Cloud computing is everywhere now and it usually works behind the scenes. There are still some locations that refuse to switch over to the new model (I'm looking at companies that still accept emails with 5mb limits), however I have seen entire enterprises go entirely with the cloud. One institution for example is the University of Delaware. They opted to stop using their own email and document servers and signed up with google apps. Now all of the students emails and documents are stored on google's servers, freeing up physical space at the University and cutting down on electric bills to run them.
What is the purpose and usefulness of cloud computing for education, business, and life? How can we use cloud computing to solve problems and collaborate with a global audience?
One of the main issues for the world right now is the financial constraints on hardware. Graphics cards, chip sets, RAM, and other costly hardware are the main impediment between users and what they want to do. If your computer doesn’t have enough RAM, it might be too slow to run applications fluently or even at all. If your computer doesn’t have a graphics card it may not be able to run games or videos. If you don’t have enough hard drive space, you might not be able to save documents, videos, or install programs and applications. When you try to make sure each component of your computer has the necessary hardware, you now need an applicable fan to cool the computer running at higher temperatures. When you add these all up, you have a very expensive device on your hands. These are obvious problems when thinking about computing power in the educational or business sense.
When you put these all together you can finally get to a working machine, but at what cost? This is the main barrier between computers and the general population. The financial limitations of individuals and businesses trying to get access to these materials is staggering. Laptops and home PC’s as well as servers for business and school districts are extremely expensive and take up a lot of physical space and a ton of money in utilities to keep them running. There are literally millions without access to technology based off of hardware issues alone. Think about the millions of impoverished students around the globe with a proper education who could literally teach themselves if they had an internet capable device.
Take one look at the news and you can see that there are thousands being helped by cloud computing. It has taken the hardware limitations out of the question. Now, we only need the basics to run a computer. You need an operating system, a display, an input, and an internet connection and you are good to go. While researching this topic, I was flabbergasted, but you actually don't need an operating system anymore. You can literally run an operating system in the cloud.
With cloud computing the hardware limitations are virtually nonexistent. Everything can be computed in the cloud and then streamed back to you. Do you need to run an intensive application to compile video or music? Have the cloud do the computations for you and then send you the completed results almost instantaneously. Most people who are uninformed about the topic itself actually don’t know that many of their processes are taken care by cloud computing.
With cloud computing the hardware limitations are virtually nonexistent. Everything can be computed in the cloud and then streamed back to you. Do you need to run an intensive application to compile video or music? Have the cloud do the computations for you and then send you the completed results almost instantaneously. Most people who are uninformed about the topic itself actually don’t know that many of their processes are taken care by cloud computing.
For instance, using a Chromebook operates on google's operating system. When creating a document, the operating system uses google docs as their main application. Instead of saving the document on your personal computer, the document will save to the cloud on google’s servers, enabling you to keep your hard drive free from space limitations. This is why you now have no need for a larger more expensive hard drive. The same goes for your virtual memory in the fact that you don’t need a ton of it to run your applications since google’s servers are doing all the hard work and then sending you the results. This frees up a lot of expense and gives millions of people access to computers for cheap when never before possible.
Combine this fact with the enumerable cloud based learning sites online and you now have a global phenomenon about to happen. With the outset of fiber obtic cabling, we could soon see virtual laboratories of students working together in real time from all over the globe. We could see small businesses turning into global giants due to the fact they didn’t have to buy a warehouse for the server space. Our lifetime will bare witness to computers that are cheaper than $40, yet run like an absolute warhorse of a super computer.
With the future holding the prospect of giving universal access to these devices, we will see a definite change in the way our world communicates. Just look at students from poor environments learning from courses on MIT’s opencourseware or Khan Academy. Even Khan Academy's entire architecture of the site runs on the cloud. This enables them to reach millions of students in a single update that rarely, if ever, crashes the system. I have never had a time where I couldn't reach the site. Below is a video on this very topic.
How can I use cloud computing in my school or business?
One old ideal that bothers me about business’s and education committees is their refusal to believe that cloud computing is a suitable replacement for their current model of using technology in the classroom. Take my computer lab for instance. There are nearly 30 machines that have i3 chips with about 250 gb hard drives, a nVidia graphics card, casing, fans, separate mouse, keyboard, monitor etc. Each one of these machines is over five years old and has something wrong with them. In fact, out of those thirty there are only about 20 machines that can actually run at an acceptable pace. With a new school on the way, we are getting new computer labs and computers, but we are sticking with the same tried and true method of how they have done things.
For a new school for instance, lets say they plan on having about 90 different PC’s in three separate computer labs running at approximately 650 per machine. Doing some quick math you can find that we are spending approximately $65,000 on PC’s with most likely $10,000 worth of wiring and installation for the school. Buying cloud based products such as a Chromebook seems like a no brainer to me. In fact, buying $200 Chromebooks from amazon right now would net us with over 375 computers for our school. A school could literally have enough laptops for each classroom to have a set in addition for the computer lab to have them. This would work wonders in our classrooms. Giving students access to these materials is the beauty behind cloud technology. It frees up the hardware and software costs and allows students to get what they need at a fraction of the price. If you are in charge of technology at a new institution, you should seriously think about these benefits before rushing into something new.
