Jason Forrester este omul care pana in 2015 a condus divizia care administra centrele de date ale companiei Apple, el avand rolul de a supraveghea inclusiv crearea catorva dintre centrele de date pe care compania Apple se bazeaza in momentul de fata pentru a-si sustine serviciile online.
Jason Forrester s-a angajat in cadrul Apple in anul 2011, cand Apple avea doar doua centre de date care se ocupau doar de sustinerea traficului intern al companiei si de livrarea unor aplicatii sau muzica din iTunes Store, el reusind sa convinga conducerea sa aprobe cosntruirea multor altora care sustin Siri, iMessage, iCloud si multe altele.
Avand in vedere multitudinea de servicii si software pe care le are Apple, Forrester sutine ca au existat enorm de multe probleme de-a lungul timpului, majoritatea dintre ele necunoscute furnizorilor de hardware sau software pentru Apple, asa ca echipele sale au fost nevoite sa isi creeze multe servicii proprii pentru a tine reteaua in functiune si a o actualiza la nevoie extrem de rapid.
Then I landed a job at Apple, where I had a ringside seat on one of the challenging network expansions in history. When I arrived in 2011, Apple had two data centers, mostly handling internal traffic and doling out songs and apps from the iTunes music store. By the time we left, Apple had several more centers stuffed with an incredible amount of network devices to handle billions of Siri and Map queries, iMessages, and cloud services.
Problemele au devenit la un moment dat atat de mari, incat singura solutie de a mentine serviciile in functiune a fost folosirea inginerilor pentru a dezvolta software care sa monitorizeze si sa adminsitreze mai eficient toate serverele pe care Apple le avea in centrele sale de date.
We were dealing with problems our vendors had never contemplated, much less figured out. We began exploring radically new approaches, including a handful of supposedly open-sourced solutions so we could dive into the guts of our network ourselves – say, to look directly at the data coming off network processors. As much as we wanted these technologies to work, they didn’t.
In baza oamenilor talentati care lucrau in divizia de servicii de internet, Apple a reusit sa isi creeze foarte mult software care ii permite sa obtina tot ceea ce au de oferit serverele sale, insa toate aceste inovatii nu sunt cunoscute companiilor din exterior, iar multe dintre ele ar putea schimba radical modul in care functioneaza retele globale de distribuire de continut.
So we developed some of our own, including a provisioning tool for upgrading the software on thousands of switches without taking the network offline. If you haven’t heard, Apple likes to keep such internal accomplishments to itself, so I can’t share the results. Let’s just say we were able to accomplish in minutes what would have taken hours, days, or even weeks.
Desi in cadrul Apple a reusit sa isi faca un renume si sa participe la crearea de sisteme inovatoare, Forrester a ajuns totusi in punctul in care nu a mai dorit sa pastreze toate secretele pe care Apple ii impunea sa nu le spuna lumii, asa ca in cursul anului 2015 a decis sa isi dea demisia.
Slowly, our desire to share our ideas with the world began to overshadow the thrill and pride of working for Apple. My team and I left in 2015. Truth be told, I spent a few days crying on the couch. My mood only improved when we began to test our ideas with potential customers.
El si multi ingineri talentati ai Apple au plecat din cadrul companiei si si-au creat un startup propriu care isi propune sa aduca multe inovatii in domeniul retelisticii si a administrarii serverelor, unele tehnologii fiind dezvoltate in cadrul Apple, compania pierzandu-i din cauza secretomaniei pe care o impune tuturor angajatilor.