Patching the cloud - Azure failure
Hoff posted some nice comments on the Azure's failure regarding patching the infrastructure used by cloud services. An interesting conclusion about it is that future patching mechanisms will have to be integrated to VMotion-like features, in a way that when you apply an OS patch to the infrastructure it can dynamically deal with that without disrupting the service. It would be something like this:
Move the virtualized hosts from one server to the others
Patch it the "idle" server
Check if it comes back properly
Gradually puts back the load on that server and checks if there is any impact from the patch
If everything is ok, go back to step #1 for the next server - repeat until all servers are patched
I wonder if the guys from Microsoft Update are talking with the Azure teamĀ - big challenge for team integration ahead, and business opportunity for patch management companies.