Cloud computing is a technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files any computer with internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth.
“The fact that cloud computing is scalable and elastic, self-service, multitenant and is a metered usage based data resource centre makes it very interesting for seasonal businesses, because they can add and remove capacity as per requirement”, said Atilla Szenvedi.
As an example, he explained how the e-filing system of the Mauritius Revenue Authority can benefit from additional capacities to process the tax forms during peak time if it were to use the services of cloud computing.
Understanding how cloud computing works is simple: it implies using the Internet, accessing information from a distant server without actually having the software. As a result, the usage of cloud computing is very economical, explained Atilla Szenvedi. It is thus possible to use the service completely without having to invest in the equipment, software and competencies. It is a technological revolution, an extension of the virtualization concept to use the physical capacities of the machine efficiently.
Hence, cloud computing increases capacity without having to invest in new infrastructures, training new people or getting new software. It makes it easier for users to have access to all computer services without having to deal with the details of how it really works. A typical example of cloud computing is Yahoo email or Gmail. The user does not need a software or a server to use them. All a consumer needs is internet connection and he can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud (internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo, Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits.
Atilla Szenvedi adds that cloud computing relates to the philosophy of Microsoft which is to: “to give people tools to do business and achieve efficiency”.
As far as private cloud computing is concerned, there are three different ways to have access to it: the server is either used on the site of the private enterprise, or by a local partner or through a global data centre. In Mauritius, Microsoft works in collaboration with Mauritius Telecom to offer the service of cloud computing to its clients. The challenges of this new technological service are numerous, said Atilla Szenvedi.
“Geolocation of data, limitation of bandwidth and infrastructure reliability are the challenges to overcome”, he added. In fact, there are organisations which have legal constraints to restrict the information within the organisation, such as banks.
“We, at Microsoft, want to give people the tools and the technologies to realise their potentials. For this, we invest $9.6 billion in Research and Development,” he said.
Source Link:- http://www.defimedia.info/articles/3560/1/Technology-news-Cloud-computing-on-the-top-of-latest-technologies-2011/Page1.html
No comments:
Post a Comment