Super Intelligence (SI)
Virtual Reality
Hyper Reality
Multimedia Communications
Cyberspace Share Technology
OpenSocial API(Ex:Social Networking Services)


■ Cloud Computing
Abstract
"Cloud Computing" has increasingly become a term that 
people are concerned about, because it represents the future
of the information age. So, what is Cloud Computing ? 
What is the use of Cloud Computing? How will it change
the world? Many issues remain to be answered.
Although many issues are now may not yet have complete answers, 
this article tries to analyze the origin of Cloud
Computing and the relationship between Cloud Computing 
and grid computing, Web 2.0, and ubiquitous computing in order
to illustrate the history, development and future of Cloud Computing.

The first scholarly use of the term “Cloud Computing” 
was in a 1997 lecture by Ramnath Chellappa. In 1983,
Sun Microsystems declared, "The Network is the Computer".Until 
around 2006, the word "Cloud Computing"  began to appear 
occasionally in the media magazines. In March 2006, Amazon 
released the Elastic Compute Cloud — EC2 service.

August 9, 2006, Google Chief Executive Officer Eric 
Schmidt first proposed the concept of  Cloud Computing at the
Search Engine Conference (SES San Jose 2006). By the end of 2007, 
the frequency of  "Cloud Computing"  is increasing rapidly. Google 
and IBM promoted a Cloud Computing project on  U.S. college
campuses, including Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Stanford
University, the University of California at Berkeley and the 
University of Maryland, etc. IBM and Google, two companies
each to contribute 2000 to 2500 million U.S. dollars. provided 
approximately 400 advanced computers, and planed to 
eventually place a total of more than 4,000 computer units. 
These computers were connected with six universities, 
including the Universities of  Washington in Seattle, the
University took part as the lead research and development 
programming. This project hoped to reduce the cost of distributed 
computing technology in academic research and to provide relevant 
software, hardware equipment, and technical support for these universities
(Including hundreds of personal computers and BladeCenter and System 
X servers, these computing platforms would provide 1,600 processors and 
support open-source platforms including Linux, Xen, Hadoop, and others).
Students could develop the web-based large-scale computing research projects. 
In early 2008, Cloud Computing in the Chinese language began to 
be translated as “云计算”or“曇端計算”.





(1)Source of Cloud Computing - Amazon EC2 product
In fact, EC2 product was launched earlier than IBM's and Google's.
Although Amazon EC2 is a heavyweight product in the Cloud Computing 
market, but in 2006 and 2007, Amazon's own influence is very 
limited in the world. So Amazon's  EC2 cloud product contributed less to the 
popularity of the concept  than the IBM–Google project did. 
But this does not prevent EC2 from holding a pioneer status in Cloud Computing 
in the world. Although Amazon made little contribution to the popularity of
the concept of Cloud Computing in its early development, with the development 
of Cloud Computing, Amazon's strength and level in the Cloud Computing
field have been higher than IBM's and Google's from the beginning.



In August 2006, Amazon released the Beta version of the EC2 product, 
having previously published another important product, S3. EC2 is an abbreviation 
of  Elastic Compute Cloud. S3 means Simple Storage Service. At the time of its release, 
EC2 was called Simple Compute Service, not as a category name, but as a product name 
that introduced "Cloud" as an alternative service concept. Of course, calling it Elastic Compute 
Cloud Computing is clearly inappropriate. The original reports on the EC2 product launch, 
including one titled "Amazon Cloud Computing Goes Beta," mostly described it 
as Utility, Elastic, and Virtualized.

In October 2007, with IBM and Google presenting some of their projects as Cloud Computing, 
Cloud Computing began to spread rapidly (within a limited IT circle). At that time, IBM's 
and Google's parallel computing project was still for research and scientific purposes, 
while customers found that EC2 was a very commercial Cloud Computing product. 
As Amazon's AWS products include a lot of Cloud Computing services, 
this also established Amazon's position as a Cloud Computing market leader.


Big Data 


(2) Definition of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is a very cool web application model. The proposal of this concept 
overturned the traditional concept of the Internet world. In a narrow sense, 
Cloud Computing refers to IT infrastructure delivery and usage patterns, 
where resources are obtained on demand over the network in a scalable manner. 
In a generalized sense, Cloud Computing refers to the mode of service delivery 
and use — a means to obtain the necessary expanded services on demand through 
the network in an easy way. This service can be IT and software, 
Internet-related, or any other services; it has a very large scale, virtualization, 
security, and reliable unique effects.




(3)Timeline for History of Cloud Computing

1983	Sun Microsystems,Inc,.Founded 
1994	Amazon.com Establishment 
1995	Yahoo! Inc. Founded
1998	Google Search Founded
1999	Salesforce.com Founded
2001	IBM，Grid announced its Grid
2005	Article by Dr. Tim O'Reilly "What Is Web2.0?" released
2006	Amazon S3  Started
	        Google CEO Eric Schmidt mentioned 'Cloud' as a keyword
	        Twitter Started
	        Amazon EC2  Started
2007	Microsoft SkyDrive Started
	        Google, IBM and a number of universities embarked on
                a large scale Cloud Computing research project
2008	Microsoft Windows Azure (Ray Ozzie — Chief Software Architect of Microsoft)
	        Google App Engine 

2009	Oracle's acquisition of Sun Corporation
	        Xerox acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services
2010	More launched(Salesforce.com and Mare jointly launched
                More Services)
	        Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud



2. The Advantages of Cloud Computing
(1) Lower Cost
This is a quantitative financial advantage: You do not need a high-performance 
personal computer (which corresponds to a high price) to run Web-based cloud 
applications. Because all of the applications and operations are in the cloud, not on 
your personal computer, you do not need to install the operating system software of 
a traditional personal computer (such as Microsoft Windows, Unix, etc.), 
and you certainly do not need hard disk space for storage. Therefore, a Cloud Computing 
client computer can be cheap, with a smaller hard drive, less memory, 
and more efficient processors. In fact, the client computer does not even need a CD 
or DVD drive in this case, because it does not load software programs 
and does not need to save any documents.

(2) Higher Performance
Using Cloud Computing means you do not need to store and run PC-based software applications; 
there are no cumbersome procedures taking up computer memory, so computer users will 
get better performance. In short, a cloud computing system starts up and runs faster than 
a personal computer, because it only loads small programs and processes into memory.

(3) Lower IT Infrastructure Costs
In larger organizations, through the use of the cloud computing model, 
IT departments can reduce costs. There is no need to invest in more powerful servers; 
IT staff can use Cloud Computing capabilities to supplement or replace internal computing resources. 
Companies with peak traffic needs no longer need to purchase equipment to respond to
peaks (which would sit idle the rest of the time); by using computers and servers in the cloud, 
peak computing needs will be met easily.

(4) Less Maintenance or Management
From the viewpoint of maintenance costs, no matter what size a company is, Cloud Computing has
greatly reduced the maintenance costs of hardware and software. The first is hardware.
As the organization requires less hardware (fewer servers), maintenance costs 
decrease immediately. The second is software maintenance. 
We know that all cloud-based applications are located elsewhere, 
so the organization's computers have no software, and therefore there is 
no need for unnecessary IT engineers or staff to maintain them.

(5) Lower Software Costs
Cloud Computing's most attractive advantage is the cost of software.
There is no need to purchase a software package for each computer in the organization, 
and only those employees who actually use the applications need to 
access applications in the cloud. Even when using Web-based applications similar 
to desktop software, the cost will be much lower than buying the software now 
(for example, buying Microsoft software). IT personnel save the cost of installing 
and maintaining these programs on each desktop.

In fact, many companies now offer very low-cost or even free services. 
These companies (such as Google) are free to provide their Web-based applications. 
It is more attractive to individuals or large enterprises than spending high prices to
buy Microsoft software or similar desktop software and applications from vendors.

(6) Real-Time Updates for Software
Another Cloud Computing software-related advantage is that users no longer 
worry about software upgrades and paying high costs. For Web-based applications, 
updates happen automatically, and users work on the cloud the next time they log on. 
Moreover, whenever you visit a fee-based Web application, you always use the latest 
updated version, without having to pay fees or download updates.

(7) Enhanced Computing Power
This is obvious. When you connect to a Cloud Computing system, you can freely dominate 
the power of the whole cloud. You are no longer limited to what a single computer can do; 
using thousands of computers and servers' capacity, you can perform tasks like supercomputing. 
In other words, in the cloud, you can try a bigger task than on a traditional desktop.

(8) Unlimited Storage Capacity
Cloud Computing provides almost unlimited storage capacity. Imagine your desktop 
or notebook computer is about to run out of storage space. The cloud can be used with 
hundreds of PB (100 million gigabytes) of capacity, compared to your computer's 200GB 
hard drive. That's so insignificant. Whether you need to save something, 
you have enough space.

(9) Enhanced Data Security
All your data is stored in the cloud, isn't it? It has been somewhere in the cloud. 
This is different compared with the traditional desktop environment. In the past,
when your computer hard drive crashed in the desktop environment,
it would destroy all your valuable data.

But a Cloud Computer crash will not affect your data storage, because the cloud data 
is automatically copied, so there will never be any loss. This also means that 
even if your PC crashes, all your data is still stored in the cloud and you can still access it. 
In the desktop world, few users regularly back up their data. 
Cloud Computing can guarantee or maintain the security of data.

(10) Improved Compatibility Between Operating Systems
Have you ever tried to make a Mac communicate with a Windows-based system? 
Or let a Linux machine share data with a Windows computer? I believe you will hate this process. 
Using Cloud Computing, this is not necessary; in the cloud, the operating system is not 
important. You can connect your Windows computer to the cloud, and run Apple Mac OS, Linux, 
or UNIX computers to share files. In the cloud, the important thing is the data, 
not the operating system.

(11) Improved File Format Compatibility
Using Cloud Computing, you do not worry about whether your machine is compatible with 
documents created in another user's application or operating system. 
(For example: a Word 2007 document cannot be opened by Word 2003.)
Web-based applications of cloud computing can be compatible with all file formats 
created by all users. When everyone shares data or applications in the cloud, 
the problem of format incompatibility no longer exists.

(12) Easier Group Collaboration
Working together for many users, so multiple users can successfully work together 
on common projects online. That function of computers is one of the most important 
advantages at present. Just imagine, there is an important development project 
between China and Japan, and they need to immediately communicate face to face to 
solve development problems. Before the appearance of Cloud Computing, 
you had to send the relevant documents from one user to another member by email. 
Today, if you use Cloud Computing, it is unnecessary to do so. 
You can access project documentation with each other in real time; when a user 
edits content, it can be automatically reflected on other users' screens. 
This is of course entirely possible, because the documentation is in the cloud 
and not on the personal computer. All you need is a computer with an Internet 
connection, and then you will be able to collaborate.

Of course, the majority of group collaboration means faster completion of larger projects. 
It also makes group projects possible across different geographic locations. 
Groups no longer must stay in the same office in order to have a better result. 
And with the use of Cloud Computing, anybody, 
any low (regardless of your identity and status) can collaborate in real time.

(13) Universal Access to Documents
For example, on holiday at your own home, you suddenly think of forgetting 
important files at school. Or you go to a computer center at school and just 
forgot important data. That's no problem; with Cloud Computing, 
you do not have to carry documents. Instead, as long as you have a computer 
and Internet access, you can access them from anywhere. And no matter where you are, 
all of your documents are ready for use. Therefore, there is no need to carry documents — 
as long as you can connect to the Internet, simple as that.

(14) Eliminates Reliance on Specific Equipment
Finally, here is the ultimate advantage of cloud computing. You are no longer dependent on 
a single computer or network. When replacing a computer, with the cloud, existing applications 
and documentation will follow you. Switch to a portable device, and your applications and 
documentation are still available. There is no need to purchase special equipment for 
a specific version of the program, or a device-specific format for your document. 
No matter what kind of computer you use, your documents and the procedures 
that create them are the same.

6. The Future of Cloud Computing
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

Bill Gates, 1989, talking about "computer science in the past, present, and future." 
It is well known that programs were very small in the late 1980s, and a 100MB hard disk 
was almost used up. At that time, the Internet had begun to develop, 
but it had not yet been widely available and popular in the world. Meanwhile,
the era of digital cameras, digital music, and 3D movies had almost not arrived. 
Therefore, storage space requirements cannot be compared with today's level. 
This was a mistaken judgment about the future of the IT industry by Bill Gates. 
That judgment led Microsoft to be concerned only with software development, 
while ignoring the Internet.

Today, the common standard computer users need is: low-end Core Duo — 1GB, 
hard drive memory size — 100GB, and soon the MB-level hard disk drive will enter family use.
With the rapid development of Internet technology, many things are easily solved by the Internet, 
such as watching TV online, listening to music, writing reports, storing travel photos, 
sharing new ideas, and so on. As time goes by, we gradually find our favorite experiences — 
movies, music, pictures — and always try to collect and save them for later reuse. 
Now, with cloud storage, you can freely store all the material 
according to your needs.

Cloud Computing is considered the next revolution in the science and technology industry; 
it will bring a fundamental change in working methods and business models. 
First, Cloud Computing means great business opportunities for small 
and medium enterprises (SMEs); they can make use of Cloud Computing at a higher level, 
and as a platform compete with large companies.

Since 1989, when Microsoft launched the Office business software, the way we work has 
undergone great changes. Today, Cloud Computing technology has revolutionized the world of 
Microsoft's monopoly situation. Because Cloud Computing is bringing cloud Office, 
it has more computing power, and there is no need to buy software, without having to 
install and maintain it on a local computer.

Secondly, Cloud Computing means the end of hardware. At least, small and  medium 
enterprises (SMEs) no longer need to buy expensive hardware to compute for increasing demand; 
instead, they just rent Cloud Computing from vendors, thus avoiding large investments 
in hardware costs. Meanwhile, the company's technical department is also not required to 
bear the headache of technical maintenance, and they can save a lot of time for 
more business innovation and creation.

Take Amazon for example: its Cloud Computing products are cheaper (of course profitable), 
attracting a large number of small and medium enterprises, or even "The New York Times," 
Red Hat, Scandisk, and other large companies to join. Amazon provides 1GB storage for 15 cents, 
and the server lease is 10 cents an hour. Allegedly, its "cloud" investment is only $300 per computer.
If power consumption is 300 U.S. dollars, Amazon's earnings are $876 calculated according to 
the charges in the case of an uninterrupted year. The profit margin is about 45% —
higher than the gross sales of books.

With the rapid development of Cloud Computing, traditional hardware manufacturers 
have to face crisis once again. Dell, HP, SUN, and other companies worry about the U.S. 
market having been declining; perhaps the decline of the hardware market is really coming.

Cloud Computing's impact on the business model is mainly reflected in the market space of innovation. 
Harvard Business School professor Christensen believes that Cloud Computing means a return to 
the mainframe era from the PC era. In the PC era, PCs offer a lot of good applications and functions; 
now we are back to the mainframe era. Now the mainframe can never be seen or touched, 
but it is true that the mainframe is put in there, and them in the clouds.

(1) Future Prospects
Imagine what happens when the computer's computing power is no longer limited by local hardware: 
smaller size, lighter weight, able to handle more powerful mobile devices. We are fully capable 
of using a notebook as paper-thin and light, but it still runs the most demanding online games, 
and can access the Photoshop application and edit photos through the mobile phone online.

More attractive, companies can get very high computing power by low-cost investment,
no longer need to purchase expensive hardware, and without having the burden of 
frequent maintenance and upgrades for your terminal equipment.

For example, the real estate corporation (Gossipy) wants to create a database to 
calculate 670,000 families' acquired property data in 12 years, in order to provide consumers 
with better proposals. If they construct everything from hardware to software by themselves, 
initial estimates suggest it takes 6 months and one million dollars to achieve this goal.

In the end, they chose Amazon's "Elastic Computer Cloud" service. 
Using powerful data analysis capabilities by Amazon, completion of the project was only 3 weeks, 
costs less than 5 million. This is the charm and power of Cloud Computing. 
That is, the calculation of distribution according to need gives full play to 
the performance of large-scale computer clusters. If you only use 5% of the resources,
you just pay 5% of the price; you do not need to pay 100% for the equipment as in the past.

(2) Standards of Cloud Computing
On the standard of Cloud Computing, companies are concerned about their standards, 
including Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Sun, and other IT giant corporations. 
The benefits of entering the market as early as possible are obvious: to win a good 
public relations image and attract the attention of academia and industry, 
through continuous development of new technology to push the cloud computing market. 
More importantly, Cloud Computing is considered the user's key step from the desktop into 
the Internet; whoever wins the battle will win the rule-making power at a critical period of 
changing the rules.

Therefore it is not difficult to understand why Amazon and Sun are so actively joining 
in this competition. In 2007, Amazon opened up "Flexible Cloud Computing" service to developers, 
so small software companies can buy the processing power of Amazon data centers. 
So small software companies can buy data space according to the company's needs. 
Sun introduced the "black box" program. The program is based on cloud theory, 
saying that the future data center will no longer be confined to crowded and stuffy rooms, 
but will be a removable container; companies can move it to the "suburbs," 
including a variety of places, in order to reduce room costs.

Microsoft and Google are the most important players in this race. 
As we all know, Google has been trying to provide more computing power and services 
for users through the Internet, in order to subvert Microsoft's desktop monopoly. 
Google promotes its cloud computing platform as a form of open source, which means that users 
can get the platform code and modify it. This is regarded as a favorable way to promote Cloud Computing. 
Eric Schmidt believed that "90% of the computing tasks can be completed through Cloud Computing."

It is obvious that the major companies are carving up the big cake of Cloud Computing. 
However, we believe that the ultimate beneficiary is the users; Cloud Computing will take us 
into a new world, and truly change our lifestyle in the future.


MORE INFORMATION >>>>
  
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