Cloud Computing - Just a scam

Stiffler2

This is why I think Cloud Computing is a scam.

Example - You can host a server in Eircoms hosting centre for a price, you can do this in any hosting centre. They provide the rack space in a cabinet and bandwidth and you provide the server. You are responsible for all of it.

Cloud Computing :

They host/own the server instead, they manage the hardware, you install your applications and you manager the applications they don't.

So realistically there is no difference between old skool hosting and this new term cloud computing.

It's just a scam really.

Cuddlesworth

Its a marketing buzzword, so its easy to list examples that don't make sense. But the concept is really based around costs. Ideally the service from the cloud should be both better and cheaper then the alternative.

Wrong forum for this anyway.

juan.kerr

I would have said virtualisation is key differentiator in the OPs scenarios.

testicle

Stiffler2 wrote: »

Cloud Computing :

They host/own the server instead, they manage the hardware, you install your applications and you manager the applications they don't.

That isn't cloud computing or anything even remotely resembling it.

Ginger

If we continue from your scenario..

If we assume a standard 3 server setup with 2 web front ends (WFE) and 1 database server.

You start running a campaign that requires you to increase your capacity temporarily to 3 times your current capacity.

Using "old skool" techniques this would require buying and provisioning 6 new servers. Your costs include, time for provisioning, cost of servers, lead time for the servers, licencing and increasing bandwidth to cover the increased capacity.

With cloud computing it would be a case of press a button and wait a couple of minutes for the provisioning process to complete. Your cost is the new computing time based on your plan.

Now added to this, using the traditional methods you are left with 6 servers that may not need once this is finished. In cloud methods, you just dispose the new servers.

Lets look at an idea whereby you decide to open a new webshop in the US based on your existing Irish system. Same system just geographically different.

Old skool is similar to above just buy new space at a hosting provider etc... You need to install etc flights, accomodation come into the equation now. With cloud you just press a button and say I would like 3 servers in the US please, send me the bill when done, I am going back to bed.

Yes these are overly simplistic scenarios but they are taking from the OPs original premise. Cloud is not for everyone. It works when you are looking at economies of scale, geographic distribution, rapid capacity expansions and decreases based on demand/load and some other scenarios.

Mainly, if you are running a small localised operation then its not for you. If you are running larger, multi-tenated systems with larger needs then you can start looking at cloud systems as a better way to increase your capacity without spending a lot of money.

My 2c anyways

Nabber

Ginger has i spot on there

Capital investment is significantly lowered.
Security, more so than a scam would be your issue.

ifah

Purchasing processing power on demand is one of the key reasons that I see large corporates etc using Cloud Computing.

I know of one company who have a monthly batch cycle that requires huge processing power to complete it's cycle - with data and business growth over the past two years the monthly cycle had increased to approx 18 hours on their existing hardware.
New regulatory / business requirements have been imposed that required the processing be completed within 4 hours.

Cost to provision new hardware to provide the processing power required was in the 100's of thousands and the hardware would be idle for 29 days per month taking up power, space, cooling etc.

Cost to purchase porcessing power in the cloud is only a couple of grand per month and batch cycles are completing within 28 minutes - hard to argue with that !