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On Friday 29 January 2010 14:09:37 Iain Buchanan wrote: |
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> On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 10:00 +0000, Stroller wrote: |
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> > On 29 Jan 2010, at 05:43, Iain Buchanan wrote: |
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> > > They got it right for being open to OSS, but they got it wrong with |
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> > > the |
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> > > word "cloud"... |
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> > > |
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> > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richar |
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> > >d.stallman |
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> > |
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> > Seems like Stallman's objections don't apply because the proposal is |
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> > that they own their own cloud. |
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> |
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> I don't think his objections are just related to public vs private. As |
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> Neil said, there's the security problem to begin with, where one large |
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> government data centre has more data to compromise that a small one... |
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> |
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> > I.E. the use of the word "cloud" is just buzzwordology to gain |
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> > approval & acceptance. |
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> |
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> ... Another problem is the use of the word "cloud" when already we don't |
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> know exactly what they mean by it (it sounds like a manager buzz word to |
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> me) so they're going to have trouble defining it to themselves, and |
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> other govt departments. |
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> |
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> But the principle still remains that they're handing over locally served |
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> (ie maybe a server, maybe a desktop) data to a central "cloud" that will |
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> put its own limits on security, size, etc. Not to mention the |
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> separation of distance. No matter how good your network link is, it's |
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> not as good as your SATA interface! And at the worst of times you may |
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> loose not only your data, but your ability to create new data! |
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> |
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> > One could weigh the pros & cons of using regional data centres for |
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> > this, versus a server room in the basement of the individual |
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> > government buildings in Swansea (DVLA), Bristol (TV licensing) & |
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> > wherever, but I just feel too pessimistic about this today to feel |
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> > it's worth it. |
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> |
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> I'm all for data centres, since they can put massive CPU and storage |
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> volumes at the other end of the network link for you to work with |
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> (backups, web servers, etc) but it becomes very problematic when you use |
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> a web browser to write an office document. |
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|
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I think they are thinking along the lines of Citrix XenApps and thin client |
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(e.g. HP running Neoware-RHL) on the desktops. This is what is being tried |
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out currently in a number of offices/buildings. |
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-- |
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Regards, |
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Mick |