Re: [9fans] VMs, etc. (was: Re: security questions)

[blstuart@bellsouth.net]

> I'd like to add to Brian Stuart's comments the point that previous
> specialization of various "boxes" is mostly disappearing. At some point in
> near future all boxes may contain identical or very similar powerful
> hardware--even probably all integrated into one "black box." So cheap that

The domination of the commodity reminds me a lot of the
parallel processing world.  At one time, the big honkin'
machines had very custom interconnect designs and often
custom CPUs as well.  But by the time commodity CPUs
got to the point where they were competitive with what
you could do custom, and Ethernet got to the point where
it was competitive with what you could do custom, it
became very rare that you could justify a custom machine.
It was much more cost-effective to build a large cluster
of commodity machines.

For me, personally, this is leading to a point where my
home network is converging on a collection of laptops,
some get used the way most laptops get used, and some
just sit closed on shelves in the rack.  The primary hardware
differences between servers and terminals is that servers
have bigger disks and the lids on terminals tend to stay
open where on servers they tend to stay closed.  It's
getting farther away from the blinkin lights I miss, but
it sure makes my office more comfortable in the summer
both in terms of heat and noise.  Now if I could just get
that Cisco switch to be quieter...

BLS