Cloud+Computing


 * __Cloud Computing__**

Before the Internet really became a household word, a business could have an internal network, called a local area network or LAN, that allowed computers within a facility at one physical location to communicate and share information. This was fine as long as the business had only the single location. However, many large businesses had multiple facilities spread over large geographic areas. The question then became, how do these multiple facilities share the same information that is available over the LAN? The typical answer was that the business would purchase a dedicated line from a telecommunication provider like AT&T that would link each location. The business now had a wide area network or WAN that acted much like the LAN, but over a large geographic area using the dedicated connection. The business did not share the connection with anyone else. If you were diagramming this arrangement, it was fairly simple. You showed one physical location with a LAN connected to another physical location with a LAN by drawing a line representing the dedicated connection linking the two facilities. As this was happening, the Internet was growing and could be described as a network of networks, in fact, thousands of networks. Businesses realized that they could use the Internet, or network of networks, to replace the dedicated lines that they had been using for facility to facility connections. However, if you attempted to diagram this arrangement, it was impossible to show in detail all of the multiple routers and networks that data could pass through as it moved from one location to another. Therefore, the Internet began to be depicted as a “cloud” in networking diagrams.

With this background, we can see where the idea of the Internet as a “cloud” came from, but what does this have to do with "cloud" computing. Since the advent of the personal computer, individuals have been purchasing software, installing it on his or her computer, using the applications to create files, and then storing those files on that same computer. The computer belonged to the individual, the software was licensed to the individual, the files were the person's property, and all of this information was saved on the owner's hard drive. Software was a product which one could purchase and then belonged to that person. In recent years a new model has evolved in which software is seen as a service (SAS) rather than a product. In this approach, instead of purchasing software, one rents it from a provider that makes it available over the “cloud”. The increasing availability of always-on, high-speed Internet connections has made this a realistic possibility. Now, rather than purchasing a program like Microsoft Word and installing it on one's computer to do word processing, a person might use [|Google Docs] for word processing. Google Docs also offers applications for spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms and it never is installed on an individual's computer, but rather runs in a web browser and exists in the “cloud”. In addition one does not need to store the resulting files on a personal computer. One can choose to leave the files on the servers provided by Google where they can be accessed at any time and from any location. It is interesting to realize that because one's data is in the “cloud”, there is no way of knowing on what server farm or in what location the data is maintained. In fact, one no longer need care as long as Internet access is available. This is one simple example with the complexity and breadth of offerings available via cloud computing growing rapidly everyday.

Another example of a cloud based service is [|Ubuntu One]. Ubuntu One is made available as part of the [|Ubuntu] Linux operating system itself. All one need do is sign up. Ubuntu One is a fairly simple cloud-based service. It offers file syncing across Windows and Ubuntu Linux and Android mobile devices, five GB of free storage, folder and file sharing, and access on one's mobile device. For a monthly fee one can add music streaming on a mobile device with 20 GB of storage for all data, and offline listening. An individual can use Ubuntu One with Windows, Ubuntu, Facebook, Firefox, Android, and iPhone and iPad. Ubuntu One also offers a music purchase service much like iTunes, although with a smaller catalog of songs. Probably the most typical use of Ubuntu One is file syncing. For example, a “Documents” folder on a personal computer can be synced with Ubuntu One in the "cloud." Any change made to a file in either location is automatically made at the other location. Thus, files stay synchronized across the personal computer and in the "cloud." Not only does this provide access to important files from any location, but also immediate backup. There are many other cloud-based services that offer much more complex capabilities, but this one provides a basic example.

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