Facebook Meets the Virtualized Enterprise
Date
2008-07-15T22:16:05Z
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
“Web 2.0” and “cloud computing” are revolutionizing
the way IT infrastructure is accessed and managed. Web
2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis and social networking
platforms provide Internet users with easier mechanisms to
produce Web content and to interact with each other. Cloud
computing technologies are aimed at running applications
as services over the Internet on a scalable infrastructure.
They enable businesses that do not have the capital or technical
expertise to support their own infrastructure to get access
to computing on demand. They could also be used by
large businesses to more efficiently manage their own infrastructure
as an “internal cloud”.
In this paper we explore the advantages of using Web 2.0
and cloud computing technologies in an enterprise setting
to provide employees with a comprehensive and transparent
environment for utilizing applications. To demonstrate
the effectiveness of this approach we have developed an
environment that uses Facebook (a social networking platform)
to provide access to the Fire Dynamics Simulator (a
legacy application). The application is supported using Virtual
Appliances that are hosted in an internal cloud computing
infrastructure that adapts dynamically to user demands.
Initial feedback suggests this approach provides a
much better user experience than the traditional standalone
use of the application. It also simplifies the management
and increases the effective utilization of the underlying IT
resources.
Description
Keywords
Facebook, Virtualized