What do you like about cloud computing?

[kio_http]

Any thing that cloud computing impresses you with? Discuss

[Skripka]

Any thing that cloud computing impresses you with? Discuss

1) The ability to not only lose your own data, but have someone ELSE lose your data for you.

2) The ability to have your data inaccessible no matter the shape of your own computer.

[Windows Nerd]

Nothing much really. Pretty much what whoever that was above me said. The only logical reason can see to cloud computing is that you needn't require a large hard drive.

Scott

[Grifulkin]

Nothing, don't like it at all, and don't really think it is nessecary.

[Frak]

For businesses, them hosting a private cloud is anymore becoming a de-facto trend to letting employees access data. This is something I do quite often anymore.

Other than that, I don't like commercial clouds very much. I just like to have my own data with me. Calendars/Events/reminders/etc. I don't mind. Personal storage, well, that's why I keep a flash drive on me.

[ZankerH]

The fact that it's a rehash of a 30 year old paradigm in IT, now with a flashy marketing buzzword!

Also, what everyone above me said.

[pwnst*r]

awesome for businesses, weaksauce for a standalone solution for personal use (if the actual cloud is not within your own network)

[Exodist]

I am not hipped up on this whole Could Computing band wagon. Personally if I needed more data processing I would throw together a Beowulf cluster and be done with it. Beowulf is safer and economical (to an extent, loosing data -vs- cost of equipment.)

[23meg]

This (http://www.ubuntu.com/cloud/private).

[lisati]

Other than the convenience of having someone else to blame for losing my data, I see no great advantage to it. I have a hard enough time of it co-ordinating the data on my three machines, two external hard drives two flash drives, a multitude of DVDs and CDs, and a HD/DVD recorder without the extra complication of transferring/copying files to someone else's system.

[pwnst*r]

Other than the convenience of having someone else to blame for losing my data, I see no great advantage to it. I have a hard enough time of it co-ordinating the data on my three machines, two external hard drives two flash drives, a multitude of DVDs and CDs, and a HD/DVD recorder without the extra complication of transferring/copying files to someone else's system.

sounds like you just need to set up a server.

[lisati]

sounds like you just need to set up a server.

It's on my "to do when I have the time and patience" list. Now where did I put that installation disk....? (Gets distracted by an assortment of video gear that's partway prepared for some work that's due to start in the morning, waiting for some "suspect" camera batteries to charge, amongst other things)

[pwnst*r]

haha, fair enough

[Keyper7]

Now that browsers with javascript are a viable application platform, I like cloud computing for bringing true portability, not "install our virtual machine and/or a thousand libraries (and make sure it's the correct version otherwise things will explode) and even after doing that don't expect our application's interface to have a native look" portability.

I have Windows friends who defend Windows to death.

I have Apple friends who defend Apple to death.

I have Linux friends who defend Linux to death.

All of them use GMail. And all of them use the web interface.

That's pretty damn impressive.

[maflynn]

1) The ability to not only lose your own data, but have someone ELSE lose your data for you.

2) The ability to have your data inaccessible no matter the shape of your own computer.
+1

While I may use Dropbox to share/sync my files, I generally don't use or trust any sort of cloud computing. Just look at the fiasco that MS & T-Mobile had to endure with the sidekick losing all of their customer's data.

cloud computing is the new buzzword and media darling, but I want to take ownership and responsibility of my data and not trust some unfaced corporation to back up my data.

[koshatnik]

(if the actual cloud is not within your own network)

By this do you mean a shared network drive?

Cloud computing is next to useless for personal use, as network drives and hubs have made remote data access a cinch. I can access my drives from anywhere on the planet with a link. Why would I need to stick it on someone elses drive, with all the privacy issues.

For businesses, yeah, I guess its just another word for intranet.

Cloud computing really is a piece of marketing toss.

[pwnst*r]

By this do you mean a shared network drive?



no. it's running multiple virtual machines on your local network.

[mehaga]

the fact that it's a rehash of a 30 year old paradigm in it, now with a flashy marketing buzzword!

+1

[LowSky]

the things I dont like about it

- data potentially becomes owned by the company hosting (like when you load your pictures on facebook), read the user agreement

- network goes down you cant access your data

- their system crashes, you loose access or your data [maybe forever], and they don't gaurantee anything or place a value on it.

- security of data can be compromised, especialy if the company is a target for hacking

[ZankerH]

All of them use GMail. And all of them use the web interface.

Get new friends. The web interface is ugly and weighs your browser down considerably, and you don't even get a local copy of your mail to archive or do whatever you like with.

Terrible things should be done to the person who first came up with the idea of the email server acting as the user's email archive in place of his own machine. Email should be downloaded, deleted off the server, decrypted and read. In that order.

[sefs]

Ease of syncing files across multiple computers and OS's as with dropbox.

[Irihapeti]

the things I dont like about it

- data potentially becomes owned by the company hosting (like when you load your pictures on facebook), read the user agreement

- network goes down you cant access your data

- their system crashes, you loose access or your data [maybe forever], and they don't gaurantee anything or place a value on it.

- security of data can be compromised, especialy if the company is a target for hacking

I agree. I've had a couple of experiences of that sort of thing lately, in connection with a voluntary project I've been working on. It's rather disheartening. If it was work-related or otherwise essential stuff, it could be inconvenient, embarrassing or worse.

[ZankerH]

Ease of syncing files across multiple computers and OS's as with dropbox.

Just thought I should point this out (because I've tried dropbox and this isn't explained at any time during the registration and installation procedure),

-Dropbox uses a proprietary protocol, and basically you have no control over what they do with stuff you upload
-Which would be kind of allright if they used some kind of on-the-fly server side encryption - which they don't, the people hosting your stuff see it as plainly as you do
-You have no guarantee whatsoever of your data not disappearing overnight. This can be countered with local backups, but if you're doing that, why bother with this cloudy **** in the first place?

[whoop]

Nothing (yet).
I dislike the dependency and loss of control as stated by richard stallman:
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Richard-Stallman-Cloud-Computing-a-Trap

[pwnst*r]

Just thought I should point this out (because I've tried dropbox and this isn't explained at any time during the registration and installation procedure),

-Dropbox uses a proprietary protocol, and basically you have no control over what they do with stuff you upload
-Which would be kind of allright if they used some kind of on-the-fly server side encryption - which they don't, the people hosting your stuff see it as plainly as you do
-You have no guarantee whatsoever of your data not disappearing overnight. This can be countered with local backups, but if you're doing that, why bother with this cloudy **** in the first place?

are you one of those few that host their own mail server?

[00ber n00b]

Cloud computing sounds more like BOINC than it sounds like data sharing.

[PartisanEntity]

I am still not quite sure what the point of cloud computing is.

I tried out cloudos on my Ubuntu server at home for a couple weeks but there was never a need to use it.

I use logmein and vnc to access my machines at home, so i rarely touched the cloudos installation i had running.

Bandwidth allows me to do just about anything through remote desktop, so why use a cloudos?

[ZankerH]

are you one of those few that host their own mail server?

I do host a mail server, but for now it's only on my local network. For general purpose communication, I use gmail, through a secure mail client, and GPG encryption (I do not sent or read unencrypted messages). For serious matters (business, banking, university stuff, etc), I use the email provided by my ISP, which offers transparent data deletion and has a much better privacy policy (and service availability record) than google.

[lisati]

haha, fair enough

Oh! I just clicked! If I did get round to setting up my own server, I probably wouldn't worry too much about the cloud version.

[Frak]

The web interface is ugly and weighs your browser down considerably, and you don't even get a local copy of your mail to archive or do whatever you like with.

Yes you do.

[pwnst*r]

I do host a mail server, but for now it's only on my local network. For general purpose communication, I use gmail, through a secure mail client, and GPG encryption (I do not sent or read unencrypted messages). For serious matters (business, banking, university stuff, etc), I use the email provided by my ISP, which offers transparent data deletion and has a much better privacy policy (and service availability record) than google.

secure mail client plus GPG to SSH'd Gmail session....you don't consider that overkill for "general purpose"?

[The Funkbomb]

I like that I don't really know what it is :/

[ice60]

Nothing (yet).
I dislike the dependency and loss of control as stated by richard stallman:
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/Richard-Stallman-Cloud-Computing-a-Trap
this is one of those very rare occasions where stallman almost gets it right (perhaps the first ever!). of course it's more user driven than he realises and he's totally wrong when he says -

It's just as bad as using a proprietary program.
what? lol there's nothing wrong with using a proprietary program if you want. lol

still, he's right when he says "One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control," and the privacy concerns i think he mentioned too.

[forrestcupp]

The thing I like about cloud computing is that it is not mandatory for everyone to use it.

[ZankerH]

Yes you do.

Hmm, colour me incompetent then. How would you go about automating download and archival in an organised manner through the web interface? I didn't notice such an option, and I'm not about to read a manual for a product I don't use.


secure mail client plus GPG to SSH'd Gmail session....you don't consider that overkill for "general purpose"?

No such thing as too much security. And I take exactly the same precautions for my "real" mail account, so it's not like there's any extra effort involved.

[Frak]

Hmm, colour me incompetent then. How would you go about automating download and archival in an organised manner through the web interface? I didn't notice such an option, and I'm not about to read a manual for a product I don't use.

POP3 and IMAP are available through GMail. There's no better way to archive than one that DOESN'T deal with the web interface. They give you ports x, y, and z, and you connect them to your favorite email client.

There, all messages backed up and ready for viewing with a simple click.

[ZankerH]

POP3 and IMAP are available through GMail. There's no better way to archive than one that DOESN'T deal with the web interface. They give you ports x, y, and z, and you connect them to your favorite email client.

There, all messages backed up and ready for viewing with a simple click.


That was my original point, the guy after me said you could do it with the web interface.

[mudguts]

I'm a big fan of it...
Mainly because of:

Flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
Gmail (http://www.gmail.com)
paypal = cloud banking!
ebay = making money on the cloud
Online Accounting (http://www.freshbooks.com/)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/login.php) = hanging out with your friends in the cloud


It's more then just mail, it's living your life online. I can communicate with friends, share photos, manage my business and my finances all through the cloud.

I can even order groceries (http://www.grocerygateway.com/default.aspx), books (http://www.amazon.com/), movies (http://www.cineplex.com/) and hookers (http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites) online. How easy is that? It's the greatest thing ever!


):P

[ZankerH]

I'm a big fan of it...
Mainly because of:

Flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
Gmail (http://www.gmail.com)
paypal = cloud banking!
ebay = making money on the cloud
Online Accounting (http://www.freshbooks.com/)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/login.php) = hanging out with your friends in the cloud


It's more then just mail, it's living your life online. I can communicate with friends, share photos, manage my business and my finances all through the cloud.

I can even order groceries (http://www.grocerygateway.com/default.aspx), books (http://www.amazon.com/), movies (http://www.cineplex.com/) and hookers (http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites) online. How easy is that? It's the greatest thing ever!


):P

I thought "cloud" referred specifically to offloading the responsibility of not deleting your data to a server ran by a company that couldn't care less about your data, privacy or freedom?

Or is the term now applied to any "web 2.0" (lol another buzzword) and antisocial networking website?

[mudguts]

I have a flikr pro account and keep all my pics up there.
mainly becuase I keep changing computers.

paypal had better not delete my cash though they do tend to put holds on it every once in awhile.

it's a fine-line between between web 2.0 and cloud... I guess that I cross them every once in awhile.

according to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing), that line is pretty broad.

[PartisanEntity]

It's interesting that no one has actually responded to my question: what is the benefit of cloud computing when you can have remote desktop??

[Frak]

what is the benefit of cloud computing when you can have remote desktop??

No screen lag?

[Thirtysixway]

To be honest, I think the term cloud computing is more or less for the people who don't understand that it's just a bunch of servers linked together.

Clouds are easier to explain :D