Wednesday 08 September 2010
The concept basically entails a shift away from the idea of locally installed software that can only be accessed from one machine, and into an infrastructure where applications are accessed online as terminal sessions. For those of you who have missed the buzz, ‘cloud’ computing (I’m still not convinced about the word ‘cloud’) is a new computing concept that has already started to take a real hold on the world of computing. The concept basically entails a shift away from the idea of locally installed software that can only be accessed from one machine, and into an infrastructure where applications are accessed online as terminal sessions.
The greatest impact that this push forward into cloud computing will have for most people is that the minimum system spec for their computer will plummet as processing and storage shift away from the local system and into the virtual world. Naturally, there will always be some computing tasks that require a high level of computing power, such as video editing, high level graphics work and gaming, and these will always require a powerful local machine. The other big bonus is the reduction in IT failures, as systems will become largely remotely maintained, thus eliminating down-time and expensive maintenance costs.
For the majority of casual computer users we are about to see a real shift in the way that we use our computers. Less time will be spent installing and maintaining system, or re-configuring all of our settings every time we re-install our machines, and more time spent doing the things that we want to be doing, such as browsing, networking with our friends, and creating digital media. All in all, we are living in very exciting times.
