Peer Review
By Cheryl Currid
What are you doing with peer-to-peer computing in your enterprise? Could this technology, especially with a revitalized effort from the industry, solve any of your IT problems? I think it could.
Consider what's happening in many large companies: The demand for computing power and storage continues to grow. It's more than just resource creep, it comes from people demanding new applications. Building a great new Web site is one thing, but then come demands for applications to analyze it, serve multimedia from it, and store archives on it. It's an endless chain.
Traditional computing models require a company to spend tons of money for more resources. Then, the IT staff hurries to get the most benefit from the new gear before it becomes old gear. After investing capital dollars into a more powerful computer or a cluster, companies hire teams of experts to install and convert software, and maintain and administer the new computing boxes.
Over time—and not very much time—machine models change, and the company's applications need to change because each new generation of hardware and operating system has special features that work only when code is optimized. Often, applications must undergo extensive modifications or be completely rewritten before they can be ported to the new computer. Meanwhile, the new resource depreciates in value enormously almost as soon as it's taken out of the crate. Organizations have to move quickly to get their money's worth.
A Better Way
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing promises another, potentially better way to plan for resources.
