Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth.

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:53:46 -0400

One of the biggest paradigm shifts of the hosting industry was the introduction of the ‘cloud’ phenomenon. Anything can now be offered in the cloud: Email in the cloud? Check. Websites in the cloud? Check. Music in the cloud? Check. Chicken cutlets in the cloud? Not yet.

As with any phenomenon - ‘the cloud’ requires no formal explanation, just a socially accepted definition. However, when dealing with IT infrastructure on a daily basis - both physical and virtual, I’ve found that nearly everyone raves unnecessarily about the cloud. Out of that group, a slim percentage of those people actually know it’s strengths, weaknesses - and most importantly, how it works.

What is a cloud?

In it’s simplest definition: A cloud is a distributed and redundant system to allow separation and scalability of processing power, network throughput, and storage capacity.

Why is it called the cloud?

I honestly couldn’t tell you. Clouds can be any size, can grow or shrink at any time, and can morph into any shape - my guess would be the flexibility aspect.

Are all clouds the same?

Not at all. All clouds tend to share the same intentions: 100% uptime, complete redundancy. The technology that it takes to achieve those intentions varies grossly by the type of service you’re providing. Rarely do end-users purchase ‘turnkey clouds’ - they purchase a service that is located ‘in-the-cloud’.

Is my information safe in the cloud?

The truth of the matter is that your information is just as ‘exposed’ in the cloud as it is on any traditional distributed system. Cloud architecture does not impact the security of your data from outside intruders, it only attempts to minimize or ‘eliminate’ (used in quotes because it’s simply impossible) the inaccessibility or loss of data. Cloud architecture only factors in hardware failure - it is not a save-all solution.

How do I know if my provider is in the cloud?

Any provider can advertise that they use cloud architecture, to the end user - cloud or no-cloud looks all the same. Your website loads in the browser, your files download, and you receive your email.

So what does one look like?

Just like: this. A cloud can contain three servers, or three hundred servers. Again - going back to my earlier point, clouds are developed with a service in mind. If your cloud is designed to host websites, you have a relatively proportionate amount of processing - disk space - throughput, whereas if your cloud is to store files, you’ll have low processing power, massive disk space and high throughput.

Do I need to be in the cloud?

Check out my next blog post - coming soon - and you’ll find out.

Blogging, a new frontier!

Wed, 25 May 2011 22:14:00 -0400

For the past two years - my website has been a personal resume of sorts. However, it’s 2011 - and with LinkedIn, Facebook, and About.Me, I find it relatively pointless to continue on that path.

The real reasons for changing my website from a resume to a blog have less to do with the fact that it’s wasting space on the tubes, and more to do with the fact that I feel like my presence on the internet should be ever-changing, just like what’s going on in life.

Much has changed in the past two years. If you already know me, it’s either because I’m the Director of IT at the best boutique real estate company designed for small businesses, or because I’m the Founder and CEO of one of New York’s fastest growing MSP’s. And if we’re not tight in the business world, you can find me playing lacrosse, or making cool music (unfortunately link-less for now!). Although - to keep it completely real, I work more than 75 hours a week.

So - here’s to new beginnings. I’ve always wanted to start a blog, and this blog will become a repository for tips, lessons learned (and not yet learned!), SysAdmin and Networking ideas, and my opinions on the future of NY Tech. Only time will tell if I can keep up with it.

Joseph Fasone

Bringing the Cloud Down to Earth.

Blogging, a new frontier!