[Info-vax] Data Center Operations: DC/OS, Apache Mesos

[Kerry Main]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at info-vax.com] On Behalf Of
> Stephen Hoffman via Info-vax
> Sent: 03-Jun-16 10:23 AM
> To: info-vax at info-vax.com
> Cc: Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid>
> Subject: [New Info-vax] Data Center Operations: DC/OS, Apache Mesos
> 
> 
> There have been suggestions here in the comp.os.vms newsgroup that
> OpenVMS head toward a distributed data center operating system, and
> there have been a few discussions both here in comp.os.vms and at the
> 2015 OpenVMS boot camp around adding support for containers on
> OpenVMS
> (both as containers and in the guise of app stacking).
> 
> If that sounds interesting, have a look at Mesoshere's DC/OS:
> https://dcos.io/docs/1.7/overview/what-is-dcos/
> 
> As dealing with all that is part of what Apache Mesos — the
> underpinnings of DC/OS — provides.  http://mesos.apache.org
> 
> Through Mesos, DC/OS allows scheduling on local boxes through various
> means, as well as on AWS and Azure services.
> 
> FWIW, the "When you’re operating a datacenter, there are a set of
> common operations that you do because you have to, not because you
> want
> to. In a single computer environment, your operating system
> automatically takes care of these things. When was the last time you
> had to manually tell your laptop which processor core to run your
> application on?  For those of you who responded with anything other
> than “never”, there are some amazing computers at the Computer
> History
> Museum that you might want to check out." line was good for a chuckle.
> 

A bit naïve as well .. a laptop is a single user. A server is multi-user, much
more complicated environment, so one should expect to do more support 
related work.

Kind of like comparing the work to maintain a bicycle to an automobile. 

> No, I haven't seen a port of Mesos to OpenVMS, and I'd tend to expect
> the down-standard C++ support on OpenVMS probably lacks a few
> features
> necessary for the port.
> 

Imho, this would be way, way down on the list of priorities for future
Dev work. Especially when this is really only in its infancy days. 

Maybe this technology will emerge as something more important in
the future, but right now it is certainly not a done deal.

> But maybe this gives some of you some idea of where parts of the
> high-end and data center computing markets are already headed.
> 

Mgmt of high end DC's has really not changed in the last 2-3 decades
(shades of EMA!) and there is a reason for it .. it's really, really tough 
when dealing with multi-vendor, multi-platform, multi-standards and 
multiple different views by different groups who all think they know 
the right way to do this. 

Mesos is an OS / App mgmt. approach, but how does this apply to the 
mgmt of network, server / storage HW / facility infrastructure mgmt.?

The mgmt. of all these need to be integrated in a high end DC.

Add to this the fact that Support groups seldom get much funding to do 
what is required and you begin to realize why not much has changed in 
all these decades.

As an example, how does one associate the CI's (devices like routers,
servers, storage HW etc) for a specific Service (e.g. an App) so that when 
a CI fails, mgmt. knows what business services are impacted and what 
support group should the ticket be forwarded to and what groups 
should get a message which says "your service is impacted, but it's 
not your  issue and someone else is working on it?" 

Answer - The most complicated part of the overall mgmt. of a high end 
DC is what is called the Operations Bridge. This is what I often call the
"heart" of an enterprise management architecture. It is the heavily 
customized component that drives a proactive approach to managing 
all aspects of IT (not just OS/App level) vs. a reactive approach.

While this is a HP marketing video, view this with a vendor neutral 
viewpoint as it provides a better understanding of the criticality of the 
OPS Bridge In an enterprise management arch of a high end DC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLwfNtBu1sg 


Regards,

Kerry Main
Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com