NetKernel: Making IT Matter Again

The premise of Nicholas Carr's "Does IT Matter?" book was that if everyone uses the same tools, processes, products, etc., is there any competitive advantage to be had from the average IT organization?

NetKernel represents a fundamentally different approach to building systems. It takes what we like about Unix, REST and SOA and mixes it together. It inexplicably changes everything while allowing you to reuse existing code, services and libraries. Not only can it make building the kinds of systems you are building today easier, it does it more efficiently, with less code and a far more scalable runway to allow you to take advantage of the emerging multi-core, multi-CPU hardware that is coming our way.

This workshop will be a deeper dive into Resource-Oriented Computing with NetKernel. We will explore:

  • the resource model as it applies to general computing
  • the intersection of REST and the resource model
  • scaling your software without really trying
  • interacting with relational databases
  • orchestration around different service types
  • logically-layering applications for flexibility
  • advanced caching strategies
  • leveraging dynamic languages with the resource model
  • instant cloud support

It is rare that a technology comes along that is both revolutionary and lets you reuse what you already know. All it takes is a bit of different thinking and a little courage to try something new.


About Brian Sletten

Brian Sletten

Brian Sletten is a liberal arts-educated software engineer with a focus on using and evangelizing forward-leaning technologies. He has a background as a system architect, a developer, a security consultant, a mentor, a team lead, an author and a trainer and operates in all of those roles as needed. His experience has spanned the online game, defense, finance, academic, hospitality, retail and commercial domains. He has worked with a wide variety of technologies such as network matrix switch controls, 3D simulation/visualization, Grid Computing, P2P and Semantic Web-based systems. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from the College of William and Mary. He is President of Bosatsu Consulting, Inc. and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

He focuses on web architecture, resource-oriented computing, social networking, the Semantic Web, scalable systems, security consulting and other technologies of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.

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