How I Am Using Cloud Computing Right Now

I’ve got my head in the clouds over cloud computing. I realized how many systems I rely on fall into that category. But what is Cloud Computing?

Computerworld Magazine defined it like this:

Cloud Computing describes a system where users can connect to a vast network of computing resources, data and servers that reside somewhere “out there,” usually on the Internet, rather than on a local machine or a LAN or in a data center. Cloud computing can give on-demand access to super-computer-level power, even from a thin client or mobile device such as a smart phone or laptop.¹

I’m using Cloud Computing or hosted infrastructure services for hosting, email, documents, site statistics, bookmarking and template design.

I’m hosted on a grid cluster system² that expands and contracts as I need bandwidth. If I have a spike in traffic from everybody reading this Stumbling this then their system will handle it. If I was hosting this myself, I would never provide that kind of flexibility.

You knew I was going to mention Google sometime so I might as well do it now. I’m using Gmail and Google documents. I used Eudora for over 10 years and really enjoyed it for email. However, the computer(s) that I used to run it from home broke down. When I got a new computer, it was easy to switch to Google because of the recent pain of loosing the computer. Now a crashing computer will not take away all my emails. Gmail has a long way to go to be 1/2 as good as Eudora for the Mac. There are a hand full of features I really miss but being able to access my email from any computer connected to the internet far outweighs the disadvantages.

I’ve started using Google Documents and for me, a one person operation it is just fine. While the experts say that cloud computing for the enterprise is several years away, for small operations it is here now.³ I have over 50 documents in my Google Docs and I can search and find them so quick it seems like they are on my desktop. That is the promise of hosted infrastructure services.

I used to use Google Analytics but I have switched recently to Woopra for understanding my website statistics. I could download my raw data files on my website and crunch the numbers myself but what is the fun in that? I can now get Woopra to keep my stats for my site just by putting a bit of code on my page. Best yet, the Woopra team is working to make their statistics package better, not me. Look for a comprehensive review of Woopra from me in the future. I’m still taking notes on the program.

Once again, I lost all my bookmarks and favorites when my old Mac and PCs died. Now I keep my bookmarks and favorites on StumbleUpon. If you use StumbleUpon, PLEASE Stumble this article now. (Sorry, blatant self promotion) I keep my bookmarks on StumbleUpon, others use del.icio.us, ma.gnolia, Google Bookmarks, Yahoo! My Web, Yahoo! Bookmarks, Windows Live and others. Notice the “ShareThis” at the end of this and every article on my blogs. All you (a user) has to do is click that and it makes it easy to bookmark this article.

I’m using WordPress as the controlling CMS (content management system) for my blogs. They allow users to modify parts of the code to control the look and feel of the blog. If WordPress upgrades the changes could render all the changes useless. That is why I am using the Cloud Computing or external control of a special theme called Thesis. The Thesis designer created a special page for me to make my changes and any future upgrades to WordPress will not affect my design. By using the Thesis theme, I do not have to spend my time or resources trying to keep up with the evolving WordPress.

That is how I am using Cloud computing right now. But why is it named Cloud Computing? Russell Kay for Computerworld helps us out.¹

Why a Cloud? For years, in a flow diagrams and PowerPoint presentations, people have respresented the Internet as a fuzzy cloud with communications lines going in and out of it. Now that they’re actually talking about using a remote, black-box approach to computing, the old familiar cloud seems an appropriate metaphor.

Utility, grid or cluster computing has also used the cloud metaphor. My hosting at MediaTemple is on a grid computing system. The Woopra statistics program is hosted on the Layeredtech utility grid computing system. The Google hosted infrastructure services are also on a grid system.

As hosted infrastructure services mature, enterprise will slowly give up control and put their documents and systems up into the cloud.

In the cloud
HP, Intel and Yahoo are only the latest companies to look to expand their cloud computing offerings. Other vendors making news recently include:
- VMware New CEO Paul Maritz said July 24 the company will look to create virtual environments for cloud computing infrastructures
- Red Hat and Amazon Announced June 17 the beta availability of the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform on Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud
- IBM and Google Launched the Academic Cluster Computing Initiative Oct. 8, 2007 to help students and researachers plant the seeds for large-scale distributed computing.⁴

1. Russell, K, Cloud Computing, Users can hook into the power of ‘out there.’ August 4, 2008 Page 25 Computerworld Magazine [↩] [↩]
2. MediaTemple is my host. https://www.mediatemple.net/ [↩]
3. Ferguson, S., The Future of Cloud Computing, HP, Intel and Yahoo team up to crate large-scale infrastructures August 4, 2008 Page 24 eWeek Magazine “While analysis say that true cloud computing is anywhere from five to 10 years away, this type of infrastructure holds the promise of saving money and resources by allowing businesses and universities to offload some or all of their IT infrastructures to a third party and allow for software to be delivered through the Internet. [↩]
4. Ferguson, S., The Future of Cloud Computing, HP, Intel and Yahoo team up to crate large-scale infrastructures August 4, 2008 Page 24 eWeek Magazine [↩]