Home » Opinion » Book review
Cloud computing brings sunshine
By Wu Jiayin |
October 17, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
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YOU might not have heard of "cloud computing," but you're likely to be using some of its technology in, say, Web-based e-mail services such as Hotmail and Gmail.
In the information technology world, Web-based applications and services, which are accessible from any Internet connection, are called clouds, Michael Miller explains in his book "Cloud Computing."
The book is a basic, useful introduction to cloud computing.
It analyzes in detail the benefits and drawbacks of the technology, and can help guide companies that are considering adopting or offering cloud computing services.
The term "cloud computing" comes from the puffy cloud-shaped symbol for a group of networked computers that are connected to the Internet.
"With cloud computing, everything you do is now Web-based instead of desktop-based," Miller says.
Traditionally, if you wanted to find information you stored on a certain computer, you could not access it unless you used that very computer and knew the exact location of the information.
But cloud computing brings a revolutionary change: basically, it allows you to access certain information from anywhere and from almost any computing device, without even knowing exactly where the information is stored.
Take Gmail as an example.
You can use it to receive or send e-mails whenever you have access to the Internet. Obviously, the e-mails aren't stored on the computer that you are using. They're stored somewhere on the Internet and there's no need to know where.
Web-based e-mail service is just one way cloud computing helps individuals.
More complicated cloud computing applications and services are used by businesses and professional users.
For example, software-as-a-service enables business users to access software online without installing the applications on their own computers.
Many companies today use Salesforce, an online business software, to manage customer relations.
Some cloud computing services help software developers create their own applications, run their own programs, and so on.
As Miller notes, "Whether you want to share photographs with family members, coordinate volunteers for a community organization, or manage a multifaceted project in a large organization, cloud computing can help you collaborate and communicate with other group members."
No wonder he observes that "cloud computing portends a major change in how we store information and run applications."
This brings many benefits.
For example, storing data on the Internet (which has an almost unlimited storage) costs little or nothing, so you don't need expensive high-performance desktop computers. You also don't have to worry about system upgrades or maintenance, as this can be done for you by the cloud-computing provider.
Cloud computer is not perfect.
"Cloud computing might be the next big thing, but that doesn't make it the best thing for everyone," Miller observes.
Its drawbacks: access to information stored online is dependent on the quality of Internet connectivity; cloud-based applications tend to have fewer features than desktop applications; possible security and safety problems.
As information technology develops, these issues will probably be resolved; in the meantime, it's important to weight its benefits against the costs.
In the information technology world, Web-based applications and services, which are accessible from any Internet connection, are called clouds, Michael Miller explains in his book "Cloud Computing."
The book is a basic, useful introduction to cloud computing.
It analyzes in detail the benefits and drawbacks of the technology, and can help guide companies that are considering adopting or offering cloud computing services.
The term "cloud computing" comes from the puffy cloud-shaped symbol for a group of networked computers that are connected to the Internet.
"With cloud computing, everything you do is now Web-based instead of desktop-based," Miller says.
Traditionally, if you wanted to find information you stored on a certain computer, you could not access it unless you used that very computer and knew the exact location of the information.
But cloud computing brings a revolutionary change: basically, it allows you to access certain information from anywhere and from almost any computing device, without even knowing exactly where the information is stored.
Take Gmail as an example.
You can use it to receive or send e-mails whenever you have access to the Internet. Obviously, the e-mails aren't stored on the computer that you are using. They're stored somewhere on the Internet and there's no need to know where.
Web-based e-mail service is just one way cloud computing helps individuals.
More complicated cloud computing applications and services are used by businesses and professional users.
For example, software-as-a-service enables business users to access software online without installing the applications on their own computers.
Many companies today use Salesforce, an online business software, to manage customer relations.
Some cloud computing services help software developers create their own applications, run their own programs, and so on.
As Miller notes, "Whether you want to share photographs with family members, coordinate volunteers for a community organization, or manage a multifaceted project in a large organization, cloud computing can help you collaborate and communicate with other group members."
No wonder he observes that "cloud computing portends a major change in how we store information and run applications."
This brings many benefits.
For example, storing data on the Internet (which has an almost unlimited storage) costs little or nothing, so you don't need expensive high-performance desktop computers. You also don't have to worry about system upgrades or maintenance, as this can be done for you by the cloud-computing provider.
Cloud computer is not perfect.
"Cloud computing might be the next big thing, but that doesn't make it the best thing for everyone," Miller observes.
Its drawbacks: access to information stored online is dependent on the quality of Internet connectivity; cloud-based applications tend to have fewer features than desktop applications; possible security and safety problems.
As information technology develops, these issues will probably be resolved; in the meantime, it's important to weight its benefits against the costs.
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