The new wave in cloud computing Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams.
A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting. It is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour; it is elastic -- a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time; and the service is fully managed by the provider (the consumer needs nothing but a personal computer and Internet access).
Significant innovations in virtualization and distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed Internet and a weak economy, have accelerated interest in cloud computing.
A cloud can be private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the Internet. (Currently, Amazon Web Services is the largest public cloud provider.) A private cloud is a proprietary network or a data center that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people. When a service provider uses public cloud resources to create their private cloud, the result is called a virtual private cloud. Private or public, the goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.
Platform-as-a-service in the cloud is defined as a set of software and product development tools hosted on the provider's infrastructure. Developers create applications on the provider's platform over the Internet. PaaS providers may use APIs, website portals or gateway software installed on the customer's computer. Force.com, (an outgrowth of Salesforce.com) and GoogleApps are examples of PaaS. Developers need to know that currently, there are not standards for interoperability or data portability in the cloud. Some providers will not allow software created by their customers to be moved off the provider's platform.
In the software-as-a-service cloud model, the vendor supplies the hardware infrastructure, the software product and interacts with the user through a front-end portal. SaaS is a very broad market. Services can be anything from Web-based email to inventory control and database processing. Because the service provider hosts both the application and the data, the end user is free to use the service from anywhere
Consumers have tapped into cloud computing technology for years: sending messages via Hotmail, uploading photos to Facebook or editing a spreadsheet on Google Docs are just a few examples. Simply put, cloud computing moves data from a single machine, such as a personal computer, to the Internet. The technology frees users from needing to be at a specific PC to access saved information.
Now the cloud is going mobile, and industry players expect the number of mobile cloud computing applications and Web-enabled portable devices to grow rapidly over the next few years. Motorola is building much of its turnaround strategy for mobile phones on a cloud-based solution, and wireless broadband service provider Clearwire believes the advent of faster, more sophisticated networks will unleash the full power of cloud computing.
If the industry projections come true, cloud computing will be even more commonplace. Colleagues may edit the same document over the Internet, with one person on a home computer and the other using a touch screen built into the back of the driver's seat of a car. Or a tourist who takes photos on a phone could store them in an online album, then view the pictures from a laptop.
ABI Research forecast that the number of mobile cloud computing users will jump from 42.8 million people in 2008 to more than 998 million in 2014, representing nearly 19 percent of wireless subscribers.
"When you have a laptop or a netbook, those are true computers and have great processing power and data storage," said Mark Beccue, a senior analyst at ABI Research. "But anything from a smart phone down does not. Mobile cloud computing says: 'What if you can enable these devices to access applications and data in the cloud?' "
Motorola showed off the mobile cloud this month with a Web-based service called Motoblur, which will debut on a social-networking phone called the Cliq. Motoblur aggregates data from a user's online networks and streams updates to the phone. The content can be remotely wiped if the phone is lost, or transferred to any Motoblur-enabled handset.
Motorola's vision encompasses more than social networking, Co-Chief Executive Sanjay Jha said at an investment conference this month. "Motoblur and social networking is not the last answer," he said. "You will see fundamentally our approach ... is to think about how the mobile Internet and cloud services can solve additional problems."
One of the cloud's biggest benefits is device independence, said Raju Vegesna, spokesman for Zoho, a maker of Web-based enterprise software. "It's not just the mobile phone and your laptop," he said. "I don't see a limit to the number of devices."
AT&T has seen its network burdened by the large amount of data being consumed by iPhone users, and the strain across wireless networks will increase with growth in mobile applications and user-generated content.
"The biggest component (of mobile cloud computing) is you have to have a fat pipe wherever you are," Bill Morrow, chief executive of Clearwire, said in a recent interview. Clearwire is a provider of WiMax, a technology that is faster and more reliable than current wireless networks. Clearwire plans to expand to 80 U.S. markets by the end of 2010.
Analysts say faster networks will dovetail with the proliferation of smarter devices. "This is going to be much more accessible to a lot of us on affordable phones,"
One of the cloud's biggest benefits is device independence, said Raju Vegesna, spokesman for Zoho, a maker of Web-based enterprise software. "It's not just the mobile phone and your laptop," he said. "I don't see a limit to the number of devices."
AT&T has seen its network burdened by the large amount of data being consumed by iPhone users, and the strain across wireless networks will increase with growth in mobile applications and user-generated content.
"The biggest component (of mobile cloud computing) is you have to have a fat pipe wherever you are," Bill Morrow, chief executive of Clearwire, said in a recent interview. Clearwire is a provider of WiMax, a technology that is faster and more reliable than current wireless networks. Clearwire plans to expand to 80 U.S. markets by the end of 2010.
Analysts say faster networks will dovetail with the proliferation of smarter devices. "This is going to be much more accessible to a lot of us on affordable phones,"
Cloud computing is the latest buzzword. But small-time business operators are wondering if it will be useful and affordable. For them, the answer is a “software as a service” (SaaS) delivery model built into cloud computing.
It is a relatively new model of software deployment. Typically, here an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet. This model eliminates the need for installing and running the application in the customer’s own computer, and also the burden of maintaining software, operations and support.
While the first revolution of the Internet saw the three-tier model emerge as a general architecture, virtualisation in clouds has created a new set of layers such as applications, services and infrastructure. These layers do not just encapsulate on-demand resources, they also define a new application development model.
There are three layers — SaaS; the middle layer, known as platform as a service (PaaS); and the lowest layer, infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
www.salesforce.com is a good example of SaaS. There are many others, including Google Apps, offering basic business services such as e-mail. While cloud computing is considered a boon to large and mid-sized players, the neighbourhood pop and mom stores are waiting for a technology or solution that can help in cost-effective and efficient business. Business Intelligence (BI) software is making inroads into the small business area, and new technologies like SaaS appear perfect for smaller firms.
According to Niraj Jaipuria, founder of BI Retail Ltd, these management software solutions help retail outlets, providing information and data on bill collection, customer trends, inventory management, product display and sales patterns.
New technologies such as SaaS help small firms save money by having a ‘host’ somewhere in cyberspace rather than being present in the physical firm. The inherent ability of SaaS to reduce price points to fractions is what is working to its advantage.
The use of SaaS can also reduce the upfront expenses on software purchase, through less costly on-demand pricing. End-users may thus reduce their investments in servers and other hardware, says Mr. Jaipuria.
HR solutions
Human resource solutions created by Adrenalin eSystems Ltd are also marketed through the SaaS delivery model in cloud computing. According to its chief executive officer and managing director, the HR department in every company is expected to take on the role of process owner on behalf of the leader and facilitate this across the organisation. The HR department is also tied down to mundane administrative activities. Thus, there is a key challenge faced by the HR head — to use human resource solutions to help the organisation do the needful.
The Technology Cloud and Its Impact on Your Digital Life
The technology cloud is already looming over us, techmongous and goodies packed, and of course Apple and Google are already battling for its domination. While the former believes that the technology cloud, at least for now, best complements your digital life by storing and syncing contents across your idevices which remain at the core of your computing needs, Google’s war chants is loud and uncompromising, “Everything for the cloud!The cloud for everything!” And by that Google means everything including your data, computing power and operating systems. Microsoft may appear ‘slow’ in joining the technology cloud race but it will take a very brave gambler to bet on its staying out for long. Since these tech titans basically dictate our digital lives, it only makes sense to prepare for the new ‘adjustments’ they will be unleashing on us all.
Technology Cloud Vs External Storage
Internal hard disks, external hard disks,thumb drives, recordable/rewritable discs and all things storage. Remember when marketing gurus and retail stores sweet-mouths used to woo and con us with impressive figures relating to storage as we gaped at the latest, coolest gadgets on display? Well, let’s just say those marketing lyrics are now past their shelf life. And were you among those griping over the meager-ness of storage capacities in the likes of Apple’s macbook Air? There is no better time than now to wise up, clam up and vault over the debate fence. The technology cloud reduces the need for more storage, and offer device makers more room to innovate and improve on performance, designs and probably pricing. So if you nursed dreams of achieving terabytes squander of personal storage space do not despair just yet; it might still be happening, but in the technology cloud rather than on the next generation of devices.
Internet Everywhere and Always
If it’s not already a priority on your monthly expense bill then start bracing for its eventuality; access to the technology cloud is via the internet only, period. Because even the devices at the disposal of your computing needs will be heavily dependent on the cloud in the nearest future, internet access is guaranteed to become a necessity(assuming it is not already) in your digital life. The relentless growth of mobile computing only reinforces the assertion that having access anywhere and everywhere is a coming reality; getting by on the office rations or public wifi will soon no longer suffice. It may still be years away but devices will increasingly owe their relevance to the technology cloud and internet as our dependence and appetite for ‘live and always on’ digital existence burgeons.
The Future of Devices
Sure, the folks at Googleplex get it, it’s their implementation that may possibly be risky. Think about it. If true computing power and operating systems can sit in the technology cloud then need for local computing brawn on devices reduces, right? The major challenges to the Chrome OS strategy presently is that the cloud is not yet matured for all
out computing, the internet is not yet ubiquitous and the Chromebooks are relatively expensive. When full-scale, all-out computing becomes a robust possibility in the technology cloud and internet access is widespread enough, expect your connecting devices to radically change in design, build materials and pricing because of the leeway accorded by reduced considerations for processing power and operating systems. In fact, it may even be possible that you happen to know about a Cupertino based company, and its designs for such future devices. Be assured that the technology cloud compels the rest of us to be very interested
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