It seems that some people are being optimistic about the growth of on line application servers. Apps to be as big as Internet is the claim. Read here. App servers are part of the cloud computing suite.
Well, I’m not a journalist so I don’t now where they get their figures from but I know that the Internet is pretty damn big. More data than you can imagine and then some more. It’s being added to every day. Most of it blog posts and comments no doubt about everything under the sun from useless politicians to what peoples cats had for lunch. All ready for our eager minds to find and digest.
The Apps are basically programs like Word, Excel etc. stored on sites accessible from the Internet itself and usable by anyone that has access. Access can be bought in a similar way to the way we buy Office nowadays except that instead of being installed and stored on your computer it is installed and stored on the Apps providers computers. It can be accessed as needed similar to our PC applications or they can be rented as required and you pay for the time you use only.
The old way, and still the most used by far, is access on your own computer. It has many advantages such as the application is available even if you are not online. Nobody gets to add things to it without your permission, hackers excluded. You can keep whatever version you want without being forced to upgrade, within reason anyway and after the initial purchase it doesn’t cost anything.
App servers also have their own advantages. The main one is that you don’t have to bother about keeping computers in sync. They all use the same programs and updates only have to be applied to the one area. This makes updates a snap and you can ensure that any security patches are applied regardless of what the individuals want. You could disable your CD, USB ports and stiffy if you want to and make it more difficult for data to be stolen. In addition you can control your licenses totally and only pay for what you want.
Two clear benefit of application servers is that you can rent out software you only use occasionally. You could purchase a days access to any agreed application and use it for less than you would pay for a full license. Also, you can replace your expensive PCs with thin clients. These are cut down PCs with hefty processors and lots of memory. The storage being out there, somewhere, in the cloud.
However, Apps servers are only a part of cloud computing. There are two other areas. Processing power and data storage. The main selling point seems to be that you have on tap all the processing power you need but without buying all the hardware for that power. So far the best example of cloud computing is the SETI like apps that pass data out on the Internet and collate the results. Many businesses can convert their processing requirements to utilise the computers out there and, for a small fee, they can utilise much more processing power than they could afford to purchase and run and it can dynamically be increased as required. Of course many applications just don’t lend themselves to the data splitting necessary but they function fine off App servers. So still classed as cloud computing. The latest buzzword.
Of course, like all things nowadays you can mix and match. You can have your business systems running of your own servers or outsourced via data centres or to a vendor of cloud computing. You then pay for what you use and that can change depending on what you are doing at the time. You can then outsource your research to cloud computers around the world and pay each hardware owner for what you use. There are applications available that have been doing this for years. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like and can afford and people like me get paid to set up the most cost effective solution for a business.
Although, IMO, I think it is massively over hyped. I just don’t see companies or individuals turning to cloud computing without some massive incentive. You see with cloud computing you are really letting others control the assets. That means they control the processing power and, more importantly, the data. If you have the systems on your site then you control so much. outside your control then you are open to many risks. An example is if your data is stored in the US, without your knowledge, then it becomes subject to US law and if what you do is goes against US law you are in trouble.
So, although I do see a niche market for cloud computing, including Apps servers, I don’t see it being anywhere near as big as this journalist is making out. Individuals may use it via Google’s new OS as that will be easy to set up and manage. A bit like using GMail but I just don’t see them going via a third party and paying for it. Many companies already outsource their Apps servers but still retain control via SLAs and Apps servers have been around for a while already. They just have not taken off. So that just leaves the SETI type Apps. I do see a niche there but it has a long way to go before it becomes viable for someone to set up the cloud to sell the processing power.
Something needs to change before we take the step backwards, Yes, backwards to a mainframe type scenario where users are charged for usage and storage. Don’t have full control over their data and lose the flexibility of running off line. I’m actually wondering if that change will be political and revolve around green issues? Although I would rather relocate all my servers to China or something to get around that issue rather than be forced into a business model that didn’t suit my business 100% and left my data vulnerable.
Apps to be as big as the Internet
It seems that some people are being optimistic about the growth of on line application servers. Apps to be as big as Internet is the claim. Read here. App servers are part of the cloud computing suite.
Well, I’m not a journalist so I don’t now where they get their figures from but I know that the Internet is pretty damn big. More data than you can imagine and then some more. It’s being added to every day. Most of it blog posts and comments no doubt about everything under the sun from useless politicians to what peoples cats had for lunch. All ready for our eager minds to find and digest.
The Apps are basically programs like Word, Excel etc. stored on sites accessible from the Internet itself and usable by anyone that has access. Access can be bought in a similar way to the way we buy Office nowadays except that instead of being installed and stored on your computer it is installed and stored on the Apps providers computers. It can be accessed as needed similar to our PC applications or they can be rented as required and you pay for the time you use only.
The old way, and still the most used by far, is access on your own computer. It has many advantages such as the application is available even if you are not online. Nobody gets to add things to it without your permission, hackers excluded. You can keep whatever version you want without being forced to upgrade, within reason anyway and after the initial purchase it doesn’t cost anything.
App servers also have their own advantages. The main one is that you don’t have to bother about keeping computers in sync. They all use the same programs and updates only have to be applied to the one area. This makes updates a snap and you can ensure that any security patches are applied regardless of what the individuals want. You could disable your CD, USB ports and stiffy if you want to and make it more difficult for data to be stolen. In addition you can control your licenses totally and only pay for what you want.
Two clear benefit of application servers is that you can rent out software you only use occasionally. You could purchase a days access to any agreed application and use it for less than you would pay for a full license. Also, you can replace your expensive PCs with thin clients. These are cut down PCs with hefty processors and lots of memory. The storage being out there, somewhere, in the cloud.
However, Apps servers are only a part of cloud computing. There are two other areas. Processing power and data storage. The main selling point seems to be that you have on tap all the processing power you need but without buying all the hardware for that power. So far the best example of cloud computing is the SETI like apps that pass data out on the Internet and collate the results. Many businesses can convert their processing requirements to utilise the computers out there and, for a small fee, they can utilise much more processing power than they could afford to purchase and run and it can dynamically be increased as required. Of course many applications just don’t lend themselves to the data splitting necessary but they function fine off App servers. So still classed as cloud computing. The latest buzzword.
Of course, like all things nowadays you can mix and match. You can have your business systems running of your own servers or outsourced via data centres or to a vendor of cloud computing. You then pay for what you use and that can change depending on what you are doing at the time. You can then outsource your research to cloud computers around the world and pay each hardware owner for what you use. There are applications available that have been doing this for years. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like and can afford and people like me get paid to set up the most cost effective solution for a business.
Although, IMO, I think it is massively over hyped. I just don’t see companies or individuals turning to cloud computing without some massive incentive. You see with cloud computing you are really letting others control the assets. That means they control the processing power and, more importantly, the data. If you have the systems on your site then you control so much. outside your control then you are open to many risks. An example is if your data is stored in the US, without your knowledge, then it becomes subject to US law and if what you do is goes against US law you are in trouble.
So, although I do see a niche market for cloud computing, including Apps servers, I don’t see it being anywhere near as big as this journalist is making out. Individuals may use it via Google’s new OS as that will be easy to set up and manage. A bit like using GMail but I just don’t see them going via a third party and paying for it. Many companies already outsource their Apps servers but still retain control via SLAs and Apps servers have been around for a while already. They just have not taken off. So that just leaves the SETI type Apps. I do see a niche there but it has a long way to go before it becomes viable for someone to set up the cloud to sell the processing power.
Something needs to change before we take the step backwards, Yes, backwards to a mainframe type scenario where users are charged for usage and storage. Don’t have full control over their data and lose the flexibility of running off line. I’m actually wondering if that change will be political and revolve around green issues? Although I would rather relocate all my servers to China or something to get around that issue rather than be forced into a business model that didn’t suit my business 100% and left my data vulnerable.