Ok IT Geeks, Cloud Computing?

[mello dude]

I saw the term in a trade journal and wonder if one of you pros could 'splain it. Cloud Computing? Never heard of it. What is it?

Thanks

[Disclaimer]

The "cloud" is the internetz, it's called a "cloud" because you don't really know what's going on inside it or where your data is at any given point (false, but the level of abstraction for the end user makes it simple to explain this way), all you know is you send information into the cloud, it reaches it's destination, and the cloud spits back out data to you.

Therefore "cloud computing" is using one, two, 40,000, etc. servers that are out there to do your information crunching for you instead of on your local machine.

I'm trying to come up with a simple example. Web e-mail, (GMail, Yahoo!, etc) is all in the "cloud" since you can access it from any terminal anywhere in the world. You don't know where the servers are that hold your e-mail, you just know you can sit down and access it from where ever you want as long as you have the internet.

If it was on your local machine (e.g. retrieved it periodically from a server via MS Outlook or something) you'd have to access it differently, not from the cloud, but from your local machine.

[natedogg624]

good job wiki man.

[mello dude]

So the computing power is in the "cloud" i.e. "web" and possibly any of your storage requirements. It would replace the need for crazy fast chip speeds or a large mega terabite storage server "in house". Hmmm, wouldnt that be a hackers field day?

[$pecial_K]

Here's the wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

[mello dude]

Here's the wiki!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

Wow - good stuff....

Thanks

[Disclaimer]

Theoretically, but that's a personal decision whether you trust the cloud or not.

For me, I like web-email and web services in general because it's peoples JOBS to ensure data protection, integrity, security, etc. They can do that a lot better than I can with the equipment I'm willing to buy at home. If a hacker gains access to my data, it's likely because they got me to install a key logger or a trojan on the machine I use to access the data rather than hacking the web servers themselves.

Also, if my local machine crashes, I don't lose anything. All my e-mail and contacts are in the cloud that I can pull down whenever I need to. I'm statically banking on my POS computer failing before some multi-million dollar data center owned by Google or Yahoo!

Considering companies spend A LOT of money and resources on keeping these services alive for people because they generate revenue from it -- I'm willing to make the tradeoff of some of my privacy to have the backup and security of a cloud system.

Now, if you're trading Nuclear secrets or kiddie porn, probably not a good idea to put anything on the cloud.

[mello dude]

Theoretically, but that's a personal decision whether you trust the cloud or not.

For me, I like web-email and web services in general because it's peoples JOBS to ensure data protection, integrity, security, etc. They can do that a lot better than I can with the equipment I'm willing to buy at home. If a hacker gains access to my data, it's likely because they got me to install a key logger or a trojan on the machine I use to access the data rather than hacking the web servers themselves.

Also, if my local machine crashes, I don't lose anything. All my e-mail and contacts are in the cloud that I can pull down whenever I need to. I'm statically banking on my POS computer failing before some multi-million dollar data center owned by Google or Yahoo!

Considering companies spend A LOT of money and resources on keeping these services alive for people because they generate revenue from it -- I'm willing to make the tradeoff of some of my privacy to have the backup and security of a cloud system.

Now, if you're trading Nuclear secrets or kiddie porn, probably not a good idea to put anything on the cloud.

Good info - thank you

[RVTPilot]

Now, if you're trading Nuclear secrets or kiddie porn, probably not a good idea to put anything on the cloud.

Spoken like an expert. So what did the trick or treaters have to do at your house to get candy this year?

[Disclaimer]

Halloween was how many weeks ago? Two? Oh God, oh God...uhh, People can survive two weeks in the trunk of a car right? Yea, sure.

BRB.

[fusion]

It's old stuff newly marketed for retards.

[tyler524]

It's old stuff newly marketed for retards.

I agree to an extent, there are now companies looking at ways to expand to the cloud. I know autodesk and Solidworks have been looking at allowing people to use/access their cad software through the cloud and creating cheaper methods for the casual user of theory software. I believe it would be web based and the license for the software is on their server and it is time based depending on your package. So yes, I agree some of it is the same but people are innovating how the cloud is used. I would say Facebook is another great example of the cloud.

[fusion]

I agree to an extent, there are now companies looking at ways to expand to the cloud. I know autodesk and Solidworks have been looking at allowing people to use/access their cad software through the cloud and creating cheaper methods for the casual user of theory software. I believe it would be web based and the license for the software is on their server and it is time based depending on your package. So yes, I agree some of it is the same but people are innovating how the cloud is used. I would say Facebook is another great example of the cloud.

None of it is innovative. Cloud services have existed for what would be an eternity in the tech world. Software, software delivery, cloud-based development environments, ... none of it's new, not even remotely. Calling Facebook an example of the cloud would be wrong. Does Facebook have things in common with cloud computing, of course, but so does 90% of the internet. Just because it's web-based doesn't make it 'cloud computing'. Google as a ton of cloud based services, Microsoft has Azure, Amazon has EC2 and there are others.

The cloud is just the new buzzword for marketers and like most buzzwords, it's usually way behind the technology and an overused and oft misused term.

[Strictly Street]

Don't forget Citrix, Thin Client, Remote Servers and any other of the dozen or so sales phrases they have used over the last 20 years to describe the same idea.

Remember dumb terminals, smart terminals?

[fusion]

Don't forget Citrix, Thin Client, Remote Servers and any other of the dozen or so sales phrases they have used over the last 20 years to describe the same idea.

Remember dumb terminals, smart terminals?

We were having this same discussion at work the other day about when we used things like Citrix to deliver apps...over a decade ago. That's a great example.

[Fonzie]

None of it is innovative. Cloud services have existed for what would be an eternity in the tech world. Software, software delivery, cloud-based development environments, ... none of it's new, not even remotely. Calling Facebook an example of the cloud would be wrong. Does Facebook have things in common with cloud computing, of course, but so does 90% of the internet. Just because it's web-based doesn't make it 'cloud computing'. Google as a ton of cloud based services, Microsoft has Azure, Amazon has EC2 and there are others.

The cloud is just the new buzzword for marketers and like most buzzwords, it's usually way behind the technology and an overused and oft misused term.

Seems to me IBM may be the cause of all the recent "cloud" buzz, as they've been pushing the term in their commercials for the last year or 2 IIRC, & now Windows is using it in their recent ones as well

Edited November 15, 2010 by Fonzie

[Cheech]

Don't forget Citrix, Thin Client, Remote Servers and any other of the dozen or so sales phrases they have used over the last 20 years to describe the same idea.

Remember dumb terminals, smart terminals?

The ideas are marginally the same. Citrix can deliver either apps or whole desktops to anyone, anywhere (as long as you set it up that way). You still control the server/storage/infrastructure back-end. If you want to term the Citrix farm as a cloud because it's in a clustered environment, then yes, it's a private cloud, but it's not the same as something like Hosted Exchange which is completely in The Cloud (the interwebs). While it may or may not be private (depending on your configuration), you still don't do anything on the back-end but set up new Exchange accounts, drink mai tai's, and see who can get farther faster in Mafia Wars.

Thin clients, same thing.

The only real difference between then and now is then you still had to do all the infrastructure gruntwork, now all you have to do is establish connectivity to either the Internet or a private connection to the hosting company/facility and everything's basically done from a day-to-day, back-end monitoring and maintenance standpoint.

[jbot]

cloud computing is for porn

[Cheech]

cloud computing is for porn

the cloud does not enjoy being sticky, also your fetish for hentai tentacle porn is highly suspect.

[Strictly Street]

The only real difference between then and now is then you still had to do all the infrastructure gruntwork, now all you have to do is establish connectivity to either the Internet or a private connection to the hosting company/facility and everything's basically done from a day-to-day, back-end monitoring and maintenance standpoint.

Now somebody else does the grunt work. But the idea is the same, your off loading the "work" to a remote server or servers.

The term "Cloud Computing" is more accurately a sales term than a technical one and until very recently was one step away from "Vapor ware".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgWUi-ozMAU

Edited November 15, 2010 by Strictly Street