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?
What else can be done with this technology. I recently attended an Amazon cloud event. The event had a few exhibitors, one which offered the service of turning on virtual machines to simulate real world load stress testing for your web application. I also had the chance to speak with Seth with Last Legion Games. They use cloud computing to expand and contract 3D graphics processing power needed to handle usage spikes for their online games.
Without the cloud I’m nothing.
>>> I’ve never really understood what the “Cloud” is. <<<<
Google Mail.
Google Docs.
Salesforce.com
You access the application and your data through your web browser. Everything is stored “out there” on the Internet.
That’s it! Everything you need to know about cloud computing.
You’re really talking about content delivery networks there, which is where the ‘cloud computing’ term first started getting used. Now, it’s expanded to include any app that you use that isn’t on your own computer.
There’s a huge future in CDN’s, but that’s another thread. Not that there isn’t any future in web applications, far from it. I just question the wisdom of the folks who assume that we’re all going to get rid of our computers to use them.
Amazon's EC2 computing and S3 storage services are cheap and flexible. But, they will never be PCI compliant, so they're not appropriate to run eCommerce transactions. They also have security weaknesses (encryption implementation) and who knows what protections are in place against unauthorized access by Amazon employees and contractors.
But, it's really easy to spin up additional capacity when needed for a big project (you pay by the computing unit/hour) - like a big one-time research project or running a large batch of automated functional and regression tests. You don't have to buy additional hardware/software for an occasional spike in computing capacity.
Review the risks / ROI on any external vendor service. There is a broad range of "cloud computing" providers with different levels of capacity, availability, security, process compliance, and support. As always - you get what you pay for.
But now they only block the sun They rain and snow on everyone So many things I would have done But clouds got in my way
>>> expand and contract 3D graphics processing power needed to handle usage spikes for their online games. <<<<
A friend ran some compute-intensive crypto exercises on Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud and they were very happy with it.
>>> who knows what protections are in place against unauthorized access by Amazon employees and contractors. <<<<
There are ways of auditing Amazon and similar organizations on these kinds of issues, and many companies do so regularly and as a matter of course.
Cheers!
Surely, they could have come up with a better name. Sounds too much like a brain cloud from Joe vs. the Volcano. And no, I wouldn’t use it.
Just read "Prey"
You folks are giving me the willies.
The first time I heard the expression “cloud” was about 1993 in reference to Frame Relay. The data hit the port then the PVC then the network router (this was MCI - no switches) then the CLOUD...what happened in the cloud? Nobody knew. My bet is that’s still the case.
What the hell do people do, sit around wasting time thinking up these silly acronyms, just to make a name for themselves?
Cloud. Sheesh. And the way it’s written up in some quarters, one would think it’s a the be-all-end-all. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll keep my stuff confidential.
The best reason to avoid cloud computing is this...
Skynet will become self aware
I have an even dumber question --- what the hell is "cloud computing?"
I realize that I am not among those who yearn to be on the bleeding age of technology, but this is ridiculous. Yes, Grasshoppers, I do know I can google it, but it is disconcerting to read news every day and miss a major technological player.
This seems to be another example of the "backup your entire computer to our site" for a monthly fee scam.
It is also another example of all or nothing approach to computer design; in the old days, interfaces, graphics and expansion cards were separate and, if one failed it was replaced. No longer. Microshaft has seen to it that now, if any all-in-one motherboard fails, you must beg on bended knee to replace all your legally obtained software, never mind your data. That's progress?
I don't think so.
re: perfect_rovian_storm: “quad core desktop with 8 gigs of ram and 3 22” monitors”
What do you use that thing for?
“I have a dumb question.
How is “cloud” different from “folding”?”
Not a dumb question at all.
The “cloud” is basically what others have been discussing on this thread ... remote computers that provide some kind of applications to use on any machine via a web browser. That’s basically it. The only thing that is somewhat different from “the cloud” and the old, say, “VAX” systems is that your machine executes some code locally while the remote computer provides the code to execute (i.e. something like Java for instance ... code is written in one language but can be executed on any machine). When you were using an older machine like a VAX, your terminal was pretty much a CRT and keyboard ... the VAX system would in effect drive the display (usually was only text).
Folding (as in Folding@Home on PS3 or PC) is more of a technique to accelerate billions and billions of computations across multiple computers on a network. In the case of Folding@Home, users volunteer their machine for use since they are not using the console/PC, etc. Once the volunteered machine available, a host will dispatch some computations it wants the machine to compute. The machine will perform these computations and report back the results. Using this method, you can distribute tasks and have them all operate in parallel ... since you are parallelizing the tasks, you get the end results much faster than serial execution.
Hope that helps :-) .
The question for the pointy head business bubbleheads. Would you ever countenance outsourcing your personal nervous system to another company for execution and maintenance? If not, why would you do it for a corporate entity??? STUPID.
Not to steal perfect_rovian_storm’s thunder (or response), but I have virtually the same machine with a CUDA graphics adapter, which is sort of like a separate processor for graphics. I use mine to simulate network deployments using multiple virtual servers that can use several different OSs. I have had up to 4 virtual servers running though my son has had as many as 16. To say it is a very powerful machine for development is almost an understatement. I know other people use similar machines for very intense graphic applications.
I’m not a graphic designer, but occasionally, my work requires 3d rendering and Photoshop work. I need a beefy computer for that, but also for day to day life. I like to run a lot of applications at once without worrying about the system being slowed down. I spend all day working on the computer in one way or another and I find the ability to do heavy multitasking helps me a lot.
I’m huge on the multiple monitors, since it really helps me to spread my work out in a larger space. I can keep a reference on one monitor and work on another, while having something I’m half paying attention to, like a TV stream, on the other.
This computer also runs an Apache server that’s accessible to every computer on my network and serves files via NFS to every other computer in the house.
I have an obscene number of browser windows and applications running right now and here’s the load average:
20:48:09 up 22 days, 8:22, 3 users, load average: 0.54, 1.04, 1.42
They can talk all they want about desktops going away, but I ain’t leaving mine. :)
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