Leveraging the cloud
// March 14th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Internet
The title sounds like something the flower children would have come up with in the 60′s, but it’s probably the biggest thing to hit since Web 2.0. Well, actually Web 2.0 has a lot to do with it, even though that’s even more of a pretentious term than ‘cloud computing’. While we’re on the subject, I also used to know an Infinite Cloud Whitington (a lovely girl, despite having parents with a rather … interesting … choice in names), but that’s a separate story.
Cloud computing’s often confused with grid computing; they have similarities, but they are different. Simply put, it’s a movement away from the desktop to an Internet-based system of applications. Rather than keeping all your data on your computer and running applications installed on your PC / Mac to manage that data, the application and your data live on the Internet. Knowing how it works isn’t anywhere near as important as knowing that, ‘it just works’ – the whole point is that the application is reusable, virtualised, and always available.
Big words, but what do they mean? Basically, it’s the realisation of what Sun always wanted Java to be; a replacement for the operating system and all the application you’d normally run on your PC. In Microsoft’s world, the PC is the centre of the universe – sure, there are servers, but servers are basically bigger PCs that do more. The distinction is one of Access and Microsoft SQL server; both are database applications, but one is built for the desktop, one is built for the server. Either way, you still need a fully-featured operating system and PC to run them.
Cloud computing takes a different approach – if the data’s important, it shouldn’t matter how or where you want to get access to it. Instead, you should simply be able to get access to it regardless of channel, interface, or application. Google’s one of the major proponents of cloud computing; almost all of their applications are built to leverage ‘the cloud’. What’s the advantage of taking this approach? Let me paint you a picture …
I use multiple devices on a daily basis; at last count, I’m using an iPod Touch, a BlackBerry, a laptop, a desktop PC, and an assortment of other Internet-enabled devices (including a Wii). Needless to say, these all run different operating systems, have vastly different interfaces and screen sizes, and very different forms of control and portability. I also maintain multiple email addresses, at least five of which get regular use, not to mention two separate calendars (one personal, one work-related). To keep track of what’s happening around the place I also subscribe to a large number of RSS feeds – these are a simple way of subscribing to sites in a way that’ll notify me when new content is published.
In the absence of cloud computing, there’s a few major problems with this approach:
- If I read an email on one device, I can’t guarantee that it’ll be marked as read on all the other devices
- If I add or change an appointment, there’s no guarantee that it’ll update across all my other devices
By migrating my data to the cloud and simply pointing all my devices to it, I can make sure everything’s in sync everywhere, irrespective of what device I’m using at any given moment. But wait, Evan, I hear you say; how’s that different to a server? Well, ‘not very’ is the honest answer. The real difference is one of philosophy; cloud computing is founded on a general philosophy of a reusable service, one that doesn’t care how you connect to it. It doesn’t matter whether I read my email using Outlook, a browser, an iPod Touch, or my BlackBerry – everything works, it works well, and it was trivial enough to set up that I could get everything working in less than 20 minutes. Try doing the same with MS Exchange or Lotus Notes sometime if you’re not an experienced administrator.
In practice, spending a bit of time thinking this through and consolidating my online activites has freed up a lot of time and simplified how I work and play. It’s also meant that I have instant access to most of the things I care about, irrespective of where I am around the world, something that’s important when I’m out of the country and realise that I’m missing a document I really need.