Tag: cloud computing

Cloud part :Amazon Security White Paper

For people ever suspicious of cloud computing, this document should be an eye opener. For people open to scientific temper, this should really convince you of the potential of cloud computing .

http://s3.amazonaws.com/aws_blog/AWS_Security_Whitepaper_2008_09.pdf

For beginners , a definition to cloud computing can be viewed here. 

 

And a good cloud computing blog is http://www.elasticvapor.com/ and a good cloud computing vendors are www.rightscale.com and www.gogrid.com , besides Amazon Web Services.

The Ohri Framework – Data Mining on Demand

The Ohri Framework tries to create an economic alternative to proprietary data mining softwares by giving more value to the customer and utilizing open source statistical package R , with the GUI Rattle , hosted on a cloud computing environment.

It is based on the following assumptions-

1) R is relatively inefficient in processing bigger file sizes on same desktop configuration as other softwares like SAS.

2) R has a steep learning curve , hence the need for the GUI Rattle .

3) The enhanced need for computing resources for R is best solved using a cloud computing on demand processing environment. This enables R to scale up to whatever processing power it needs. Mainstream data mining softwares charge by CPU count for servers and are much more expensive due to software costs alone.

Continue reading “The Ohri Framework – Data Mining on Demand”

Cloud Computing across LAN’s ?

The concept of cloud computing is interesting and actually quite old. It lacked major backing till Google came along and is now increasingly seen as the alternative to PC (given that other alternatives like Tablet PC came and went).

This diagram and definition is from Wikipedia of course ”

Cloud computing refers to computing resources being accessed which are typically owned and operated by a third-party provider on a consolidated basis in Data Center locations. Consumers of cloud computing services purchase computing capacity on-demand and are not generally concerned with the underlying technologies used to achieve the increase in server capability. There are however increasing options for developers that allow for platform services in the cloud where developers do care about the underlying technology.”

What prevents local area networks from enforcing clouds beats me. Put all the apps and ALL the storage on the server.Since most PC OEMS insist on their standard 80 gb hard disk configuration, the IT team of a company has to work harder to enforce it, but once done – They have lower tickets to attend to. Just put thin shell ubuntu PC’s with open office on each local machine. This also makes compliance and productivity tracking much easier to do- just check the server logs. Bottlenecks of course remain that IT Compliance in companies rarely seeks to maximize business value, thus ensuring they are the first to be transferred  to other teams or downsized in downturns as a cost unit not as a core unit.

You can also try Google Apps for enterprise for such initiatives. The software is now ready which wasnt the case a few years back.

Cloud Computing (Cooler and Lower)

The changes in Google Docs means that cloud computing now enables you to imbed web like objects in mundane spreadsheets (for free) and also allows you to backup your Google Docs using the Google Gears application.The Google gadgets are also nifty like displaying Gannt charts.

http://gears.google.com/?platform=win

You can collaborate on a spreadsheet on the internet also

With these changes- Google Docs is more than a big alternative to Windows Office- especially thanks to much lower initial  costs, and zero maintainace costs. Also with the offline Google Gears backup,you do have access to your data even without the internet, it allows you to de facto create a cloud version of Windows OS -My Briefcase .

Not 100 % of the data or office documents within an organization need to reside locally. Yet System administrators continue to resist Google docs (because well you don’t need system administrators once you totally get into this cloud computing business).

Of course, Google will need to address privacy and ownership issues, which given its battles with retail data will cast a cloud on it’s cloud for the corporate version of the retail services.

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