Posts

Back to the Cloud

/in , /by

The rumor mills are on fire with possibility that Windows is relaunching its cloud services as an infrastructure-as-a-service plan. Okay, there isn’t that much buzz and probably very few people care. However, it is interesting news. The rumor boils down that Windows might offer Windows and Linux machine resources to be rented by the hour.

This move makes sense. Microsoft and Google are about the only companies that can go toe-to-toe with Amazon Web Services. They have the talent and the ability to create economies of scale. That one of the reasons why Amazon has gone relatively unchallenged in the cloud hosting arena. Competitors like Rackspace and Openstack just can’t slash prices like Amazon can. Some estimates place Amazon at nearly fifty percent of the market right now in cloud services. It’s commanding, but the mighty do fall.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re looking for cloud hosting services then you’ll have more choices. Infrastructure as a service allows you to get more computer power when you need it. If the rumors are to be believed (a recent tweet by Microsoft seems to confirm it) than you can pay for it by the hour. We’ll just have to wait until June 7th.

Battle in the Cloud: Microsoft vs Google

/1 Comment/in /by

There is a lot of buzz around businesses getting into the cloud. Storing data off site offers many advantages from always having access to your work to cutting costs. The question then comes down to which cloud service do you use? It seems these days that there’s a new cloud host popping up every other hour. There are two giants in the field at the moment: Microsoft and Google. Microsoft offers Office 365 and Google has its cloud apps like Google Docs. Here are some factors to consider when picking one.

Microsoft began its journey into the cloud over twenty years ago with its Exchange Service line. In all that time the software has been battle hardened and honed for enterprise purposes. Office 365 is a collection of all the Office Suite programs that you know, like Word and Powerpoint. These programs are then given sharing capabilities that allow them to communicate with the Cloud. These programs can also be used offline which is probably Office’s biggest advantage over Google. The downside is, as with most Microsoft programs, price. Office 365 comes in many forms and the version that contains the most useful tools like Sharepoint cost extra.

Google Apps’ standard version is free. All that is required is a Google account. It offers is own versions of spreadsheets, presentations, and a word processor. One of its bigger strengths is its ability to mesh perfectly with the Android platform, giving it greater mobility with smart phone users. However, its all online and that comes with its own problems. Google Apps are a bit clunky and lack the polish that Office 365 has. There’s also an issue with ease of use. Office has been around a long time and has had much more time to be tested and rendered for users. Though it may take some getting used to, Google Apps can be accessed by anyone anywhere with an internet connection.

It would take a week and a hundred thousand words to go into detail about these two cloud services. There are hundreds of variables to consider when addressing a businesses cloud service needs. More information can be found by talking to your IT department or here.

Introduction to the Thin Client

/in /by

The concept of a thin client has been gaining traction these past few years. The overall idea is that a computer relies on another computer for most of its operating capacity. Now that might sound like a bad thing, but it can more efficient. For example, on a typical day, an employee may use maybe ten percent of his computer’s capacity. You’re paying for all the PC’s RAM and processing power, but you and employees rarely use it all. If you had thin client set-up, computing power would be shuffled around by the main server to computers that needed it. There are drawbacks.

Thin clients typically cost less to maintain and last longer than a traditional PC paradigm, but they are expensive to acquire. Thin client servers also fall prey to sudden increases to traffic and distances from computer to serve. Which brings up a valid draw back of thin clients, they don’t adapt to certain situations well. If you suddenly needed another computer you could go out and buy one. However, on a thin client system you’d have to add more capacity to the server.

Drawbacks aside, thin clients seem to be here to stay. You may not know it, but cloud technology is a form of a thin client. Everything from Google Docs to iCloud used the memory storage aspect of a thin client. And with BYOD (bring your own device) policies springing up everywhere, a thin client serve could be a way to integrate all those different gadgets. It’s important to understand that in this day and age, a business never has to adopt a system or way of thinking wholesale. For a smaller business, a cloud hosting service might be useful to backup files rather than a full blown thin client server. Picking a choosing appropriate pieces is a sure fire away to maximize ROI.