innovación de hoy es el PDP-11 de mañana, y los miniordenadores han sido los aparatos que los mainframes no pudieron ser. Durante años, la evolución ha sido una constante en cada segmento de la tecnología.

Los
clientes empresariales quieren que sea algo tan sencillo como lo es
para los consumidores. Aunque los riesgos sean mucho más altos para la
empresa, el listón se ha elevado significativamente para que todo
“funcione sencillamente” en cada ocasión. No importa el lugar que se
ocupe en el equipo, ni si se es titular o el nuevo líder de opinión –
siempre ganará el grupo de proveedores que ofrezca la herramienta que
“sencillamente funcione” en cada ocasión y en los entornos más duros y
complejos.

Este blog también está disponible en: http://blogs.sun.com/bobp

48 Core Microprocessors… What’s next? – Quantum Computing?

Intel has produced a gem with the Nehalem microprocessor.  While the architecture limits the chip to 8 processing cores today, Intel is doing research and advanced development with much bigger ideas.  The samples of 48 core processors (see picture on left) that some people in the industry are envisioning capable of scaling to 100 plus cores one day is impressive.  In the old days when I was doing large SMP server development, single core clock rate was a major vector that drove computational performance.  Then, as predicted, a few years into the twenty first century the technology started to run into the laws of physics.  Increasing the clock rate was no longer an available option.  However scaling problems were now starting to be addressed by building multi core architectures.  In other words placing multiple processing engines on a single die addressable by software.  CPU to cache interconnects become smaller and parallel computing is beginning to approach a commodity.   Introduce software to program these multi-core CPUs and parallel computing can realize significant gains.

An impressive fact of the Intel 48 core research chip is the power consumption of 125 Watts.  That averages to about 2.6 Watts per core.  This 48 core chip also has the ability to dynamically control voltage and frequency via software.  So the power consumption can be much lower than 125 Watts.  Keep in mind in the early 2000 time frame, 32 microprocessors in a SMP server would alone consume ~2 Kilowatts!  In my opinion the rising costs of energy and cooling will become a barrier similar to that of the laws of physics.  If your interested you can find more info on extreme core architecture here.

What are the industry folks in academics and research thinking 10, 20, 30 or more years out?  The semiconductor world is quickly approaching process geometry limits.  For example 45 nanometer technology is so small that you are manipulating layer thickness measured by atoms in the single digits.  Margin of error keeps getting smaller and smaller.  Is reliability a factor too?  Absolutely.  So where could technology lead us once we are manipulating single atoms to produce silicon?  In research labs today the industry has already been able to manipulate single atoms.

One option would be to discover another variable beyond clock rate or multi core.  Another option may have some promising hopes.  Have you heard of Quantum Computing?  All of us in Computer Science can relate to binary, octal, hexadecimal and decimal.  Are you really ready to learn about the difference between bits and qubits?  Click here.

Blog is also available at: http://blogs.sun.com/bobp