Companies and Cloud Computing
Delivering supercomputing power over the Internet—that’s basically what cloud computing is.
For a more in-depth journey into this seemingly interesting concept
and a look into how it is being harnessed by companies, read on.
How does cloud computing work?
When we say supercomputers, these are usually the type that tackles
very complex calculations (nuclear explosion simulation, climate change
prediction, airplane design, etc), measuring to tens of trillions of
computations per second.
Cloud computing aims to use the impressive computing power of
supercomputers in producing services which users can access over the
Internet. This ranges from financial portfolio analysis to personalized
medical information to immersive computer games. This is done through
networking large groups of servers (data centers) using low-cost
consumer PC technology with specialized connections to distribute the
data-processing chores.
What's the market opportunity for this technology?
The potential uses for cloud computing are widespread, as it brings supercomputing to the masses.
True, it brings to mind privacy issues because user data is distributed
to different computing facilities. There will always be a balancing act
between the computer industry’s preference for centrally located
software to programs and files located in the personal machine. But one
look at today’s high-speed networks, sophisticated graphics processors
and fast servers can tilt the balance in favor of data centers.
Which companies are at the forefront of cloud computing?
GOOGLE - Google,
which built its business model around searching the Internet,
introduced Google App Engine. This lets developers write applications
and host them on Google infrastructure. Companies like General Electric
and Procter & Gamble have already signed on to Google Apps (the
Apps users now number to 10 million).
The company is also opening its cloud to businesses for application
hosting, enterprise search, web-based documents, spreadsheets and other
applications. It is also taking steps to become more IT-oriented by
acquiring Postini (which hosted email security) and Salesforce.com.
The ability to offer this kind of cloud computing comes at the cost
of a massive investment in IT infrastructure. Google built new data
centers in Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina and South Carolina at an
average cost of $600 million each.
MICROSOFT - Microsoft aims to offer
software-as-a-service (SAAS) to businesses, calling their cloud
computing “software plus service.” Their products include Dynamics CRM
Online, Exchange Online, Office Communications Online, and SharePoint
Online. Each is available in a multitenant version for small and
midsize businesses. For consumers, Microsoft's online services include
Windows Live, Office Live, and Xbox Live.
Large companies such as Autodesk, Blockbuster, Energizer, and
Ingersoll-Rand already adopted Microsoft’s cloud computing services.
There are even plans of Coca-Cola subscribing 30,000 seats of
Microsoft-hosted Exchange and SharePoint.
AMAZON - The newest business of this online
bookstore and e-retailer is cloud computing. Its cloud is called Amazon
Web Services (AWS), which has four main services: 1) Simple Storage
Service, 2) Elastic Compute Cloud, 3) Simple Queuing Service and 4)
SimpleDB. This means Amazon offers storage, computer processing,
message queuing and database management, all accessed over the Internet.
Why does Amazon move ever so aggressively into cloud computing?
Well, in their rise as a leading online retailer, they also developed
major technical expertise and heavily invested in data centers. To
manage their assets, they are now sharing their services to other
companies.
IBM - IBM’s expertise in building, supporting and
operating large-scale computer systems is its main advantage in cloud
computing. They even unveiled Blue Cloud, which lets corporate data
centers compute across globally accessible resources.
They have recently advocated efficiency and centralization of
computing tasks in data centers. IBM now has around 200 researchers
working on cloud technology, and they are banking heavily on gut
feeling that cloud computing is something big, same as what happened
when they first endorsed Linux in 2000. IBM’s cloud software offering
is Hadoop, which runs on the Linux operating system.
Sources:
Lohr, Steve. “I.B.M. to Push ‘Cloud Computing,’ Using Data From Afar.” Retrieved June 17, 2009 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/technology/15blue.html?_r=1
Martin, Richard and Hoover, J. Nicholas. “Guide To Cloud Computing.” Retrieved June 17, 2009 from
http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/hosted_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208700713&pgno=7&queryText=&isPrev=
Ricadela, Aaron. “Computing Heads for the Clouds.” Retrieved June 17, 2009 from
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc20071116_379585.htm
(Published 29 June 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)
