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Erika says==============But with all this virtualization trend going on, I guess boxes will gradually be replaced by networking SW run on regular servers and then we can apply Mark?s theory.==============
Actually, this is where I don't see Mark's theory working. Virtualization translates into distributed applications (microservices) -- multiple "server" components that make up the final "application". The thing is, your "application" might be different from mine, and we may never know which components a specific user will use or have access to in advance of the user signing onto a session. When that happens, you can't know what docs to deliver. A single, centralized doc server can't scale to the possible combinations. The answer is to distribute the docs with each component, and provide a client that aggregates the content at request time. This is what I'm doing at VMTurbo (a virtualization platform company).
Also, there are still security constraints. The obvious -- when an enterprise doesn't allow external access -- demands that the components be installed behind the firewall, and that's where the docs should live as well. But there's another aspect -- dynamic content. With a client that dynamically aggregates content at request time the content can come from anywhere, including the component data model itself. That means the docs can build content that reflects the user's state, on the fly. To do this, if the user's data is behind the firewall, then the docs must also be behind the firewall -- or at least the doc client must be.Â
We have to move away from the notion of a centralized doc server. That's just another silo. There are two directions to go here. Either find the UNIVERSAL SILO -- The one silo that can do everything you need today and tomorrow -- or implement a system that connects silos. IMO, the latter is the more likely, more flexible, and more future-proof.
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