Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    Autonomics Hinges on Trust

    Written by

    Peter Coffee
    Published June 7, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Id never before used the word “autonomic” in an after-dinner speech, but it finally made the leap from lab to lectern May 26 at the presentation of the fourth annual eWEEK Excellence Awards in New York. IBMs ambitious vision of self-diagnosing, self-healing systems, I told our award-winning dinner guests and my fellow Excellence judges, is coming into focus with this years arrival of products from many vendors that build on IBMs foundation.

      IBM offers an eloquent statement of the core problem of IT on an IBM Research portal page that is admirably concise (a welcome contrast to the usual clutter of breathless vendor hype): “We obliterate barriers and set records with astonishing regularity,” observes the simple declaration at www.research.IBM.com/autonomic. “But now we face a problem springing from the very core of our success, and too few of us are focused on solving it.” The italics are IBMs. Business Roundtable members, Im sure, would add italics of their own, as evidenced by statements from the group that were summarized last week by eWEEK Labs Director Jim Rapoza in his Tech Directions column.

      The purchasing power represented by the Business Roundtables 150 blue-chip members has now been harnessed to the sentiment, stated in the organizations recently released cyber-security policy, that core IT products as developed and produced today “do not incorporate effective tests, checks or safeguards” to address their growing complexity and importance in enterprise operations. The essence of the alternative approach that IBM calls “autonomic” is a deeper analogy between IT and biological systems.

      Running anti-virus scans or managing software updates are conscious processes that take our attention away from other tasks—nothing like the manner in which our bodies maintain themselves. We dont wake up in the morning and consciously exercise our immune systems or regulate replacement of aging cells. Instead, our highly distributed autonomic nervous systems detect and respond to needs such as breathing, temperature control and other body functions, without taking our attention away from higher thought processes.

      This is not just more convenient than centralized control; its also much more effective. The process that jerks your finger from a hot object, for example, protects you much better by routing the signal from pain sensors to motor neurons through a reflex arc in the spinal cord, rather than taking the time to send the signal to the brain and back.

      To get more concrete about how this notion relates to IT, IBM proposes eight goals that must be achieved. I consider these goals ambitious and am concerned that some might be overachieved. IBM proposes that:

      • Systems must be aware of the components they own or can share.
      • Systems must be able to reconfigure themselves for new situations.
      • Continual self-optimization should replace static configurations.
      • Systems should recognize problems and work around or resolve them.
      • Self-protection should encompass deliberate attacks as well as simple failures.
      • Scanning the system environment should enhance defense and adaptation.
      • Reliance on open standards should improve the ability of systems to understand and assist one another.
      • Predictable changes in the demands on the system, or identifiable trends, should trigger a hands-off response.

      That last phrase resonates with recent Microsoft proposals for automatic update by default. But our confidence that vendors will do things right must increase before we let them do things without our knowledge or control.

      Among the companies committed to making autonomics real is Network Physics, whose NP-2000 network analysis appliance took home this years Excellence trophy for IT Quality Assurance. Autonomics partnerships also have been announced between IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft.

      Building systems that scrutinize themselves, with mechanisms for graceful degradation or, ideally, for self-repair, is an idea whose time has clearly come. Id rather have brains in the loop, but perhaps technology is on the verge of being as good—and, certainly, much less expensive.

      Technology Editor Peter Coffee can be reached at [email protected].

      Check out eWEEK.coms Developer & Web Services Center at http://developer.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews and analysis in programming environments and developer tools.

      Be sure to add our eWEEK.com developer and Web services news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page

      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee is Director of Platform Research at salesforce.com, where he serves as a liaison with the developer community to define the opportunity and clarify developers' technical requirements on the company's evolving Apex Platform. Peter previously spent 18 years with eWEEK (formerly PC Week), the national news magazine of enterprise technology practice, where he reviewed software development tools and methods and wrote regular columns on emerging technologies and professional community issues.Before he began writing full-time in 1989, Peter spent eleven years in technical and management positions at Exxon and The Aerospace Corporation, including management of the latter company's first desktop computing planning team and applied research in applications of artificial intelligence techniques. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, he has held teaching appointments in computer science, business analytics and information systems management at Pepperdine, UCLA, and Chapman College.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×