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Amazon’s distributed computing manifesto (1998)

allthingsdistributed.com

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Re: Amazon’s distributed computing manifesto (1998)

#3

Post by kerblang »

> All of this was being done before terms like service-oriented architecture existed.

I feel like the first time I heard the term was early 2000's, and wasn't it a mainframe thing first? Dunno, just wondering.

Anyhow, it's nicely written, very concise, and worth noting how the original author focuses more on "What kind of realistic options do we have?" than winning the A vs. B vs. C argument in one fell swoop.

Re: Amazon’s distributed computing manifesto (1998)

#6

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

kerblang wrote: post #3

> All of this was being done before terms like service-oriented architecture existed. I feel like the first time I heard the term was early 2000's, and wasn't it a mainframe thing first? Dunno, just wondering. Anyhow, it's nicely written, very concise, and worth noting how the original author focuses more on "What kind of realistic options do we have?" than winning the A vs. B vs. C argument in one fell swoop.

Yeah, the buzzwords have changed, but some version of the concept has been in the air at least since I was learning Delphi in the 90s

Re: Amazon’s distributed computing manifesto (1998)

#10

Post by 0xbadcafebee »

"And with every few orders of magnitude of growth the current architecture would start to show cracks in reliability and performance, and engineers would start to spend more time with virtual duct tape and WD40 than building new innovative products. At each of these inflection points, engineers would invent their way into a new architectural structure to be ready for the next orders of magnitude growth."

That last part, to me, is the key to success: getting the whole business to do things in a new way. That is fucking hard. If you can get your business to do it, you have an invaluable superpower. The more things that you can reinvent, faster, gives you more and more superpowers. It's one thing to change your architecture. But also imagine getting every employee to change how they deal with vacations, suppliers, customers, finance, or involving entirely new industries. The easier it is to adapt and change, the longer you survive and the more you thrive. Evolution, baby.

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