BigDataOnCloud + FreeDB2 » Random thoughts

Happy Mother’s Day to Big Data and Cloud Mamas

Leon Katsnelson — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:41:58 +0000

With the Mothers Day upon us and with many of my blog followers having mothers (my big data analytics software estimates this to be at close to 100%) or mothers themselves, I thought I’d post this infographic just as a reminder to do something nice for all the mothers out there.

Not Yo Mama’s Mama – a Digital Mom Infographic by Internet Exposure

The Legacy of Steve Jobs?

Leon Katsnelson — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:24:06 +0000

I, along with hundreds of thousands of others, am reading a book about Steve Jobs. This post is not a book review. It is a great book and if you have any time over the holidays to dedicate to reading, this is the one to pick.

Steve Jobs was a remarkable individual. His legacy is in profound transformation of seven industries: personal computers, animated movies, music retailing, mobile phone, computer tablets, digital publishing, and retail stores. While these are big words and the book provides a riveting account of his life, it is videos like these that really make the point [...]

Read ...

When cloud fails

Leon Katsnelson — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:23:11 +0000

Large scale cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Google, IBM etc. have top notch systems, processes and people to deliver continuous availability. The capabilities and resources they bring forward are very hard to match by anyone even the largest enterprises.

However, everything fails at one time or another. Case in point, Japanese nuclear reactors were designed to withstand some serious calamities yet the they still failed in the most spectacular fashion adding to the misery of an already devastated population. Japanese people need our help; please donate if you can.

Cloud computing vendors are not immune to failure. And while [...]

Read ...

Social media is a magnet for big money

Leon Katsnelson — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 10:19:09 +0000

When it comes to this blog, I try my hardest to stick to the topics that deal with databases and cloud computing. Why cloud computing on a database blog? Because I am convinced that cloud computing is how IT capacity will be delivered in the years to come. And since databases need IT capacity (compute, storage, networking) to operate … well these two things go together.

The subject of this post, however, has nothing to do with either cloud computing or databases. I am a big believer in social media and a huge proponent of its use for “inbound marketing”. [...]

Read ...

Is Database Administrator (DBA) a good career choice?

Leon Katsnelson — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:22:26 +0000

There is a really interesting discussion going on the IDUG's DB2 List that started with a simple question: I'm wondering, if you had a person turn up at your desk and say ... "How do I get a job in the DB2 DBA / SYSPROG for z/Os world?" ... what would you do? Put them off? Encourage them? Suggest they re-train as an Investment Banker :-) ? etc DB2 list is a favorite hang out place for DB2 for z/OS DBAs and system programmers. While the question is specific to mainframe jobs, I think it applies to other DBAs and even to IT careers overall. The IT as a career choice has lost a lot of its shine. Universities across United States, Canada and western Europe report significant drop in enrolments in computer science programmes. Much of the blame, rightly or wrongly, is directed at outsourcing. [...]

Read ...

A different view on a “Database Appliance” concept

Leon Katsnelson — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:57:41 +0000

As the open source faithful have gathered in Portland for the annual O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) Canonical, the company behind an ever popular Linux distribution Ubuntu, announced that it has paired up the latest version of the free DB2 Express-C v9.7 with the latest version of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS to deliver a free enterprise-grade cloud database appliance.

Not that kind of an appliance

Database appliances, especially for data warehousing, are all the rage. These database appliances deliver a package of hardware and database software that are put together and optimized by the DBMS vendor. Most of the industry [...]

Read ...

Will Oracle lay off more MySQL people?

Leon Katsnelson — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:35:34 +0000

This really interesting article just crossed my desk. It looks like Oracle’s latest SEC filing is a pretty good indication of massive layoffs still coming as a result of the SUN acquisition. There is no way to tell which part of the business the layoffs will be in but I wonder if MySQL is affected. MySQL is not exactly a cash cow for Oracle and the business seems to be drying up as many loyal MySQL customers are heading for alternative sources of support for MySQL. It is not really cool or fiscally responsible to get support for MySQL from [...]

Read ...

Move over Oprah, DB2NightShow.com is moving up in ratings

Leon Katsnelson — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:04:20 +0000

Late night television has been almost a competitive and turbulent as database market of late. We have the whole Jay Leno vs. Conan O’Brien – The Tonight Show dilemma. Then there is Oprah Winfrey announcing end of her show. And then there is Charlie Sheen talking about quitting Two and a Half Men; now this one will hurt.

But I digress. Scott Hayes of Database-Brothers Inc. has decided to combine his love for databases and passion for good entertainment to start a DB2NightShow.com. The format is more like Tonight Show but there is no band. The jokes are good, in [...]

Read ...

DBAs, pay attention: PC is out, iPhone is in

Leon Katsnelson — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:27:14 +0000

For the past 20 years, the world has experienced computing through an IBM invention called Personal Computer through the user experience controlled by Microsoft. A generation of users have come to expect to see the world through the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office interface. Microsoft has reaped the benefits by becoming world’s largest technology company, making Bill Gates world’s richest person (second richest as of March 10, 2010) and creating an ecosystem of tens of thousands of technology companies. Today, May 26 2010 marks a very important event in the history of technology. Today Apple has surpassed Microsoft in its [...]

Read ...

Poking a little fun at Oracle

Leon Katsnelson — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:57:38 +0000

Larry Ellison has quite the reputation for shooting his mouth off . Ever since Oracle acquired Sun he has been on a tear driveling out half truths on a regular basis. I suspect he is doing this just because he can; he is Larry Ellison after all. So what if he gets fined $10K by TPC. That is a trivial expense compared to the marketing value his “rants” generate.

Well, we decided to poke some fun at Oracle. Why? Just because we can.

[...]

Read ...