Introduction:
The world of cloud computing is an emerging concept in use by many companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google. Essentially, cloud computing is the use of storage online, where anyone with internet connection can access data without having the data on drive. According to Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G (2009), the general goal of cloud computing “is to obtain better resource utilization and availability among connected entities” (p. 19) The computers within a network run in parallel, combining resources in order to collaborate with each other. These computers act like a super-computer to put data and applications on the internet (Miller, 2008, p. 15). We are in age of constant emerging information, and cloud computing helps control new incoming information.
There are three main types of cloud computing: platform as a service (PaaS), software as a service (SaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). PaaS helps to deliver an environment to users where they can create applications and share codes via the internet, sites like SalesForce.com is an example (Cloudtweaks 2010). SaaS allows users to use a software through the internet without actually having to purchase it, like GoogleDocs. Lastly, IaaS supplies an infrastructure that is a “pay as you go process.” (Cloudtweaks 2010), businesses are only required to pay for the services and hardware they use.
Clouding computing has been evolving throughout the years and is beginning to become mainstream and general use.
Background:
The 1980’s was a time when computers started emerging. Before then, computers served on a client/server model. In this model, all the data is on a server, the client had to connect to the main server and gain permission to access the data (Miller, 2008, p. 11). Also, the client/server model has limited memory and does not allow two clients to access the data at the same time. Unlike cloud computing, the client/server model does not have a user-centric focus (Miller, 2008, p. 11), the IT staff has complete control of the server and does not allows users to make changes. Shortly after, peer-to-peer computing became in use. Instead of one server and many clients, every computer is a client and server (Miller, 2008, p. 12), each computer shares equal responsibilities and exchange information. Since then, these models have evolved in to what today is known as cloud computing.
Potential Benefits:
Cloud computing contains many benefits for both users and businesses. For small businesses that are on the rise, cloud computing is typically cheaper than physical resources connected to a network (Miller, 2008, p. 15). It also allows collaborations between users; since it is updated in real-time, users can modify the data which allows room for few errors and is more efficient. As far as security, the data within the cloud is stored across multiple computers; it is secure from hardware crashes and other accidental erases (Miller, 2008, p. 18). The IT staff at an organization will have to deal with less maintenance issues because software on the cloud is constantly updated automatically. Since the software is not saved on users’ computers, it allows higher PC performance, because the computer does not need to save the software. Many users get frustrated with compatibility issues, like the PC and Mac, but with cloud computing different operating systems does not matter, only the data matters (Miller, 2008, p. 26).
For the average user, users are able to access their information at any time. Instead of having to carry a flash-drive or emailing things to yourself, users can save information on the cloud and open it anywhere. All users need is an internet connection.
Legal and Ethical Issues:
Legally, cloud computing arouses many issues. One of them is software licensing. In cloud computing, there is no need to install the program on every computer, which cuts costs but software companies suffer (Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G, 2009, p.100). Similarly, Google Books has gone through publication suits, because Google is able to post material free of charge, but comes at the cost of the publication companies (Bianco, 2009, p. 8). Another aspect to consider is reliability. If data severs crash, who is responsible? It can be the IT staff or the users. As stated by Bianco (2009), “On the morning of Saturday, January 31, 2009, Twitter was abuzz with complaints about Google flagging websites as harmful? In fact, Google was flagged as well. This "harmful" flag functions in the Google security apparatus to signal users of probable "malware" in websites and applications. Google flagged the entire Internet as malware. This incident lasted less than one hour and was the result of a single erroneous keystroke entered by a Google employee” (p. 8). One tiny mistake can cause chaos across networks. Under certain circumstances, governments in some countries can view data, private or business related, for legal purposes “governments in the countries where the data is processed or stored may have legal rights to the data under some circumstances” (Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G, 2009, p. 90). Ethically, this is an invasion of privacy.
On social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, many users have been subjected to privacy concerns. Anything you post on the internet can be viewed by present or future employers. Even though it may not be ethically sound to view employees personal lives, cloud computing allows easy access to information which employers use to track their employees.
Security Concerns:
As mentioned before, cloud computing has major security and privacy concerns. Today, it is now become easier for hackers to steal data and place viruses in to computers. Because data on the cloud is stored online, and not on the hard-drive, hackers can access internet via the internet without having to access the hard-drive. As proposed by Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G (2009) a possible solution is a privacy manager (p. 120). This privacy manger will be able to detect unwanted spyware and authorize users to join the network (p. 120). Like any computer software, though, this is not perfect. There is still a possibility that hackers can obtain private or business information like birth records and W-2 forms if they are stored online, which can lead to identity theft and fraud.
Social Problems:
Even though cloud computing is common on social networking sites, it is still not in mainstream use by the public: “due to political and social differences, information integration efforts in the public domain have often met with difficulties in reaching consensus for large scale data interpretations” (Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G, 2009, p. 20). With every new technology, there is always apprehensiveness from the public to try it. Some prefer saving data on the hard-drive for security, because they do not trust an abstraction concept like the “cloud” to store important data. Swabey (2010) strongly argues that “cloud computing will destroy jobs”. In May 2010, Hewlett-Packard laid off 9,000 due to the new technology of cloud computing (Swabey 2010), since cloud computing does not need constant maintenances by IT professionals; cloud computing poses as a threat to employment in the IT field.
Further Required Research:
As proposed by Jaatun, M., Rong, C., & Zhao, G (2009) cloud computing is a fairly new technology concept that needs some adjustments: “the challenge is to deal with the information flow in an integrated, cost efficient, secure and reliable way” (p. 19). One issue that cloud computing needs to tactile is security, to tactile this issue, developers must find a way to ensure a safe and secure environment for data. Secondly, handling data in the cloud can be complicated (Schubert, 2010, p. 3), because of its overwhelming amount of storage, which also needs to be addressed. Lastly, with the Earth’s current condition, it is important to be environment conscious. This is why Schubert (2010), suggests implementing “green IT” (p.5) by finding ways to reducing unnecessary power consumption that can harm the environment. Despite these problems, Harry McCracken of Time magazine suggests that by 2013 cloud computing can possibly fix these bugs and become more efficient in data storage.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, cloud computing is an evolutionary concept, still emerging today. The three forms of cloud computing are: platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS). Cloud computing allows users to store data online without saving it on the hard-drive. This allows users to access their data any and more efficiently. Even though cloud computing has enormous capabilities: there are still many aspects to fix, like legal, ethical, and security issues. Further research is still required this in field, but it is projected that cloud computing will possibly take over desktop computing forever.
Here's a video explaing cloud computing:
