As noted in my column last month, the program for the recent GVF Oil & Gas Communications conference in Kuala Lumpur included a session entitled Cloud Computing and Future Oil & Gas Industry Networking. This was the first time the topic of the Cloud had been introduced to any of the GVF-EMP vertical market-focused series of conferences, though not the first time that a Cloud-related topic had been included in one of the GVF’s horizontal-market events – specifically the MENASAT Summit held at the time of the Satellite MENA exhibition during the first quarter of 2010, where satellite Wide Area Network (WAN) optimization was investigated from the point of view of improving bandwidth-usage efficiencies.
The move to include this topic was in recognition of the fact that in ICT the move from client server to Cloud is a paradigm shift requiring detailed attention by the satellite solutions provider community. A paradigm shift involving, according to many analysts, as much as more than one-third of global enterprise IT budgets being expended on Cloud services.
Dedicated conference programs designed to analyze and examine over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable, and virtualized, resources in the form of web-based tools and applications, are essential to fully appreciate the wide range of implications of the Cloud for the satellite communications industry.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (the U.S. federal technology agency that works with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and standards) defines Cloud computing as “a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”
The most important point here is that Cloud computing operates on a shared pool model, meaning that in the context of a satellite networking environment, network application resources are centralized, with few, if any, of such resources being provided locally. This has implications for all remote end-user working environments where it is the very ubiquity of the satellite footprint that contributes to defining the networking efficacy of satellite-based ICT solutions.
Understanding the Cloud-satellite communications interface requires that the key advantages and benefits of the Cloud are understood. These include: speed of network deployment; enabling of faster collaboration; greater data control and reduced storage on remote – and so more vulnerable – devices; and, the inter-relationship of reduced disruption in the adoption of new functionality and scale within a shared Cloud infrastructure, and lower costs.
In the context of a satellite service provision environment, service availability, as reflected in SLA uptime guarantees, is key for end-users with mission critical applications hosted in the Cloud. Additionally, such applications may be very bandwidth hungry, thereby making bandwidth management a critical factor too. Thus, satellite service provider offerings, reflecting end-user demands, are increasingly transitioning to a TDMA environment, wherein shared network models suit the “bursty” nature of Cloud computing. Multiple end-users sitting on shared networks gain the advantages of resource pooling of satellite bandwidth to meet their Cloud computing demands.
In Dubai, in February 2011, the Satellite MENA exhibition will incorporate the GVF MENASAT Summit 2011 entitled ‘New Drivers, New Dynamics: MENA Communications Markets, Applications & Technologies’. This Summit program will incorporate Cloud computing-related content (see www.gvf.org/satellite/index.cfm?item=mena2011), as will the next GVF event in the series Broadband Maritime (please visit www.uk-emp.co.uk/4th.BMSEA.Sg.2011/).
As previously announced, a MENASAT “Call for Papers” is open to the satellite industry, in order that the very latest industry initiatives, such as relate to Cloud computing, and other cutting-edge product provisions and service deliveries, are reflected in the Summit program. Proposals for presentation themes/topics should be submitted to the author, also the Chairman of the MENASAT Summit at martin.jarrold@gvf.org.
Shortly after the Dubai Summit, the GVF Broadband Maritime Series will hold its fourth international conference in Singapore. The ‘Broadband Maritime Offshore & Oceanic 2011: Information & Communications Networking Mobility South East Asia’ conference – BMSEA 2011 – will take place at the Marina Mandarin hotel on 15th & 16th February 2011.
The overall program for BMSEA 2011 will cover the following key themes: The Maritime Communications Marketplace | Segmenting the Maritime Communications Sector | Spectrum Shift: Deployment of New Global Broadband | The Maritime Communications Platform: Ocean-Going ICT | Communications Networking for Efficient Fleet Management | Regulatory of Communications Inshore & on the High Seas | Cloud Computing & Maritime Industry ICT: The Satellite Communications Interface | ICT on the Bridge: Data Capture, Analysis & Reporting Systems | Maritime Satcoms Terminal Equipment: Supply-side Challenges & Developments | Maritime Antenna Technology: Stabilized Design Parameters & Case Studies | GVF Installer Training for the Maritime Communications Market | Safety & Distress Maritime Communications Systems & the Broadband Environment | Navigation & Weather Data Streams: Real-time Integrated Broadband Access.
For further information regarding the BMSEA 2011 program, and the availability of speaking opportunities, please contact me at martin.jarrold@gvf.org. Alternatively, visit the conference web page at www.uk-emp.co.uk/4th.BMSEA.Sg.2011/.
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Martin Jarrold is Director of International Programs of the GVF. He can be reached at:mailto:martin.jarrold@gvf.org
