Virtualization Automation – A Proper Virtual World

Traveled Around the World, Traveled Through Time

December 3rd, 2009

Know What Virtualization Is, But What Is Next? – Chapter 17

A couple of days ago, I was in Cairo and the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt. Moved from Taxco, Mexico on to Hong Kong hours later, and last night as well as early this morning I was in Beirut, Lebanon. Last week I was in Bangkok, Thailand, and Penang Malaysia. Never mind, various locations in Canada, and the United States. As I write this blog entry I just left Tokyo Japan. How is this possible, well, I was going through several thousands of 35mm slides my maternal grandparents took as they traveled around the world in 1966 and going forward in time some 45 or so years until now, 2009? In 1966, which it so happens, was just after my 1st birth day, the world was a different place; the pictures I have seen make this clear. This walk through time, around the world, is more than interesting, it is quite personal, because my maternal grandmother now almost 92, is losing her short-term memory, and starting to lose some of her long-term memory. Thus, extreme age is curse at times, and not always a benefit. So now is the time to review the slides and make sure what my Grandmother remembers, is not lost to the continuum of space and time.

At this point, I am sure someone is asking… and this has something to do with virtualization? It does. What will we remember of virtualization in 4 or more years, what will the future of computing look like to each generation beyond us from now? In just the last 6 years, virtualization is now the driving force in computing. Hands down, cloud computing would be near impossible without virtualization. But, unlike Gartner, I do not have a crystal ball, I don’t have extensive resources to research the trends, the patterns, or the unique indicators that twist and turn computing destiny, like stellar matter on the event horizon of a black hole? But what I do have is a bit of common sense, and some basic knowledge of the information technology industry. There are few key concepts that computing continues to establish, and re-establish over and over the last 40 years for so. Will these concepts hold true 40 year from now?

Time versus Space. This is a fact, computing still struggles with a way to resolve this conflict. Technology hides the issue, but the principle never changes. In computing this is memory versus disk, even as disk as a metaphor changes, from mechanical to solid state, the issue does not. Well, operating system architecture may change and may eliminate the conflict, how? Imagine an operating system, complete and robust that lives only in memory? ESXi stateless with its direct memory load is a step in this direction. No, solid-state disks are disqualified, the use of disk IO will not survive, cell phone operating system design using SIM cards are an incomplete but parallel concept, the SIM card is seen as memory to an extent, and extension of memory space. If the entire operating system only lives in memory, disk is a drag that can be eliminated, not the just device, but the API that drives disks can be abandoned. Will the idea of a giant, huge, ever present data-core, exist in the future? I believe so.

Direct versus Indirect Interfaces. Keyboards, and mice, where and are indirect cybernetic interfaces. Which will apply to virtualization in 40 years? Ignoring the soul and the metaphysical aspects of human existence, what is the mind? A parallel computing system, sure, a database engine, short-term and long-term memory, caching, etc., yes to all, so improving the connections to these is a corner stone now that will build future methods? Consider cybernetic interfaces now in development for war veterans, there is no realistic wet interfacing to the mind, but variants of electro-chemic driven apparatus, all indirect methods. So cybernetic systems at least today are driven by proxy only, such as toes stand in for a hand, arm, or even fingers that no longer can be controlled by the mind via direct interface to the nervous system before injury or loss of limb? But in 40 years, direct interfaces will eclipse this limitation. One possible result of wet interfaces or direct integration of virtual space to the human nervous system, may overcome cerebral palsy. What did I lose some of you? Imagine the potential, for instance of such direct interfacing. Case in point, cerebral palsy is brain damage, where the voluntarily motor system is unable to function as designed. In computing terms cerebral palsy is corrupted firmware because the memory location where it resides is or has failed, the mind cannot drive the peripherals, meaning the arms and legs, as needed, in a correct manner, the result is all the side effects the condition creates, misalign muscle strength, tendons to weak or strong to work as designed, etc. I However, a direct interface technology, could create a virtual mirror of the damaged part of the brain, interface the rest of the functional brain to the new mirror, then flash the mirror, thus the brain via external reference, can by-pass the fault, and cerebral palsy never establishes the impact, and normal muscle and tendon development takes place. Don’t stop with just a cure, no, a fix for cerebral palsy? What would 40 or more years allow us to achieve? Almost any memory oriented chronic issue in the human mind could be eliminated or improved.

But considering virtualization in five (5) dimensions, beyond application versus operating system isolation frameworks? Abstract the mind, focus on the sensory aspects of the mind, that drive the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight, sound? With cybernetic enhancement, and direct interface improvements overcome memory recall, or even memory imprinting? What will we be able to do in the future? Will we encounter a limitation of the mind? The old space versus time issue comes back again? Once solution would be to abstract human memory into a virtualized space not expanding consciousness but just access and retrieval functions for information, which would seem possible, no? Can the human mind learn to access external memory? So back to the indirect versus direct interface design again? Time versus space becomes an issue unless external resources and be leveraged by the mind. Get the feeling that this is circular logic? Imagine a world, where dementia and Alzheimer’s, or any of the various recall impacting diseases or chronic conditions, being addresses not by drugs or other electro-chemical alchemistic methods, but by information technology solutions? Ok, so maybe it is science fiction, but will it always be so? I hope not in 40 or more years, as I approach 85 years of age! VDI may one day stand for Virtual Direct Interface to the human mind?

If only walking through time, was as easy as walking around the world. If only walking through time, was like flipping through slides take decades ago. Consider this, in 1966 I am sure some could only dream of what we can do today with computing technology, virtualization would appear as a mystical and vague concept? So in the decades to come from now, what miracles will the future have that we can only imagine in simplistic terms now?

Entry Filed under: A Proper Virtual World