How Will Cloud Computing Kill Hard Drives?

I rather doubt it. There are and always will be too many instances where localized independent and dedicated memory systems are necessary and offer far more gains for the cost or lack of costs involved.

Internet connections are not and never will be 100% reliable and any device owned by someone else costs you money to use in one way or another.

Why would putting all the solid state memory in one location be better than keeping it divided up and independent where its much harder for the wrong people to gain access too?

To me this all sounds suspiciously like big business and big government trying to convince people to put their private business where they can snoop through it without being seen or questioned until it is too late.

They can have my hard drive when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers! And no, I won't be on a cloud then either.

I couldn't have put it better! VGA!

Well said.

You would have a better sense of history if while reading your set of Encyclopedia Britannica, you weren't also watching the game on broadcast television and talking on the phone using that new extension cable you just bought for your phone.

Seriously though, having been in IT for well over twenty years now, I can assure you that there are some real advantages to virtualizing either the desktop or specific applications from a support standpoint. Past attempts to "move to the cloud" failed for two reasons; the cost of the supporting hardware and the cost of the infrastructure to maintain the bandwidth.

I am currently working up numbers for three school districts looking to virtualize. Maintaining hundreds/thousands of computers with different configurations in an organization is time consuming ($) and failure-prone ($). If something goes wrong in a virtualized environment (i.e. the user somehow tweeked out the system) with one of the computers, the users can simply reimage the local "hard drive" and reconnect to the cloud. All application updates are made at the server level and actual computing is done at the server level also. The end user is simply just getting screen shots of the virutalized desktop/application.

No updated driver issues or conflicts.

No questions from users about how they should answer the morning question their computer has presented them because Microsoft decided to update them while they sleep.

No issues with one document not opening in a different version of Word.

By the way, it is not the cloud that will kill the hard drive, but rather solid state memory. I believe that most libraries have a film loop on this topic that you can still sign out if you are interested...

provided your database of hardware is accurate. that is a wonderful fantasy, but you know that reality is going to interfere, and Murphy will be a constant character in your work.

It is only a fantasy if your goal is a perfect system.

In fact, the implementation or acceptance of a new system or product in a free market system relies more on its inherent value over the existing system. Let me share some other values of centralized application serving and data storage.

A point source for security - no more ceo's leaving laptops around with valuable data and information. Arguably an issue of point source failure exists also, but I would much rather guard the country's gold in a couple of key locations than scatter it about a number of banks.

Field workers need to be less trained to handle issues at the desktop when systems are basically commodities that can be swapped out.

Data and applications are available across platforms.

All of these contribute to real savings. While not a panacea by any stretch, the cloud is certainly worth considering for many organizations and individuals.

But - has the server the capacity to deal with several dozen - or hundreds - of simultaneous saves? While it is very useful to have data stored centrally, there are always times when the central equipment is unavailable for one reason or another, so the best answer in my opinion is to have the local info backed up to the cloud regularly, but keep software and current data on each computer.

points well made, but... it would seem that nature disagrees, for each of us has a mind of our own. We are not a hive mind, and in fact, I don't think that there are hive minds, due to the survival issues you allude to. (point of failure)

We conduct these efforts as experiments in computing and intelligence, and as such, there is a close parallel in evolution of thinking entities in nature.

We can therefore vary from nature when survival of the system is not a priority.

I'm not sure there is a right or wrong... just differing objectives.

Chris

Ah yes, the hive, where would we bee without it!

Thanks for the comments. Actually, I am quite the libertarian by nature so much of this cloud stuff and social computing does concern me from a philosophical point, but the genie is certainly out of the bottle and it all brings back memories of reading Player Piano by Vonnegut in High School.

A private cloud for a school type environment makes a whole lot of sense. Also, I use virtualization to maintain access to some legacy applications that don't work with newer systems.

But relying on the cloud for securing my private information is rather spacious- especially considering how easy it is to access some of the supposedly best-protected "secrets" (i.e., State Department secret diplomatic messages, etc.). The fact that the government can access information on the Internet at will, without a warrant and without bothering to inform the owner of the information makes me a bit nervous.

Speaking of ownership, if I store my data on the Cloud, who owns it? Is it owned by the server provider or is it owned by me? What if there is an account dispute with the provider, and the provider decides to cut me off until the dispute is resolved?

Letting someone else decide when to update my applications also makes no sense to me- if an application stops working the way I expect it to, then I have to go through a significant learning curve to develop skills with the "updated" software- which, most likely, has been updated to offer features for which I have no practical use.

Relying on someone else to protect my information from malware attacks or denial of service attacks is also a questionable practice...

Only with great difficulty.

Cloud computing is nothing more than a marketing tactic to extract more revenue from software development and for tighter license control.

It ain't gonna go far...

And certainly isn't going to affect local mass storage device sales.

Hooker

Why did I already know the types of responses this question would elicit? And I'm surprised the questioner didn't anticipate it.

I still buy real books.

guess who will be reading when the power grid goes down and the batteries don't charge any more?

Chris

I am surprised that we appear to be consumed with fear that all our secrets will be shared by others. Nowhere in the Cloud is there mention that we are forced to share our data with others. My understanding is that we can use the cloud as we would a Server. As a Client, we can decide what we put on the server and what we keep to ourselves. Goodness, we accept upgrades to our programs every day with the understanding that the program developers do not snoop into our files. If we are concerned then we should stop using computers.

I like the idea of using any programs I need from the cloud rather than storing them on my PC. Perhaps we will just pay for what we use as we use it.

As for hard drives, solid state memory will eventually replace them and not the Cloud if we choose not to store our data there. In any case, the BIOS and firmware needs to be stored somewhere.

I'd rather have a one-off, paid-for (or free) version on my computer that I can open & use anywhere and any time without needing an internet connection.

The cloud is fine for collaborations and sharing, but the time taken to load to the server on a slow connection can cause unacceptable delays, even corruption of files.

There are still too many places where the internet is unavailable for the Cloud to be the only solution.

Excelelnt point. I frequently travel to locations where the Internet is not available, or available only intermittently. I need my data and software on site- not two day's journey back in the city...

I can see the need to keep regularly used software locally. I would keep my OS and Office local. However, there are cases where cost becomes a problem.

I am involved in video editing and electronics. The cost/benefit for special tools and effects used in video can be very expensive if they are used infrequently. Some packaged software provides tools I never use. I have also designed electronic circuits and made my own boards. Software is available that simplifies the design and reduces time for both circuit and board preparation. The cost/benefit here can also be expensive. Pay as I use would be an option I would consider here.

Software developers might consider the Cloud as an option for delivery to a wider market on a pay as you use basis.

I don't know much about the video editing business, but I am a bit of an amateur electronics bug myself. There are a lot of Open Source and free tools that can be utilized for everything from the initial block diagrams to boardlayout/generating the gerber file. Even Multisim is available in free versions from some component manufacutres (perfectly adequate, unless you are building something with multiple layers and millions of components- not something one would expect from the hobbyist). I am putting together a blog entry on some of these tools, which might interest you- keep and eye on Open Source software for engineers...