Apple’s shift to iCloud continues with all due haste. On the heels of shutting down MobileMe, its previous-generation cloud platform, the company has announced that the iWork.com public beta will end on July 31, 2012.
As of that date, “you will no longer be able to access your documents on the iWork.com site or view them on the Web,” reads Apple’s note on the matter, followed by a recommendation that anyone with documents on iWork download them to the desktop. Apple, ever conscious of those tiny details, also included a link in the note to a support article titled, “How to save your documents to a computer.”
Tag Archives: cloud computing
Google I/O Day Two
Today’s first big theme: Chrome. Tim reports: “Brian Rakowski VP for (and inventor of) Chrome, shows device transferability among devices of tabs, bookmarks, with a multi-part contrived story, looking at his opened tabs from home and work, etc. from a phone running Chrome. Not only can open tabs from there, but (and this is cool), ‘we’ve made sure the back button works as well.’ So you can open a page from a different computer, and have the browsing history of that tab as well. This Chrome syncing affects settings, bookmarks, etc. Also, for those transferred tab pages, pre-loading! So when you click on a tab, it’s been loading and now should be read, BAM.” As before we’ll be updating the story live (below the fold) with his updates as they stream in.
Echo – Real Time Web Platform
Echo provides a real-time platform bundled with a suite of applications that enables you to transform your website into a vibrant, real-time social experience. One that keeps users engaged as the web continues to evolve.
via Echo – Products.
Cloud storage: a pricing and feature guide for consumers
Cloud storage services are cropping up left and right, all enticing their customers with a few gigabytes of storage that sync seemingly anywhere, with any device. We’ve collected some details on the most popular services, including Google Drive, to compare them.
via Cloud storage: a pricing and feature guide for consumers | Ars Technica.
I don’t normally post images here but this chart makes for a quick reference. The linked to article has much more details and worth a read.
What intrigued me about this is the max file size. This is probably set to keep people from building their own file containers (i.e. tar, zip, etc.) — which is what I hoped to do. Dropbox allows for a max file size of 300MB, ICloud 25MB. By building your own file containers gives you more local control over security of said files by allowing you to use your own encryption. 300MB seems suitable for even rather large databases. Apps will have to be more frugal with a 25MB limit. I need to start using my Dropbox account. Will report more on this later.
Researcher: Interdependencies could lead to cloud ‘meltdowns’
Ford compared this scenario to the intertwining, complex relationships and structures that helped contribute to the global financial crisis.
New cloud services may arise that essentially “resell, trade, or speculate on complex cocktails or ‘derivatives’ of more basic cloud resources and services, much like the modern financial and energy trading industries operate,” he wrote.
via Researcher: Interdependencies could lead to cloud ‘meltdowns’.
IN DEPTH: Staying ahead of cloud complexity
Is OpenStack the new Linux?
OpenStack is an evolving mountain of Apache 2-licensed code billed as a “cloud operating system” for the data center. At the same time, OpenStack is a movement, confirmed by the high-energy jabber in the air around me. As with the early days of Linux, the buzz around OpenStack has risen to a roar, with thousands of community members flocking to conferences from Paris to Seoul. The level of interest and growth is phenomenal.
via Is OpenStack the new Linux? | Cloud Computing – InfoWorld.
OpenStack Storage
OpenStack Object Storage (code-named Swift) is open source software for creating redundant, scalable object storage using clusters of standardized servers to store petabytes of accessible data. It is not a file system or real-time data storage system, but rather a long-term storage system for a more permanent type of static data that can be retrieved, leveraged, and then updated if necessary. Primary examples of data that best fit this type of storage model are virtual machine images, photo storage, email storage and backup archiving. Having no central “brain” or master point of control provides greater scalability, redundancy and permanence.
via OpenStack Storage » OpenStack Open Source Cloud Computing Software.
How Open Compute is a Win for Rackspace
Rackspace is one of the fastest-growing cloud computing providers. The San Antonio company spent $202 million on servers and storage for customers over the past year, adding more than 12,000 servers in its data centers.
via How Open Compute is a Win for Rackspace » Data Center Knowledge.
To put this in perspective, Amazon EC2 has over 450,000 servers according to this article.
At the Open Compute Summit earlier this month in San Antonio, both Dell and HP showed off server hardware that will work with the new Open Rack design, which features 21-inch wide equipment slots rather than the traditional 19 inches. Roenigk says Open Rack will play a key role in Rackspace’s cloud computing infrastructure in its next-generation data center design.
Cloud mega-uploads aren’t easy
Google and Microsoft don’t offer formal data ingestion services to help users get lots of data into the cloud, and neither seems set to do so anytime soon. Quite how would-be users take advantage of the hundreds of terabytes both offer in the cloud is therefore a bit of a mystery.
via Cloud mega-uploads aren’t easy • The Register.
I also have been wondering about this for my measly 2gigs I want to upload to a cyberlocker. My upload speed is more or less 30KBytes/s or ~100M/hour. Therefore 2G upload would take 20 some hours which is kind of impractical. The article covers import/export services of various cloud providers. I’m interested in Rackspace…
Rackspace offers a similar service, dubbed Cloud Files Bulk Import. Optus, the Australian arm of telecoms giant Singtel, will happily offer a similar service. Australian cloud Ninefold does likewise, branding it “Sneakernet”.
Good old sneakernet is back. That brings the memories.
The high costs of the cloud
Call it the curse of the cloud. The proliferation of online video services and portable devices to watch them on have added congestion to data networks even as wireless carriers impose fees on its biggest data users. According to Bytemobile, video accounted for half of all mobile data traffic in February, up from 40 percent only a year earlier.
via The high costs of the cloud | MediaFile | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters.com.
It won’t be just iPads and the next generation of iPhones taxing wireless networks. Apple is the first to offer an LTE tablet to the masses, but LTE Android tablets will follow, as will more LTE phones powered by Android, which runs on 51 percent of the world’s smartphones. Verizon, AT&T and Sprint have been building out their 4G networks for years, but Verizon recently warned that despite that effort, demand will outstrip LTE capacity as early as next year.