Brian Madden as interviewed by Tom Richer
What are the benefits
enterprises can derive from server-side
computing?
For years, it’s been the ability to securely
access applications in a ubiquitous
fashion—any application from any device via
any connection, etc. However, with the
recent changes in the economy, the focus has
shifted more towards the cost savings and
systems management advantages. Let’s face
it, 150 users running their business
applications off a single server is pretty
darn attractive right now—especially
considering that this can be done with no
desktop support whatsoever.
Being the resident expert in HP's EMS
practice on Server-Side Computing, what new
functionality and capability will
enterprises be able to leverage with future
versions of Server-Side Computing software
and how will they benefit?
First of all, the technology is becoming
more reliable every day. I think that when
it first came out (this time around, anyway)
there was a certain amount of skepticism
that a Windows server could support so many
users. Every time it worked people were
like, “Wow! It’s working.” Now, there are so
many organizations running 10, 15, or 25,000
users that the technology is no a big deal.
This is great from the IT business
perspective, because it means that IT
departments can really focus on their core
mission—providing applications for end
users.
As for the future of the technology, I think
we’ll begin to see a lot more “dynamic”
servers in the next year or two. Look at our
current blades. We package these today with
our Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP) technology.
Soon, they’ll all have the option to be
diskless and boot from StorageWorks SANs.
The business applications will then be
configured for a whole group of servers. If
you need to support more users, snap in some
more blades. The system will recognize that
more hardware has been added and
automatically deploy the configuration and
applications to that hardware based on need.
If you need more storage, add some drives to
the SAN. With server-side computing, the
applications (and the hardware that runs
them) become extremely modular. This is true
“Computing on demand.” If the system detects
that some applications are more popular than
others it will automatically reconfigure the
blades to support the greatest need.
The ultimate benefit to all this is that we
will be able to move more towards (here’s
that word again) ubiquity. Users will be
able to securely access whatever they need.
From an IT management standpoint, users can
be provided with access to more applications
with less effort than ever before. The
hardware will scale. The software will
scale. The applications will scale.
Beyond that, I think the next big shift in
server-side computing will be as it relates
applications developed for Microsoft’s .NET
framework. Today’s server-side computing
exists in order to provide “any” access to
legacy 32-bit Windows applications. As .NET
applications become more prevalent, the
concept of one application executing on a
single device will go away. “Cut-and-paste”
application integration will be replaced
with XML-based and web service-based
application integration. A “single”
application will be broken down into a
hundred pieces that each execute on a
hundred different servers. The term
“server-side computing” will be replacing
with “ubiquitous computing.” That
technology, though, will be a direct
descendant of today’s server-side computing
technology that lets someone in Ohio use an
application running on a computer in San
Francisco.
How does Server-Side
computing relate to IT Consolidation?
This is a complex question. I guess that you
need to look at it through two different
lenses, in terms of technical consolidation
and personnel consolidation. From the
technical standpoint, server-side computing
brings all application execution and
processing into the data center. You can
definitely achieve some major economies of
scale, and this plays right in to the blade
stuff I was talking about earlier. In terms
of personnel, by centralizing your
applications you can also centralize your
support staff. You don’t need nearly as many
desktop support folks in environments that
have fully embraced server-side computing.
This is especially valuable in organizations
that have remote offices since they can do
away with most local IT support. This is
actually a very good thing for the IT folks.
It allows them to work at a higher level
within the organization, and their jobs
become more strategic and more interesting.
You not only contribute a
lot of [HP's] internal knowledge via
Knowledge Brief's but you author many
books...why is authoring and sharing this
knowledge important to you?
Prior to joining HP, I worked in
organizations that hoarded knowledge. When I
joined HP (Compaq Global Services at the
time), I was absolutely blown away by the
amount of intellectual property and the
number of smart people that shared
everything they knew. I wanted to be part of
it all. Plus, there weren’t any KBs or
intranet sites about server-side computing.
Since that’s basically all I know, I decided
that I had better do my best to bring that
technology into the mainstream within hp. My
fear was that people wouldn’t think that
server-side computing was legitimate, and
that they would force me to learn Exchange
or something.
How did you become so proficient on the
Server-Side Computing subject matter?
I read a lot. I ask questions. I read some
more. I ask more questions. It’s a spiral,
really. I didn’t set out to focus on
server-side computing. It’s more like I was
in the right place at the right time (or the
wrong time?). Once people heard that I knew
something about server-side computing, they
asked me questions. That caused me to learn
more about it to answer their questions, and
the cycle has continued for the past six
years.
Outside of work, what are
your interests?
I play pinball (the real kind—not that lame
one that comes with Windows). My wife and I
ski a lot. I’m also building a train set in
my basement, and I listen to
Phish.