Second post in the three-post series: Is AtomPub already the HTTP of cloud computing?<http://samj.net/2009/05/is-atompub-already-http-of-cloud.html>A couple of weeks ago I asked Is OCCI the HTTP of cloud computing?<http://samj.net/2009/05/is-occi-http-of-cloud-computing.html>I explained the limitations of HTTP in this context, which basically stem from the fact that the payloads it transfers are opaque. That's fine when they're [X]HTML because you can express links between resources within the resources themselves, but what about when they're some other format - like OVF describing a virtual machine as may well be the case for OCCI? If I want to link between a virtual machine and its network(s) and/or storage device(s) then I'm out of luck... I need to either find an existing meta-model or roll my own from scratch. That's where Atom (or more specifically, AtomPub) comes in... in the simplest sense it adds a light, RESTful XML layer to HTTP which you can extend as necessary. It provides for collections (a 'feed' of multiple resources or 'entries' in a single HTTP message) as well as a simple meta-model for linking between resources, categorising them, etc. It also gives some metadata relating to unique identifiers, authors/contributors, caching information, etc., much of which can be derived from HTTP (e.g. URL <-> Atom ID, Last-Modified <-> updated). Although it was designed with syndication in mind, it is a very good fit for creating APIs, as evidenced by its extensive use in: - Google's GData <http://code.google.com/apis/gdata/> - Microsoft's Live Services<http://www.25hoursaday.com/weblog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8c8b2311-96c9-41b9-badd-51e68d4ce995> - IBM's Lotus Connections<http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/connections-deploy-pt6/> - SalesForce.com's Google Apps Integration<http://www.dehora.net/journal/2008/06/24/salesforcecom-and-google-integration-atompub/> I'd explain in more detail but Mohanaraj Gopala Krishnan has done a great job already in his AtomPub, Beyond Blogs<http://www.slideshare.net/mohangk/atompub-beyond-blogs?type=presentation>presentation. The only question that remains is whether or not this is the best we can do... stay tuned for the answer. The biggest players in cloud computing seem to think so (except Amazon, whose APIs predate Google's and Microsoft's) but maybe there's an even simpler approach that's been sitting right under our noses the whole time.