An Aside: Sifting Through The “Fog”
October 9, 2009
Cloud Computing is an IT phenomenon that has been gaining notoriety in the world of technology. Many of you may have heard of Amazon Web Services and Google Apps but not realized exactly what they are. After sifting through the “fog” of vast amounts of highly technical information, Cloud Computing essentially boils down to this: Access to a network of servers and connections provided by a third party with large cost benefits.
Generally, this network of servers, referred to as the “cloud,” allows users access to resources and data as needed and at extremely high processing power. The resources of an entire network, as opposed to those of a single computer, are made available to users in a method analogous to a supercomputer or virtual network server.
Private companies, such as Terremark Worldwide, provide the infrastructures for cloud computing. Users do not own the equipment that makes up the network available to them. Instead, they rent access to these networks from private companies on either a subscription or pay-per-use basis. The private companies then extend the capacity and capabilities of their existing infrastructures over the network for use by their users. The key to cloud computing is that it allows companies to increase their available capacity and add capabilities at any point in time and at a low cost because they are able to do so without having to invest time and money into building new infrastructures for themselves.
Cloud Computing offers many benefits for its users. Initially, it has large cost reduction benefits – a feature that may make it increasingly desirable given the current state of the economy. It also proves useful in sorting through vast amounts of data. Finally, in addition to its reliability, cloud computing also provides flexibility by enabling users to have access to the system by way of a web browser no matter where employees are or what kind of device they use.
However, now that you know the silver lining of Cloud Computing, it is important to note its drawbacks, too – because the infrastructures are provided by third parties and are made available over the internet, security is always an issue.
Cloud Computing is quickly growing in popularity and is even being employed by and gaining support from the federal government, which is in the process of moving its federal information portal, USA.gov, to this type of infrastructure. The government sees the obvious benefits of Cloud Computing as a way to save costs; and although data security is of particular salience for the government, sites such as USA.gov are “the perfect candidate[s] for cloud computing” because the data published thereon is intended to be available to the public anyway.
So is Cloud Computing right for your company? That’s a judgment call that only you can make; but luckily enough, there are many resources available over the internet (of all things!) to help you make a decision.
For example, and discussion of many current issues, see Information Week’s Cloud Computing blog: http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/
Image, courtesy http://bhopu.com/Images/20080709_Amazon_Ec2_Cloud_Computing.jpg
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The potential complexities of cloud computing are most exquisite in the area of international privacy; that is, cloud computing forces a reappraisal of one of the fundamentals of the rule of law, which si that physical presence determine whose law applies. Sending data to the cloud from say, a country in the E.U., which prohibits transmission of personal data (emails are, by E.U. Privacy Directive definition, personal data) to a country with lesser data protection may violate laws — or may not, since one does not know the precise location to which the data is sent. Similarly, it may be difficult to provide for data access in contracts because certain countries may proscribe access to certain personal data. Law review articles have begun to tackle the issue, but it will bedevil lawyers on the civil law and common law sides of the digital divide for some time.
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From an IT perspective (I’m a recent grad from NJIT), I add this for all to ponder:
First, by essentially dissolving their IT infrastructure and handing it over to say Google or Microsoft, businesses (or even whole sectors of the economy) run a risk of cascading losses should, say Google or Microsoft’s, servers become the target of cybercrime; or even far more ordinary events such as a power outage where servers are stored. Let me explain further. Let’s say GM and Ford hand Google their IT needs. One very tough virus in Google’s intranet, or say a power outage at the location where Google keeps its web servers servicing GM and Ford, could mean millions of dollars worth of losses. Now this can be negated with the proper precautions; though never fully. We must remember too that Google, Microsoft, and any other cloud computing provider are corporations too, presumably looking to cut costs where they can. So, if an event were to occur such as one identified above, who would be responsible for the losses incurred? Naturally, it would seem that the cloud computing provider should. But to what extent can it possibly safeguard against these infrastructures with out over burdening them? Who is going to make sure that these cloud computing providers are providing the proper safe guards? Finally, what sort of protections should these providers be given without making it too risky for businesses to pursue cloud computing?
Second, cloud computing offers an environment for some forms of monopolizations to take hold. The most glaring way this can happen is if customers get locked into using proprietary systems developed by the providers and then the providers balloon the cost of these systems to just about any price they want to charge. Let me take a step back to explain this further. Let’s say “Customer” contracts with “Cloud Provider” to take care of its infrastructure over the internet. Cloud Provider will have its set of programs that Customer’s employees must use to interact with Customer’s own data over the internet. Cloud Provider could, theoretically, then start increasing the cost of its software, thus extracting more money from Customer. Now let’s say Customer wants to change provider, given Cloud Provider’s price increase; or simply change the software it is using at Customer’s end. Well, Customer is going to have a very big problem doing so because Cloud Provider could have stored Customer’s data in a way that only Cloud Provider’s software could interact with it. The costs to Customer could be so staggering that it would just be better for them to stay with Cloud Provider and the software package provided. Thus Cloud Provider has locked its Customer into Cloud Provider’s proprietary software.
I’d be curious to hear other’s thoughts on this. Anyone??
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Couple of issues which we found with cloud environment
1. Security issues,
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