Guest Post: Is Cloud Computing all White and Fluffy?

Made Essential Reading on 12 July 2010 Felix Hemsley

This is a guest post by Terran Churcher, chairman of Codegate Ltd.

This was originally posted on The Codegate Blog.

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We’ve all heard of Cloud Computing, using the image that frequently represents the Internet as a title for a ubiquitous, all encompassing computing environment. But what does Cloud Computing actually mean?

Any computer system consists of many constituent elements; a computing engine, an operating system, a user interface, a communications infrastructure, applications and some form of storage, usually hard discs. In a Cloud Computing system a web browser is used to interact with an application running on a web based server(s) residing in a protected data store site. This approach has several advantages, namely;

1. All server maintenance and upgrades can be performed by professionals at the data centre without the end users knowledge and without interrupting their work.
2. Maximum availability of the system can be assured through Service Level Agreements.
3. Device and location independence, accessing the system through any Internet connected device, at work, at home or on the move.
4. Most Cloud Computing systems can be implemented quickly without the large capital expenditure usually associated with in-house solutions, and may be supplied on a pay as you go or ‘software as a service’ basis.

Many applications have been made available as Cloud Computing applications, including those from; Google, Amazon, SalesForce.com and others. Perhaps the most famous example of a Cloud Computing application is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. But from a mobile computing perspective what are the implications of utilising Cloud Computing?

A Cloud Client might use a rugged mobile computer to provide the hardware interface to the Cloud application. This could operate a simple browser application running Windows Mobile to access data held on the Cloud servers, thus minimising the users investment in server infrastructure. The resulting solution would be easily scalable and involve minimal intervention for operating system or application upgrades.

However, mobile computer users experience some unusual environmental conditions, running out of GPRS signal for one. As the Cloud Client relies on connection to the Cloud Server to display data and to capture input, a disconnection through lack of signal could be most disruptive, inconvenient and above all, costly!

If the Cloud Client uses a web browser, or ‘thin client’, the interface will have no control over the communication link and will only be able to display a ‘404 Page not found’ error if the Cloud Server isn’t reachable. Herein lies the problem, by taking away many of the elements that allowed control over the solution and relying on a ‘thin client’ for access, we’ve introduced the uncontrollable, the one thing which we’ve been trying to negate through tested infrastructures.

If instead, we utilise a ‘rich client’ or bespoke application on the hand held device we can instigate controls that enable local data storage when out of GPRS coverage and meaningful messages to transact and guide the user to a resolution.

So a ‘rich client’ provides the best way to provide control and to interact with a Cloud Server, which in turn provides the most scalable way of gaining computing power. But isn’t that what mobile systems have been doing since inception? Have marketeers created a new name for something the mobile computer industry has been providing for so long?

If they have, there are yet more Cloud Computing terms and implications to consider;

• Software as a Service
• Platform as a Service
• Infrastructure as a Service

Each of these could be the subject of a separate blog post and have specific implications for the mobile system user, or are they new names for what’s been in use for years? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this as the Cloud gains momentum and develops as an enterprise focussed technology.

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Diclosure: Codegate is a client of Essential Communications. The opinions contained herein are those of the author.