Own your Cloud

[reneg8or]

Many cannot, for practical reasons, use cloud computing but need a central data / sync hub. I came across http://owncloud.org and www.syncables360.com

Have a look, see if it will solve your issues. Anyone already using these? Please comment.

A comment from elsewhere on this subject:

"The paradigm shift towards cloud computing brings its own challenges, problems
and threats. Even if one could safely trust Google, Microsoft or Apple, then we
still have external threats regarding the internet link between oneself and
Google, for example. MS Office is moving toward cloud-only functionality whilst
there is a revived effort by the corporate world to develop OpenOffice and
LibreOffice as alternatives. The world of enterprise does not want cloud
computing and remote applications.


I have lived through a severe earthquake, yet more quakes and a cyclone with
wind speeds of up to 225km/h. I have seen a very un-Pacific ocean come ashore
and rinse everything in its path. Also, a construction worker ripped the guts
out of an optic fibre cable that served a fairly large military base and a
number of large mines. Chaos when the umbilical cord gets cut. PC in Africa and server in Taipei. With no link in between.


Sending data to my PC right next to my laptop via Seattle, Austin, Los Angeles
or Frankfurt seems unwise and an unnecessary complication."

 

[Frikkenator]

So basically any old CMS (Joomla, Drupal, SharePoint) with the word cloud added to get in on the hype?

Also... The "world of enterprise" VERY much wants cloud computing and remote applications, hence it going from a 0 to multi-billion dollar industry in a couple of years.

Kinda reminds me of this...

[video=youtube;9ntPxdWAWq8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntPxdWAWq8[/video]

 

[Syndyre]

Personally if I survive a major earthquake I'll have bigger worries than not being able to access Office 365 or Google Docs but that's just me.

 

[alloytoo]

The "Cloud" is just a hopped up version of the old computer bureaus which used to host business's ERP systems.

That worked great for the Bureaus and Post OFfice/Telkom because they basically had your business by the knackers.

Then businesses figured out that a couple of PC's or a small server could do the same job onsite without the hassle of leased lines and that they could manage their own IT costs better.

Enterprize Cloud computing is a desperate attempt to claw back the "Monthly" revenue stream from these business.

Small businesses will not rent office 365, they want to own it outright and keep it deployed for far longer than M$'s shareholders would like.

 

[Frikkenator]

The "Cloud" is just a hopped up version of the old computer bureaus which used to host business's ERP systems.

That worked great for the Bureaus and Post OFfice/Telkom because they basically had your business by the knackers.

Then businesses figured out that a couple of PC's or a small server could do the same job onsite without the hassle of leased lines and that they could manage their own IT costs better.

Enterprize Cloud computing is a desperate attempt to claw back the "Monthly" revenue stream from these business.

Small businesses will not rent office 365, they want to own it outright and keep it deployed for far longer than M$'s shareholders would like.

That is not even remotely what cloud computing is or what it is used for.

Cloud computing is used in enterpises for the following reason:
1) Flexibility in capacity and cost.
2) Reduction in network infrastructure especially where global connectivity is needed.
3) Reduction in risk.

Also I presume you have never run a small business? Your number 1, 2 and 3 priorities in order are cashflow, cashflow and CASHFLOW. A capital layout of R10k+ for a couple of copies of office is a much bigger problem than R100pm per head. Even if it works out more expensive in the long run, it means that your cashflow doesn't take such a big knock.

Our company has Exchange, SharePoint (document management), Lync, Office, source control (all geo-redundant) and 14 development servers, yet we do not own anything more than a couple of notebooks and a router. We don't need anything more than an internet connection, we don't need anyone to manage our servers, we don't have to deal with network or server issues, we can just sit down and get to work.

So yes, small businesses do use cloud computing and office 365, and it works perfectly.

 

[mika1000]

or use libre office. its free. and cloud... you can get 50gb for free these days!

 

[alloytoo]

That is not even remotely what cloud computing is or what it is used for.

Cloud computing is used in enterpises for the following reason:
1) Flexibility in capacity and cost.
2) Reduction in network infrastructure especially where global connectivity is needed.
3) Reduction in risk.

I note your reasons are vague and nebulous.

Also I presume you have never run a small business?

I managed IT for a SMB for 10 years.

Your number 1, 2 and 3 priorities in order are cashflow, cashflow and CASHFLOW. A capital layout of R10k+ for a couple of copies of office is a much bigger problem than R100pm per head. Even if it works out more expensive in the long run, it means that your cashflow doesn't take such a big knock.

You really don't need to repeat your simplistic business seminar mantras.
The number one priority of any business is to make money. you do that by buying cheap and selling dear and managing your overheads.



Real businesses manage their cashflows and either plan aquisitions around seasonal fluctuations or simply finance them.

Our company has Exchange, SharePoint (document management), Lync, Office, source control (all geo-redundant) and 14 development servers, yet we do not own anything more than a couple of notebooks and a router. We don't need anything more than an internet connection, we don't need anyone to manage our servers, we don't have to deal with network or server issues, we can just sit down and get to work.

That may suit your business model. It does not suit all.

So yes, small businesses do use cloud computing and office 365, and it works perfectly.

Or not.

 

[vpscoza]

ownCloud is fantastic and we have a large number of users using the software over our servers. The main benefit is that you are in control of your data. One never really knows where your data is or if deleting it is actually deleting it when using services like Dropbox and other large "cloud storage providers".

 

[sparticus]

Personally if I survive a major earthquake I'll have bigger worries than not being able to access Office 365 or Google Docs but that's just me.

+1 lol

 

[w1z4rd]

Ill give you an example of a cloud service. I have a VPS on a Xen server. The sever has hardware failure, my VPS goes down. I have my VPS in on cloud infrastructure. A piece of hardware goes down my vps stays up. As my VPS is no longer hosted on one machine with a single point of failure. Now it is hosted on many machines so there is no more single point of failure.

You cloud haters really need to wake up. I know some people adapt to change slowly but I would never ever host on legacy systems if I can help it.

Ill give you an example of one of the cloud I host in. Its located across three different datacenters (one is a nuclear bunker). If two of those datacenters go down then my hosting stays up. Each of those datacenters are fed by many different power and network cables from different institutes.

Now compare that to non-cloud infrastructure. You hosting a server in a data center. So so so many points of failure.

Building your own cloud is actually not that hard. I guess some of the older IT people just cant adapt quickly enough to push out their own clouds.

 

[Jolive]

cloud computing was always in industries from very beginning but was in some other forms (ERP's). on recent changes and technical shifts MS Office 365 provided BPOS an older version of recent Office 365 suite. Migrating company domains over reliable + inexpensive services is more profitable and manageable. for professionals google apps & office 365 are on hype... and are liked by many corporate firms.

creating your own cloud requires not much efforts rather more technical proficiency is required. But if you are actually providing online hosted services then somewhere speed & security is a major concern.... try to make your cloud easily affordable, easy to manage, secure & flexible acc to changing demands..