Virtual Computing

Nothing is real; everything is an illusion. That seems to be the new paradigm driving corporate computing these days.

Intel plans to release a Pentium 4 crop that sports a more robust implementation of its hyperthreading technology. The new capability allows the processors to execute simultaneous instructions, thereby giving two separate applications the illusion that each has its own processor. Alternatively, the technology can be used to give a multithreaded application the illusion that it is running on a dual-processor system.

This technique is only the latest in a series of virtual illusions. Many IT organizations in the midst of consolidating servers are becoming familiar with VMware, which allows multiple instances of an operating system to share the same machine.

MICHAEL VIZARD Can be reached at (650) 513-4227 or via e-mail at mvizard@cmp.com.

Of course, many of those same organizations are familiar with virtual storage technologies made popular by companies such as Veritas Software. And naturally, the concept of a virtual private network has been with us for quite some time.

What is new is that the concept of virtual computing is now being extended to data and applications.

BEA Systems is leading the way with Liquid Data, a new development tool that leverages XML schemas and new Xquery tools to allow users to seamlessly access data from any application. The software could be leveraged to more easily create a universal corporate portal.

Beyond data, the next thing we will see is IT organizations leveraging a new generation of enterprise applications to virtualize a series of business processes. So rather than having a set of business processes contained in a series of discrete applications, the processes will be dynamically linked via a robust set of Web services technologies that are in the early stages of development.

What all this amounts to is that we are creating new levels of abstractions across the landscape to free us from the physical limitations of applications and the systems they run on. That may seem a little surreal, but once you get accustomed to the concept, all kinds of previously unimaginable things suddenly become very possible.

What's real for you? I can be reached at (650) 513-4227 or via e-mail at mvizard@cmp.com.