Microsoft has recently announced that a “lightweight” Web-version of Office, which also includes programs such as Word and Excel, is underway. It is an important step in the software giant. In 2007, Office about $ 19 billion for the company, nearly a third of total revenue. But it is only the latest example of a paradigm shift in the cloud Computing.
Software and files are typically a user desktop or local server. Cloud Computing, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS), but saves resources and engage in distance learning. Data and services can be of any computer, regardless of location or operating system. All you need is a Web connection.
Microsoft announces that the watch is the cloud to play an increasing role, as the computer. Dell even tried to trademark the term “cloud computing” again, but their application in the month of August has been refused. The company was to manage, for the URL cloudcomputing.com be.
Many people scatter Computing without being conscious. In its simplest form, it contains the ubiquitous online applications such as Hotmail (which exists since 1996), YouTube and Flickr.
At the other end of the scale, Cloud Computing allows businesses of their entire IT infrastructure. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides scalable capacity of our servers, you pay only for storage, what you use. It powers Amazons own websites with tools as diverse as the New York Times’ online archives, and Twitter. Comprennent similar services in the UK, established Flexi scale, whose objective is the Web 2.0 start-ups .
Microsoft (yes, still) operating system Azure is a cloud at the end of the year, while IBM, a group of cloud-based services in October. This includes cooperation and social networking application for enterprises Blue House. And only last month, a new project called Google Native Client, with the objective and therefore more powerful Web applications.
It is easy to see why Cloud Computing – in all its forms – and more to gain in importance. Users can work, and if your computer breaks or theft of your laptop, you will not lose any data. Modularity means you only pay for the resources you need. The costs and charges for the management of computers and software is someone else responsible. And economies of scale through the clouds, that the services to be provided at lower prices.
But there are cloud Computing strong opposition from some people, the question of the height of privacy and data it provides. Free Software Advocate Richard Stallman in comparison with Web applications to make your computer with proprietary programs. “If you have a program or another Web server, you are defenseless,” he told The Guardian. “You’re putty in the hands of those who develop the software.”
Similarly, loss of server can be extremely problematic. In February, Amazon Simple Storage Service, locking users to their own data. A server error, Apple MobileMe in July for an estimated 20,000 users were not able to access e-mail for two weeks. There is also the simple fact that cloud computing does not work if you are offline (even if Google Gears, which acts as a rich cache of the browser, is a project that attempts thereof ).
But Cloud Computing is a natural extension of Web 2.0 ’s by one, like many of our professional and personal life to be found online. We have already at the point where the cloud has become an aspect of the daily life of the computer, the USA, over two-thirds of Internet users use cloud-based applications. Perhaps the answer to the critics as Stallman is, it is important to have a choice of clouds, not just those of multinationals.