Posted on 09/19/2009 3:07:46 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
“Cloud computing” has easily replaced “Web 2.0” as the current trendy buzzword. The state of California is even turning to it for government systems. I have to say, however, that I have serious reservations about heavily implementing cloud computing in my own work flow. I believe that cloud computing is the killer app of the future, but the future isn’t quite here yet.
Don’t get me wrong. I do make limited use of cloud computing applications, especially Gmail. But mostly, I don’t feel comfortable putting my entire computing life “in the cloud”. Here’s why.
-- Access. Putting all my data in the cloud means I need an Internet connection to be able to do my work. This limits the times and places that I can work, and makes it more difficult to develop a plan to keep my business running in case of a utility outage. I can’t complete work offline on my laptop’s battery power and then make a short visit to an Internet connection to upload it.
-- Backups. Very few cloud services provide for making a local backup of customers’ online data, leaving me to trust the service itself to do it. I prefer the security of having my own data backups.
-- Data Loss. One particular issue that I’ve experienced with cloud services is with those set to sync with other devices or services. If one of the sync locations experiences data loss, the other locations see the lost items as deleted and delete them from their storage as well. The multiple locations don’t act as a backup, because being synced makes them vulnerable to multiplying data loss that occurs at any one of the sync locations. So I have to keep data in an additional (not synced) location to have a true backup.
-- Service Stability. When I buy software for my computer, I have it for as long as it is compatible with my machine’s operating system. If the software’s designer goes out of business, I can continue using it. With SaaS cloud services, I am dependent on those services continuing to operate to be able to do my work. If a cloud service closes up shop, which has been known to happen literally overnight with startup companies, I can at the minimum experience work flow disruption and possibly total data loss. Even financially stable companies like Google sometimes discontinue SaaS products, forcing users to look for a replacement, and to find a way to port data between incompatible applications.
-- Privacy & Security. Last, but definitely not least, putting data in the cloud raises a whole host (pun intended) of security and privacy issues. It is easier to protect data that is held on a single local machine than it is to guard against breaches on a server-based cloud system. Having a public point of log-in raises the risk of security breach via compromised password, and data can also be breached in general server attacks, not even specifically targeted to your data.
Data held on someone else’s servers is also more vulnerable to being accessed legally by subpoena than data held on a local machine (which requires a search warrant to access). A cloud service usually has no reason to invest resources in fighting legal requests for data held on their service.
So for now, I’ll keep my data (or most of it) on the ground.
Do you trust the cloud?
I agree. While I use some cloud applications, like Remember The Milk and Evernote, I’m not very comfortable with putting my whole life in the hands of online providers.
And the idea that these are going to replace my desktop is laughable even though folks keep telling us they will. My guess is those are the same folks who thought the netbook was going to be a failure and a short lived fad.
I have a dumb question.
How is “cloud” different from “folding”?
I looked into the cloud and basically agree with everything you say. I also found the database capabilities far to gimped for the data models and functions I require. I looked briefly at the language utility and was not impressed. I would also be concerned with long term performance, that is will service providers maintain performance and bandwidth if usage significantly increases?
Great points and yes, my feet are on the ground.
Why would anyone trust all their work to the web???
parsy, who can’t see any benefit to it and a lot of negatives
No I do not trust the cloud, and pretty much for all the reasons she mentioned. I’ll keep my data under my control.
Good points.
For most people backing-up online will be fine. If you store top secret information, or you are walking some sort of legal tightrope, by all means, keep your data where you can destroy it fast, I guess.
But I think online backup is an excellent idea for most. Combined with local backups it is a great way to preserve that which is precious to you and avoid very expensive data recovery fees costing thousands in some cases. If something happens to your local backup (fire, natural disaster, theft, etc.) you will have someplace to go for your stuff.
However, I’m not a fan of cloud computing because of the inherent lag. I spend a lot of money on fast hardware. It doesn’t make sense to do that just to wait on someone elses server, or the internet.
My desktop has been replaced alright- I only use laptops, and specifically, tablet-laptops.
Portable computers are made with better quality standards and greater reliability, than desktops.
That said, I agree about cloud computing: No one in their right mind wants personal information at the hands of anonymous internet handlers.
Oh, and choose a service that encrypts your data twice—once on your computer and once for the transfer to their servers. It is stored encrypted on their servers, by the way.
Carbonite does this and even allows you to keep the encryption key.
I am a 25+ year IT veteran, having worked for Cray/Sgi/Hitachi/IBM etc.
Every so often a new “Great IT Hype” comes along.
Cloud Computing is nothing new. It was called by other names before.
Of the things POSSIBLE to do, only some are LOGICAL, or Efficient, or Business wise a good idea.
It’s simply “outsourcing” of entire infrastructure, at a time where most companies are realizing how much of their destiny they put at risk by outsourcing their people, much less their entire IT infrastructure.
Not with my $$$$.
I suspect this will happen so slowly over time that we won’t even know it or question it. Take web-based email - Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail etc. Many of us use these apps every day and don’t really give it too much of a second thought. Sure, there are some who don’t - but obviously many millions do. Maybe another would be online storage of photos and movies. I suspect more and more of these apps will appear, become popular, and eventually become for many, indispensable.
“...No one in their right mind wants personal information at the hands of anonymous internet handlers.”
Nor your personal health records.
I’ve never really understood what the “Cloud” is. I’ve seen it referred to in technical documents, but no real definition was provided. And I’ve not been interested enough to look further.
I backup my laptop onto an external hard drive. I have an old Dell tower that suits me for simple applications like music transfer. I’m going to buy my wife a notebook soon because she’s advancing in her job and needs something (She’s held off as long as she could from the computer scene..). That’s all I need. And, no, I’ll not let my information into the hands of online providers; regardless of how inane it is.
It depends on what you do with your computer. I have a quad core desktop with 8 gigs of ram and 3 22” monitors. No laptop is going to touch that.
The quality standards of any prefab computer you buy outside of the top of the line models, are pretty low compared to building one yourself. You’re getting cheap onboard components for everything.
I love my laptop too, but my desktop is where I do the majority of my work. A laptop is too cramped.
The ‘cloud’ is a nonsense buzz word and nothing more. Every few years we get a bunch of hipster idiots yammering incessantly about some new cool thing like ‘cloud computing’ or ‘web 2.0’.
If you were using hotmail in 1997, you were using ‘the cloud’ before there was a ‘cloud’ and you were at the forefront of this fantastic new technology.
Just to add another point to your excellent comments, I have had non-developer clients ask about using the cloud for app ideas they have. They all held the belief that fees would be just about zero and that development could be done in minutes. Therefore I should do there work for just about FREE! That’s the extent of the hype.
All of her concerns are checklist items that are resolved with the most rudimentary due dilgence, or are identical to local data integrity concerns.
e.g.,
Do you backup? Yes.
Do you sync per transaction. Yes.
Do you encrypt my data? Yes.
Do you have regular security audits? Yes.
The only item that is seriously a concern for serious use of cloud apps is “Service Stability.” You want to make absolutely sure that the cloud app vendor is bonded and that your data can be insured against total loss or unavailablity.
>>> The ‘cloud’ is a nonsense buzz word and nothing more. <<<
True enough. It’s just an external, third party application service that runs somewhere other than on your own local computer or in your data center.
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