When I think of cloud computing. I imagine data centers floating through the clouds. Cloud computing is storing of data on a PC that is store on a server on the Internet. And the location of the server is not needed. In fact, the data might be scattered across a bunch of different servers. So it is true your data is in the sky someplace. Now to use a cloud computing service you must be connected to the Internet, have the bandwidth so you can reach those social networking sites like Flickr for photos and other sites with documents and home movies. Matter of fact where ever you happened to be and using any device such as mobile phone, a laptop, a media player or and Internet kiosk at the airport you can access the cloud services.
Cloud computing is when tasks are moved off servers and onto shared data centers and can be accessed via the Internet. Cloud computing is a realistic computing environment which involves bringing together the physical and logical resources, such as memory processors, networks, and storage into a single, manageable virtual environment and its practical with allowing one to consolidate the management and utilization of system’s resources.
In the early ages of the computing industry, the data center was originally a housed huge computer. There was no integration from one computer to another so each computer systems needed a special environment to operate along with many cables to connect all those components. Originally data centers generated a great deal of power. But over time data centers have changed into energy efficient, automated and hypersecure. These computer systems have applications that handle core business and operational data for the organization. (a good example: Enterprise Resource Planning or Customer Relationship Management). Another use of data centers are use for off site backups. Meaning in a company disaster you got backup data in another facility specially created to store business-oriented data.
So away with the huge data center and if you need a virtual computing environment that allows you to use web service interfaces to launch instances with a variety of operating systems then visit this website of with the list of Cloud Computing Service Providers. http://www.webguild.org/2008/07/list-of-cloud-computing-service-providers.php.
I see cloud computing as another form of outsourcing where a service keeps your data and provides all functionality desired by you on demand.
Here is a list of why some computer industry leaders agree with Cloud computing:
Storage
Utilization
Power and cooling
Operations taking at what percent of total cost
Human error 54 % of Network downtime
New Apps can take 60-180 days to deploy
Now of course there are considerations CIO and others should consider before using Cloud computing. One to consider is the infrastructure e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services. Will the infrastructure have the bandwidth to expand? Is it rigid or inflexible? And consider the usage of cloud services around Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking systems for communication with the public i.e. Twitter, YouTube channel and Flickr for photos and the benefits cloud computing provides around Web 2.0 technologies.
One government agency has been working with cloud computing the U.S. Department of Energy is exploring the cloud concept with their federal partners to identify opportunities to provide better service at lower cost through cloud services.
Newsweeks reports there are companies now using Amazon to run new applications instead of adding on to their data centers. Companies like Eli Lily and The New York Times have dumped their data on a cloud. And per Fran Gens, an analyst at researcher IDC, “The cloud is really the foundation for the next 20 years of the IT industry,” Gens says.
