By Peter Cochrane, 2 April 2009 08:00
COMMENT
Compiled in my home office on the first day of Spring and dispatched to silicon.com via wi-fi from BT Labs at Martlesham Heath, UK
The technical literature is currently ringing with cries of: 'I want to know where my bits are - and what about the increased security risk?'
As well as: 'I don't want anyone else's data on my hard drive!'
Strong statements indeed but they reflect a lack of understanding that is worrisome.
'Where are my bits? Where are your bits?' We don't have a clue!
All our data - banking details, credit card activity, passport driving licence, national insurance, tax, medical records and so on - is stored somewhere but we don't know where. And to think that in each case they are all on one isolated drive or drive set, or in a single physical location is naive in the extreme.
Actually I hope my bits are spread all over the planet on multiple drives backed up in multiple physical locations. I'd be really upset if they were on just one drive in one location, even if they were backed up. Such a scenario would be inherently unreliable and insecure in the extreme.
How come? Context! If I steal an email, or any document, it will most likely only give me a glimpse of the full picture. To get to the real meat I need the entire hard drive or document trail. It really is as easy as that.
Like it or not cloud computing has been with us for some time, and it is just going to grow. And as it does our data will become safer and more secure as it becomes increasingly dispersed. And yet I hear sensible people demanding that their in-company data has to be held on a company server on company soil, always to be under the company eye and control.
Why do people think this way? Surely it can't be mass paranoia. Perhaps it is more about the desire to exert control. The reality is that none of us can control our own data, let alone that of our company, simply because the internet, servers and companies are leaky buckets with data seeping out all the time.
The real problem is one of trust and reputation.
In order to achieve reliability, resilience and security, it is vital to spread data across the internet in a part-contiguous and part-parsed format. The conundrum is, do we do it ourselves, or do we let others do it for us? I prefer the latter course, through a trusted intermediary or service company.
Just as I don't make pencils or automobiles, I don't build, install and maintain email and web servers. Instead I I rent space from reputable service providers! To me this is no different than keeping my money in a bank instead of under my mattress, or using a credit card instead of cash. It is all about resource management - allowing service industries to organise atoms and bits on our behalf.
Regardless of how comfortable people are with all of this, the cloud is coming. And it offers great advantages, including cost savings, for those who rise to the challenge of change.
Comments
There are 9 comments. Join the discussion
1. Murray Hynd
Cloud computing;
; circa 1979, unique location, system, software (e.g. IBM 3270 SNA)
; circa 2009, ubiquitous location, system, software (everyone with everything...)
Personal/Corporate fears regarding data protection are similar (giving your data over to someone else - will they change it, lose it, screw it up, steal it or sell it off?) although the ramifications are different; personal impacts are ID theft and financial fraud, whereas corporate risks are IPR theft, financial fraud, theft of customer details.
Trust and reputation take years to build, microseconds to destroy.
The 'meta' dance with data has been done since year dot in the defence industry, the colour CYAN being universally applied (Cover Your Ar5e Now).
The only way to comfortably 'cloud' your data effectively is to retain personal ownership of the 'meta', and reach into the cloud to extract *your* data and reconstruct it locally.
2. Stuart Fawcett
The cloud could also dramatically reduce the need for quite so many complex home PC’s ending up in recycling centres.
And should also help reduce your home electricity bill.
3. Donald
Actually I think that particular "lack of understanding" is not the issue any more.
The questions I hear most are to do with legislation. For any particular user in any particular country with data stored elsewhere, which legal jurisdiction applies to data storage in the cloud? And, most importantly, what needs to be done to make legal jurisdiction irrelevant?
4. Neil Bant, Product Manager - Virtual Hosting, Kingston Communications
Another great article from Peter. I am not sure that UK based businesses will embrace their data being held in other countries, which may come under differing laws and juristrictions, but partnering with a hosting provider, within your own country, makes ideal sense for lower cost of ownership and return on investment for server based projects.
5. Benny Placido
Everything you say is correct and since the early days of the internet (remember thin clients?) and ASP and SaaS, there has been hype around the subject; the now re-named, Cloud Computing. However, the argument has moved on beyond security into other areas. Integration is a serious issue because the Cloud makes this harder, and what about the existing infrastructure which needs to be sweated before it's moved out and/or replaced.
Silicon.com has been publishing articles for the last few weeks that show CIOs are not just concerned about the technicalities, security or otherwise; nor are they being luddites. There just simply needs to be answers to some serious questions about the Cloud, which currently the Cloud propagandists are ignoring.
6. Peter Cochrane
Murray = That is exactly the way I do it....to increase flexibility and security at the same time! Thanks for chipping in here. Peter
7. Peter Cochrane
Stuart = And a lot more I reckon. Most data centers 'don't do energy management' and their hard drives are seldom 10% full. I think we have a long way to go with the ICT revolution. Peter
8. Peter Cochrane
Murray = That is exactly the way I do it....to increase flexibility and security at the same time! Thanks for chipping in here. Peter
9. Henry
Wow, being a contrarian and realizing you have not covered the other side of the argument, you are wrong on most points. One only has to read the latest news to finally realize one can not trust other people to manage one's personal business properly and one's reputation needs to be guarded closely.
My issue now is that my former advantage is gone as many people are now waking up. The good news is people will be less trusting of others in so called positions of authority.
This is not a bad thing as tempting others through one's ignorance is not bliss and anything posted on the Internet is there in perpetuity. Everyone has woken up a little bit smarter so we critical thinkers just have to work that much harder and take greater risks to stay ahead.
Don't get me wrong I am all for the other guy outsourcing his or her financial and personal information as this is what gives me the edge but it is becoming more difficult each day to maintain one's privacy. As long as cash stays king there will always be an out from the mindless stream of bits and bytes.