New Technology Reviews!.: Everyone

Cloud Computing is a form of computing in which all applications, information and resources are managed in a virtual environment.  The term cloud computing, specifically the use of the word "cloud", it meant to represent the nature and structure of cloud computing. Cloud computing involves virtual hosted environments allowing users to connect to the services being hosted over the internet.Google Apps is a great example of cloud computing as companies to no longer require the need for installed word processing software, in house email servers, multiple IT personnel and many more cost saving advantages. Google Apps allows companies to access all services including email, website hosting, calendar, document editing/creation and much more directly through a web browser. The advantage to using Google Apps is increased productivity, security, lower IT costs and data backup. Microsoft has also entered the cloud computing realm by integrating its current software such as Word and outlook with online storage and easy accessibility.Many hosting companies and even a few internet retailers are beginning to offer cloud hosting services. Rackspace, an internet hosting company, has begun to offer cloud hosting for clients who wish to have personal cloud applications in an environment controlled by them. Amazon.com is also offering cloud hosting services due to its large infrastructure and internet bandwidth capabilities. Most cloud hosting companies offer easy setup and creation of private cloud hosting with simple user interfaces. Most cloud hosting companies have per usage pricing instead of flat rate pricing. Users simply pay for the amount of processing, bandwidth and storage that they use. This pricing method benefits both cloud hosting companies and end users.There are three main variations of cloud computing: IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): The need for expensive equipment is outsourced. Instead of companies purchasing expensive equipment including servers, hard drives and networking equipment, they would instead be used over the Cloud and hosted by a cloud computing company. The business entity would use the virtual equipment on a cost usage basis. PaaS (Platform as a Service): Applications are run off of cloud servers hosted virtually. A small company selling cloud applications to businesses will use PaaS to "host" the sold cloud applications and have them run off of the cloud servers instead of having them run off of in-house servers. The company selling the applications pays for the services based on a processor/bandwidth basis. SaaS (Software as a Service): Cloud applications are paid for on a per use basis and not sold in bulk licenses. This allows small companies to purchase a la carte licensing for applications they may use infrequently. Instead of purchasing 15 licenses a company can instead only pay when the software is used and removing the limits on how many machines the software can be installed on. IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service, is currently the most widely used cloud service. IaaS allows small, medium and even large companies to cut costs considerably. Companies can completely remove the need for expensive network equipment, expensive bandwidth to support their network, expensive network storage equipment and much more. A company only pays for what they use from the cloud infrastructure thus eliminating the capital lost due to lack of usage from in house network equipment, bandwidth, etc. As IaaS gains more popularity and more cloud hosting companies emerge, costs can potentially drop even more due to oversupply and increased cloud hosting competition.PaaS, Platform as a Service, is second to IaaS in terms of popularity and consumer adoption. A small company selling cloud applications and/or cloud services does not have to host the applications but can instead have them hosted elsewhere. Platform as a Service saves the company selling the applications/services as expensive network equipment, bandwidth and the need for additional IT personnel are instead outsourced to a cloud hosting company. This allows cloud application companies and even small developers the ability to enter the cloud application market without the need for considerable startup capital. PaaS has the potential to overtake IaaS in terms of consumer adoption and overall use.SaaS, Software as a Service, is the least used cloud hosting service. It is a win-win for both consumers and the software companies. Consumers save money as heavily priced software licenses are no longer necessary due to the fact that consumers are only paying when the software is used. The need to purchase software in bulk is removed and every consumers' software needs are custom suited based on usage. This is also a win for cloud software companies as it will attract more consumers due to the custom pricing model. Consumers who could not afford the high cost of bulk software licenses will now be able to purchase based directly on their software usage needs. SaaS has the potential to completely revolutionize the software industry and may even curb software piracy.The customized nature of cloud computing is what makes it such a popular and newly adopted internet technology. It will revolutionize the way that networking and everyday computing is run. It is a great win-win situation for both cloud companies and consumers.Potential DisadvantagesThere are also disadvantages to cloud computing, specifically in online storage and client applications. A company which utilizes cloud computing to host its email, document editing, calendars and other applications can be shut down if a cloud hosting company experiences downtime. This specific disadvantage was the case on February 24th, 2009, when Google Apps as well as Gmail were down for several hours. The downtime also reiterated that if Google can go down so can any other hosting companies. Confidence in cloud computing may have been hindered after this specific downtime although Google has assured it will not happen again. Google Apps services over 1million business around the world and is the leader in cloud computing applications.Security is also a potential disadvantage to cloud computing. Companies that are willing to adopt the ability to host their services on the cloud may be reluctant to do so until the security of cloud computing has been heavily demonstrated and thoroughly tested. Large companies may consider the additional costs of in-house network hosting outweigh the potential security risks associated with cloud hosting. A security breach involving a companys' cloud information storage has the potential for disaster. However, hacking and security breaches are rampant for in-house IT hosting such as millions of credit card numbers being stolen as well as detailed customer information. If cloud computing can prove that its security is much better than any in-house hosting this may help it to grow and overtake the percentage of companies that have in-house IT infrastructures.Cloud computing is still in its infancy and is expected to grow and revolutionize the way of everyday computing. Many theorize that cloud computing will one day take over today's desktop computing altogether. Until intense applications are developed for use over the cloud, desktop computing will remain the staple of everyday computing. Cloud computing innovation is rapid and as new cloud technologies emerge more people will start to adopt the cloud.Current browser technologies are not up to date with cloud computing capabilities, especially in the mobile computing world. Cloud applications require several browser technologies including Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Adobe Flex and much more. Until browser technology evolves to fit the capabilities of cloud computing, cloud computing will remain a relatively simple method of computing.Overall BenefitsThe advantages of the cloud heavily outweigh the disadvantages. As better cloud computing technologies are developed and redundancy is fine tuned, the disadvantages will slowly become obsolete. As mentioned, cloud computing is in its infancy and new cloud technologies are growing exponentially. One day we will all use the cloud. In-house IT hosting as well as desktop computing may become a thing of the past.	 	 		 			 				 					 						Ryan Wood Synergy Chat <a href="http://www.synergychat.com" target="_new">http://www.synergychat.com</a>

Cloud Computing - A Win For Everyone

Cloud Computing is a form of computing in which all applications, information and resources are managed in a virtual environment. The te...

The modern internet age is an exciting time. The internet is a fantastic tool for entertainment, work, and communication. These days the internet is the first place many people check for almost any information they need including driving directions, entertainment news, cooking recipes, and countless other tasks. However, along with the power of the internet comes many dangers as well. Viruses, spyware, popups, and other malicious code can take the fun out of internet computing. As more and more money floats electronically through the internet one can only assume that malware will only increase.Luckily protecting yourself from malware is not that hard. There are a number of great software programs that can protect you from the various forms of malware out there. Security programs are a must for anyone on the internet these days. Many of these security programs will cost you some money. To be honest many of these programs are worth the money as a single security breach in your computer system will likely cause you much headaches as well as possibly costing you money to resolve. However, one thing that make the internet unique from other aspects of life is that you can often get a free lunch. The spirit of giving freely without asking anything in return has definitely helped the internet grow into the largest and most important source of information in the world. As for security software, you can actually get free internet security software that does not take a back seat to any paid security software. I personally recommend saving your money and going with free internet security software. Really the only advantage to paid security software is that you can get complete security suites that will cover all of your internet security needs. Two of the best known internet security suites are Norton Internet Security and McAfee Internet Security Suite. Both are not bad, however you can get just as good protection for free.Lets spend a minute to define what kinds of internet threats exist and how to defend against them. Viruses are very dangerous to you computer system. They can completely prevent Windows from functioning or can allow hackers a "backdoor" to your system. Anti-virus software is an absolute necessity for all computers. AVG Free is a great free anti-virus program that has regular virus definition updates. There are currently millions of AVG Free users because it provides such good anti-virus protection for free.Spyware is another security threat similar to viruses in some ways. Spyware typically does not prevent your system from working, although it may slow your system somewhat. Spyware's primary purpose is capture your private information and send it back to the creator or implementer of the spyware program. Identity theft, credit card number theft, and bank account number theft are just some of the things that can happen to you if you are infected with spyware. Again, there are very good free anti-spyware programs available. Spybot is one of the original free anti-spyware programs. Spybot offers good spyware protection with regular updates for free. It works on all versions of Windows. Windows Defender by Microsoft is another free anti-spyware program that works on Windows XP (if you pass the Windows Genuine Advantage) and comes with Windows Vista. Windows Defender protects against similar threats as Spybot, however Spybot will remove tracking cookies while Windows Defender will not. Tracking cookies are not very dangerous to your security though. Ad-Aware from Lavasoft is another free anti-spyware program that works slightly different from Spybot and Windows Defender. Using all three of the above anti-spyware programs can give you a very high level of protection.Finally a software firewall can add extra real-time protection in a different way than from anti-virus or anti-spyware software. A software firewall allows you to control what programs can access the internet. Windows XP and Vista have a built in inbound firewall, meaning it will protect you from external computers trying to hack your computer. The built in Windows firewall does not give you outbound protection. This means is you accidentally download a spyware program though email, rogue website, or piggybacking on some semi-legitimate software, the Windows firewall will not stop malware that is already on your system from beaming out your private data. A third party software firewall will ask you if you want to allow internet access to all programs on your computer. You could still answer incorrectly and allow a spyware program access to the internet. However, just the prompt for your permission to access the internet offers some protection. For example, if you leave your computer on unattended for hours, spyware will have to wait until you come back to your computer and incorrectly allow it access to the internet instead of being able to beam out your information immediately at will.ZoneAlarm Free Firewall puts control of your internet connection back in your hands. <a href="http://computer-help-center.com/internet-security/" rel="nofollow" target="_new">http://computer-help-center.com/internet-security/</a> has free tutorial videos on using the above mentioned free anti-virus, anti-spyware, and software firewall programs as well as links to download the free programs. The video tutorials are designed for any level of computer experience and also eliminate the need to read manuals. The bottom line is that everyone needs to actively protect themselves against the various threats that exist on the internet. The good news is that internet security is easy and free.	 	 		 			 				 					 						Rahul Patharkar runs <a href="http://computer-help-center.com" target="_new">http://computer-help-center.com</a>, which is a site that has free information and tutorial videos on numerous computer tasks including <a href="http://computer-help-center.com/backups/" target="_new">computer backups</a>, internet security, preventive maintenance, and many others.

Internet Security Is A Must For Everyone These Days, Luckily It Is Easy And Free

The modern internet age is an exciting time. The internet is a fantastic tool for entertainment, work, and communication. These days th...