Wednesday, December 2, 2009

CNN: A trip into the secret, online 'cloud'



"Microsoft and Amazon, replicate data several times, on servers around the world. They scatter it all over the place so as not to lose it. Data moves around both within cloud centers and from one data center to another, often crossing oceans and trekking continents to get there.

Some of these cloud companies employ armed guards, retina scans and "man traps," where doors lock on both sides of would-be entrants before letting them inside."

My opinion: The future of computing is in the cloud. I have authored multiple abstracts and scientific papers using Google Docs to collaborate with co-authors based in different states, countries and continents. Emailing a copy of a Microsoft Word document back and forth is quickly becoming a thing of the past. We need better collaboration tools that are not tied to a stationary desktop computer, a single laptop or a hard drive that can crash. Cloud computing is the way to go as long as we all use better security protocols and common sense.

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