Zilele trecute v-am vorbit despre proiectul McQueen in baza caruia compania Apple doreste sa dezvolte o infrastructura de tip CDN pentru a distribui global continut multimedia si aplicatii in diverse zone de pe glob fara a se baza la fel de mult pe Amazon, Microsoft si mai nou Google.
Desi acele informatii erau surprinzatoare pentru multi, astazi aflam ca de fapt acest proiect McQueen este doar unul dintre cele 6 aflate in curs de desfasurare in cadrul companiei Apple, fiecare avand rolul de a crea infrastructura CDN pentru Apple.
Apple vrea sa construiasca o serie de centre de date in diverse zone de pe glob in care sa amplaseze servere creata folosind echipament de retea produs de catre ea, in ele urmand a rula un software propriu care sa distribuie continutul in intreaga lume.
Apple are nevoie de aceste centre de date nu doar pentru a sustine propriile magazine online si servicii online care au nevoie de tot mai multa putere de procesare, ci si pentru a le oferi dezvoltatorilor servicii cloud pentru viitoare aplicatii dedicate iDevice-urilor.
Apple has at least six projects underway to develop cloud infrastructure, including one codenamed Project McQueen designed to build its own data storage systems. Others include projects to build servers, networking equipment and systems that could one day help developers to power their apps. Apple can’t move off rival cloud services entirely until all the cloud elements are ready, although it will be able to limit its dependence on others if some of these were completed.
Fiind o companie in care se crede in multe teorii conspirationiste, unii manageri ai Apple sunt de parere ca unele servere livrate pentru actualele centre de date contin software si componente in care exista sisteme de monitorizare care permit interceptarea datelor si transferarea lor catre servere terte.
Mai exact, se sugereaza ideea ca NSA sau alte agentii guvernamentale au compromis serverele folosite de Apple pentru a putea avea acces la datele din ele, lucru deloc greu de crezut avand in vedere tot ceea ce se intampla in ultima vreme in SUA.
At least part of the driver for this is to ensure that the servers are secure. Apple has long suspected that servers it ordered from the traditional supply chain were intercepted during shipping, with additional chips and firmware added to them by unknown third parties in order to make them vulnerable to infiltration, according to a person familiar with the matter. At one point, Apple even assigned people to take photographs of motherboards and annotate the function of each chip, explaining why it was supposed to be there. Building its own servers with motherboards it designed would be the most surefire way for Apple to prevent unauthorized snooping via extra chips.
Intregul articol este foarte interesant si demonstreaza din nou de ce Apple refuza sa coopereze cu agentiile guvernamentale americane, dar si de ce ea doreste atat de mult sa fie independenta in ceea ce priveste furnizarea de servicii de tip cloud.
