The internet is a breeding ground for
buzzwords, and while many of them come and go, it is not always easy to
distinguish fads from the future. Social media has been a big focus for most
internets related software and thinking for a while now, with tweeting, sharing
and inviting being a big part of any design that crosses our screens. One
buzzword that’s been hanging around for a while is “Cloud”. While many would be
forgiven for thinking that the term emerged in the mid-2000, along with the
concept of Web 2.0, the term actually dates back to the early 50’s and the very
beginnings of computing. The terms that we often hear in passing (or see in
ads) actually refer to several different ideas, which converge in some
interesting (and ultimately awesome) ways.
Getting
your head around the cloud
Getting back to 2004, which is where it got
interesting. There was a movement amongst Internet tinkerers to move away from
static content towards more dynamic and interactive web experiences, by
changing the way we think about the web. In short, they wanted to change the
internet from being a data retrieval portal into a platform for social
networking, data management and integration between various systems. Having
evolved from loading software from growing piles of stuffy discs to compact
discs about 10 years earlier (and later DVDs), software developers were already
reaching the limits of the available storage media, and also finding using
local resources (such as the user’s PC specs and local networks) placed greater
limits on their development, while the capabilities of web servers and
sophisticated data centers, were becoming vastly improved
At the time these visionaries came up with
these fanciful notions however, there were several barriers to actually
implementing these ideas, the most significant of course being the bandwidth
capability (and cost) involved, and it took longer than predicted for their
plans to come to fruition, only to be met my new challenges on the opposite
end. As more online platforms started to emerge, with more sophisticated
software, the traditional server infrastructure which had up to then catered
for hosting, which was essentially a specialized and very robust computer, was
starting to battle to deal with the increasing demand for storage and resources
needed to service the growing popularity of online systems.
Essentially,
a cloud server doesn’t actually exist. It’s a virtual machine, created as an
instance from the collective resources available on the infrastructure
If online, interactive systems (as opposed
to PC based ones) were the first cloud, virtual servers were the second. In the
late 90s, companies like VMware were starting to look into creating new kinds
of infrastructure that could surpass fixed physical server architecture for running
web platforms. While their first attempts started to get noticed in early 2001,
virtual servers really started to gain market share around 2008, with major
players like Stock Exchanges moving their services onto Cloud infrastructure.
Essentially, a cloud server doesn’t
actually exist. It’s a virtual machine, created as an instance from the
collective resources available on the infrastructure. Many confuse this with
Shared Hosting platforms, which use a similar methodology. However, the
difference is in the infrastructure itself. Shared Hosting still uses physical
servers, and section off available resources as static packages, including CPU
processing, RAM and hard disk space. Cloud servers use more scalable
infrastructure, with a powerful controller which can be upgraded instantly by
adding more server infrastructure, often called blades, which can add more RAM,
CPU, as well serial or network attached storage space which can be beefed up at
any point.
Cloud Virtual Controllers can also
dynamically manage resources between the various instances, ensuring that
resources can be diverted to where they are most needed, and maximize the
potential of the server. This addresses the issue of servers falling over while
other physical servers run idle. The benefits of using attached data storage
also provides the option of cycling between multiple solid state and serial
drives to give the fastest storage access for popular content, while offering
large volumes of online archive storage on traditional drives.
The Web has pretty much moved over to this
new concept of hosting, with all but the last die-hards who don’t quite trust
the trends. With big business bucks (or dreams) on the line, one can imagine
how this might seem like a risky endeavor. But that certainly seems to be the
new norm for conducting business via the web in the near future. The third
cloud is personal, and is the culmination of the integration of both the
concept of the first cloud and the practical application of the second.
Cloud
Virtual Controllers can also dynamically manage resources between the various
instances, ensuring that resources can be diverted to where they are most
needed, and maximize the potential of the server
With most people abandoning their PC and
even their laptops for the convenience of tablets and smartphones, data storage
on these devices is generally limited. That’s convenient for online based
applications, using very little of the devices local resources to operate. But
today’s sophisticated, and demanding, users generally have extensive libraries
of music, video and communication networks that connect them to their cyber
world for both personal and business purposes. Service providers needed to
provide a “cloud” which could be accessed anywhere, from any device, which could
instantly connect users to their data. As always, companies like Google lead
the way, with Gmail and GoogleDocs being at the forefront of this new type of
thinking. While GoogleDocs tempted mostly tech fun dies back in 2005, by 2012
Google had rebranded the project as GoogleDrive and offered a host of “cloud”
based services that were entirely net-driven for personal data storage and
services. Other services like Facebook are also moving towards being more
online data hubs based on personal user needs. Gaming is fast moving in this
direction, with both Sony and Microsoft hinting at new gaming consoles doing
away with physical product and using streaming and cloud-based services that
not only reduce the need for mass storage, but also can be access from any
console (or a variety of devices).
So before you dismiss “cloud” as another
way to market products like the terms “vitamin enriched” or “toasted tobacco”,
it may not be just hot air.
