The old ideas are still the best

It often seems that there are few really new ideas in computers. There are many, many interesting technologies, novel approaches, and effective products -- but when examined closer, most are old ideas in a few form.

Take CPU architecture. The very first CPUs were RISC-type machines, but were severely-limited by the technology available. Limited RAM, and slow access times, meant it was advantageous to perform as much work as possible without accessing RAM. So we got CISC architecture. But as hardware improved, RISC architectures came to the fore again. It seemed new to many engineers, but was simply an idea whose time had come.

Another example is Cloud Computing. Often mistaken as a new idea, of course it's actually a very old idea. 1950s science fiction is replete with visions of centralized computing. Take Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451, a dystopian novel about the future. It features a centralized, interactive, video distribution system (admittedly used to distract the populace, and keep it content!).

So while Cloud Computing is an old idea -- as are the problems of insufficient bandwitdh and high latencies that go with it -- Riverbed has new solutions for these problems. The Riverbed Cloud Steelhead allows enterprises to overcome these problems, giving end-users LAN-like performance access to services and data located in the Cloud.  The Whitewater Cloud Storage Gateway allows you to eliminate dependence on unreliable, error-prone tape systems for backup and DR Eliminate tape and enjoy the benefits of cloud backup with a Whitewater cloud storage gateway.

It often seems to me that if one wants to learn the best technical approaches, one needs to look back, not forward. History is full of ideas which are just waiting for engineering ability to catch up. And Riverbed's engineers have now caught up and are helping those visions become a reality, allowing enterprises to deliver services to their end-users, in an efficient and secure manner.