Alex Williams

Reflecting on my previous post about scalability, I’ve realized I omitted one important detail: decentralization. One of the biggest hurdles has always been in regards to the decentralization of the IT infrastructure. I’ve been lucky to work with companies having offices in various remote locations and I’m still puzzled that so many remote locations can depend on 1 central core computer system/network.

When something goes wrong in that central location, everyone is affected. This completely goes against the idea of having scalable, redundant, and distributed systems.

I’ve spent the last few weeks drawing plans to decentralize the IT infrastructure of a few organizations, only to realize that my ideas would be difficult to accept due to added complexity. In my opinion, this is something which is unavoidable at every level of the organization, more so during fast growth and expansion.

I understand that added costs are something which would preferably be avoided, especially with the increasing gas prices and pending recession… at the same time, these organizations can’t allow themselves to be held at the mercy of such a centralized system.

Removing said dependencies will allow an organization to grow laterally as well as vertically, while paving the way for future teleworkers (lower costs). Building these systems from the ground up requires a broad vision of the future of the organization. At the same time, the plan must be flexible enough for changes to slide through.

I’ve looked for answers in books, whitepapers, and trade magazines, and realized that there’s no ultimate solution.

Most Sys Admins want to maintain total control (physical & logical) of their computer systems, but what they don’t realize is that they are jeopardizing and slowing the progress of the entire organization by doing so. A good Sys Admin is able to delegate reponsibility to lower-level admins without losing control of the network. Without decentralized computer systems & networks, this type of delegation becomes increasingly difficult, even impossible.

I have not yet obtained the experience necessary to establish myself as a senior systems architect, but after 8 years I’ve learned the patterns and solutions required to design systems which are (and will be) favorable for everyone.

On that note, feel free to leave a comment about decentralizing computer systems & networks. I would love to hear opinions on how we can help organizations understand its importance.