IBM, Google, Universities
Combine 'Cloud' Forces
By WILLIAM M. BULKELEY
October 8, 2007; Page B7
International Business Machines Corp. and Google Inc. said they are
starting a program on college campuses to promote computer-
programming techniques for clusters of processors known as "clouds."
In a joint telephone interview, IBM Chief Executive Samuel Palmisano
and Google CEO Eric Schmidt said each company will spend between $20
million and $25 million for hardware, software and services that can
be used by computer-science professors and students.
So-called cloud computing -- which lately has attracted the attention
of many tech giants, including Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems
Inc. -- allows computers in remote data centers to run parallel,
increasing their processing power.
The cloud can run many software applications and can be accessed by
many users. It promises to allow companies and universities to share
resources and not have to expand their own costly data centers.
However, the concept poses daunting questions about security,
reliability and ease of use.
In this case, IBM and Google will start by providing some 400
computers, with plans to expand to 4,000, at a number of locations.
The computers will be accessible from six universities, led by
University of Washington in Seattle, where some of the programming
techniques were developed. The other pilot universities are Carnegie
Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford
University, University of California at Berkeley and University of
Maryland.
Mr. Palmisano said the idea for collaboration between the two
companies developed when he and Mr. Schmidt met at Google
headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., last December. They realized
they held similar views on the future of cloud computing, which forms
the basis of the computer architecture Google uses for its popular
search service.
Mr. Palmisano said scientists from each company have expertise that
will aid the project. He pointed to IBM's skills at running data
centers and managing computer security. Google provides
"complementary expertise in Web computing and massively scaled
clusters," he said.
The two men said they also shared concerns that computer-science
schools were focused on teaching students how to program a single
server and not giving them opportunities to learn about parallel
programming.
Frank Gens, an analyst with market-research concern IDC in
Framingham, Mass., said the companies also are united by a rivalry
with Microsoft, and "they'd like to influence the future of online
business before Microsoft extends its influence." IBM and Google
stressed that much of the infrastructure will be open-source programs
that are freely available, rather than proprietary software programs
such as those sold by Microsoft.
Microsoft is developing its own approach to cloud computing, as is
Hewlett-Packard Co., said executives at the companies. Microsoft
hopes to use its expertise in operating systems to develop ways to
manage the large numbers of computers used in cloud computing,
executives at the software maker said.
Mervyn Adrian, an analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge,
Mass., said, "This is the next generation of computer architecture,
and IBM wants to get in front of it." He noted that many students use
Google applications and said that "IBM wants to leverage that."
Google's Mr. Schmidt said "IBM doesn't get credit for their
architecture because they're held back by the image of the
mainframe." But he said IBM's expertise in running data centers and
developing software that many companies use to run their computer
infrastructures makes it "the logical leader in cloud computing."
Mr. Palmisano said the firms are trying to "take these two sets of
skills -- IBM's understanding of how enterprises use computing and
Google's understanding of massive data flows and high-speed
connections -- and we believe we can create something significant."
He jokingly characterized the project as combining Google's young
engineers and "the old fat guys" at IBM.
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