What Is Cloud Computing?

[ian007]

hi guys,

i have done a little research on this but am wondering if someone could explain to me what is cloud computing and what are the pros and cons of it??

thanks in advance

[digip]

Cloud is just a term for the internet. Services offered in the "cloud" are just things you use on a daily basis in the internet. Google docs, amazon storage, etc, are all "cloud" based. Its just marketing hype. Pros, use remote servers for computing power, lower overhead cost of not having to build your own data center. Cons, security is often horrid, and when the network you host on can't be reached, you can't access your files and work, and neither can your customers.

[ian007]

thank you for your reply,

so if i had remote servers set up acting as a cloud what could be the best way to back these up if i wanted to, would some sort of FTP software be best or is there someway a auto back could be performed over the internet??

[jobdone]

there are backup services available online and generally you wouldn't own the servers anyway. however if you think these are safe just because you don't own them is a risk you might take. Having said that cloud computing could mean using your laptop on a plane :)

[digip]

thank you for your reply,

so if i had remote servers set up acting as a cloud what could be the best way to back these up if i wanted to, would some sort of FTP software be best or is there someway a auto back could be performed over the internet??

It all depends on your cloud service and the provider. With most solutions, you use the cloud to co-locate services, so you should have mirrored sites for failover and bandwidth needs, as well as disaster recovery. Personally, I would not use the cloud for anything, other than just a website and normal business use. To reply on a third party email provider to handle yoru enterprise, or even database solutions, file storage, etc, means you put everything at risk through shared relationship with the cloud provider. And if they get hacked, well, you are SOL, because most of these services have fine print that they have no guarantee on the security in place to protect your files, backups, or services/downtime.

One such cloud service you might be familiar with is Epsilon. They provide a third party solution for email to companies, many of whom are big names in business. The only problem is, they got hacked and exposed all of their customers email addresses adn names attached to them from a database breach. http://www.epsilon.com/News%20&%20Events/Press_Releases_2011/Epsilon_Notifies_Clients_of_Unauthorized_Entry_into_Email_System/p1057-l3 I was one of the lucky people to have their email exposed because of this, just for merely applying for a job with one of the companies who used them for email and marketing services.