Roundup: FriendFeed, VMworld, TechCrunch

Bret Taylor from FriendFeed has posted an article about scaling MySQL, the challenges FriendFeed encountered, and how it is addressing them. "As we grew, scaling our existing features to accomodate more traffic turned out to be much less of an issue than adding new features," Bret writes. "In particular, making schema changes or adding indexes to a database with more than 10 - 20 million rows completely locks the database for hours at a time." 

GigaOm looks at four approaches to power management in virtual data centers, which includes brief discussions of Appistry, Cassatt, Virtual Iron and VMware. 

Yearning for more recap of VMworld Europe 2009? You'll want to check out Yellow Bricks' comprehensive review of more than 76 links providing information from the event.

There are mixed reactions to the TechCrunch Cloud Computing Roundtable held late Friday. The summary and highlights from TechCrunch notes the "cloud is the new dot-com" statement by one panelist, which annoys some pundits and resonates with others. Not enough context? You can check out the entire three-hour replay.

Reuven Cohen has an interesting look at billing in the cloud and the value of real-time account information on how much you're spending.