Comments on: Cloud computing and consumers http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/ Temporarily Torontonian Sun, 12 Feb 2012 08:01:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: . http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-118041 . Sat, 14 May 2011 17:59:52 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-118041 Sony’s outage also interrupted third-party services delivered over its network, such as some of Netflix’s online film rentals.<a href="http://www.economist.com/node/18620636?story_id=18620636" title="Corporate computing: Online reputations in the dirt | The Economist" rel="nofollow"> Netflix also uses the Amazon data centre that went on the blink, but avoided any problems as a result of this.</a> The secret of its relative resilience is what the company calls its “Rambo Architecture”. Among other things, this means designing different parts of its system—say, the bit that recommends videos and the bit that lets users search for them—so they function independently of each other, making it less likely all will keel over at once. The firm also uses software it designed itself called “Chaos Monkey”, which randomly simulates failures in its cloud-based systems to see how robust they are. Some firms bring in specialist advisers to plan, test and manage their technology set-ups in the cloud. Michael Kirven, the boss of Bluewolf, one such advisory firm, says that because Amazon and other providers have made it so easy for companies to shift their services to the cloud, some customers have been lulled into thinking they don’t need the same amount of backup protection as they would elsewhere. But as this week’s events amply demonstrate, although the benefits of doing things online still greatly outweigh the risks, it often pays to be paranoid. Sony’s outage also interrupted third-party services delivered over its network, such as some of Netflix’s online film rentals. Netflix also uses the Amazon data centre that went on the blink, but avoided any problems as a result of this. The secret of its relative resilience is what the company calls its “Rambo Architecture”. Among other things, this means designing different parts of its system—say, the bit that recommends videos and the bit that lets users search for them—so they function independently of each other, making it less likely all will keel over at once. The firm also uses software it designed itself called “Chaos Monkey”, which randomly simulates failures in its cloud-based systems to see how robust they are.

Some firms bring in specialist advisers to plan, test and manage their technology set-ups in the cloud. Michael Kirven, the boss of Bluewolf, one such advisory firm, says that because Amazon and other providers have made it so easy for companies to shift their services to the cloud, some customers have been lulled into thinking they don’t need the same amount of backup protection as they would elsewhere. But as this week’s events amply demonstrate, although the benefits of doing things online still greatly outweigh the risks, it often pays to be paranoid.

]]> By: . http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-82560 . Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:53:31 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-82560 <a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/10/10/202206/Why-Cloud-Storage-Is-Lousy-For-Enterprises-and-Individuals?from=rss" title="Slashdot Hardware Story | Why Cloud Storage Is Lousy For Enterprises (and Individuals)" rel="nofollow">Why Cloud Storage Is Lousy For Enterprises (and Individuals)</a> storagedude points to this article at Enterprise Storage Forum which argues that cloud-based storage options have fatal limitations for both businesses and individuals: "The article makes the argument that high volumes of data and bandwidth limitations make external cloud storage all but useless for enterprises because it could take months to restore the data in a disaster. It also appears to be a consumer problem — the author spent three months replicating 1TB of home data via cable modem to an online backup service." Why Cloud Storage Is Lousy For Enterprises (and Individuals)

storagedude points to this article at Enterprise Storage Forum which argues that cloud-based storage options have fatal limitations for both businesses and individuals: “The article makes the argument that high volumes of data and bandwidth limitations make external cloud storage all but useless for enterprises because it could take months to restore the data in a disaster. It also appears to be a consumer problem — the author spent three months replicating 1TB of home data via cable modem to an online backup service.”

]]> By: R.K. http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-81303 R.K. Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:38:46 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-81303 How does cloud computing choke off options for consumers? They can always buy their own servers, hard drives, etc if they prefer that. How does cloud computing choke off options for consumers?

They can always buy their own servers, hard drives, etc if they prefer that.

]]> By: Milan http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-81273 Milan Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:07:47 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-81273 Still, a highly useful service. And GMail might be the best web service ever. Still, a highly useful service.

And GMail might be the best web service ever.

]]> By: Mark http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-81271 Mark Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:21:44 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-81271 Not very well, I think! Not very well, I think!

]]> By: Milan http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-81268 Milan Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:12:09 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-81268 I used Dropbox between my home and work computers and found it a nice substitute for a USB drive, when working with non-sensitive files. I don't know how well it would scale to managing 30 GB of photos. I used Dropbox between my home and work computers and found it a nice substitute for a USB drive, when working with non-sensitive files.

I don’t know how well it would scale to managing 30 GB of photos.

]]> By: Mark http://www.sindark.com/2009/09/04/cloud-computing-and-consumers/#comment-81266 Mark Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:26:06 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=6271#comment-81266 I think Cory mostly dislikes cloud computing for the systemic privacy implications, whether or not he says so in the article. There is an quite excellent lecture by Eben Moglen on the subject <a HREF="http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail1897.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. From the point of view of a start-up company, cloud computing is a godsend. (As indeed the article discusses re:Twitter) On more practical matters I highly recommend <a HREF="https://www.getdropbox.com/" rel="nofollow">Dropbox</a> for unbelievably simple cloud backups. It's just a folder on your computer that magically backs itself up to the cloud. No thinking involved. Also great for syncing files between different PCs and it does version control to boot. Only catch is it's only free for the first 1 GB, which is plenty for documents but not so good for photos. I think Cory mostly dislikes cloud computing for the systemic privacy implications, whether or not he says so in the article. There is an quite excellent lecture by Eben Moglen on the subject here.

From the point of view of a start-up company, cloud computing is a godsend. (As indeed the article discusses re:Twitter)

On more practical matters I highly recommend Dropbox for unbelievably simple cloud backups. It’s just a folder on your computer that magically backs itself up to the cloud. No thinking involved. Also great for syncing files between different PCs and it does version control to boot. Only catch is it’s only free for the first 1 GB, which is plenty for documents but not so good for photos.

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