“Cloud Computing” is very much the buzz word of the day, but what is it?

The “Cloud” refers to the Internet in general. It is so-called due to the fact that it is typically depicted as a cloud in most network diagrams, like so:

It is depicted as a cloud both to represent the fact that the Internet is, by its very nature, ethereal and ever-changing, but also because for the most part, what happens in the background to make data travel across the Internet between two endpoints is largely irrelevant to most people – you just need to trust that it works!

The Internet can actually be represented as looking like this:

But I digress. Cloud computing refers to the recent trend of moving away from traditional, locally-hosted application and storage servers, to using servers hosted by a third party service provider. These servers are connected to the Internet and as such are available from anywhere in the world. Indeed, you may not know where in the world the servers you access are physically located, and it doesn’t matter. For this reason, the server are said to be “in the cloud”.

Google is a good example of such a service provider. Google Apps is a collection of applications, some of which are purely web-based, some of which require that software be installed on your device to access online services.

The suite can be accessed at http://www.google.com/apps

Currently the suite is comprised of the following ‘cloud-based’ applications:

Google Mail (Gmail) – web-based email, similar to Hotmail but which unlike Hotmail can be accessed via the IMAP email protocol, making it accessible from virtually any email client without the need to install any additional software, but also providing more functionality than the more prevalent POP protocol such as the ability to manage folders and move messages between them.

Google Talk – a free instant messaging and file transfer client, like Windows Messenger or Jabber, but which also includes IP telephony capabilities like Skype.

Google Calendar – an online calendar which can be accessed from your web browser and can also be synchronised from common desktop applications such as iCal on the Mac as well as Microsoft Outlook.

Google Docs – web-based Document, Spreadsheet and Presentation creation service enabling documents to be created and edited and saved online, ready for access anytime simply via a web browser, across virtually platforms, including Windows Mobile.

Google Maps – an online mapping service allowing you to view specific locations or map routes between them.

Google Earth – a software utility that harnesses converged satellite imagery to produce a full 3D zoomable model of the entire planet.

Most of these applications require that you first register for an account with Google before you can use them.

Google Docs

Although Google Earth is possibly my favourite, Google Docs is perhaps the most significant as it provides feature rich, always-on document creation capability from virtually any internet-connected device, completely for free. All you need to do is fire up a web browser login and get creating. Your document is saved securely online on Google’s servers until you next login and edit it. At any point you can save the document to your device, email it, or print it. It is also possible to share the document with other users providing online collaboration in real time.

This is a big deal – Microsoft will charge you thousands of pounds to install Sharepoint, their equivalent server-based product that does the same thing, and it is precisely Microsoft’s hegemony over this market sector that Google are targeting.

Google Gears

Google Docs is a very clever service, but it does require that you have a connection to the Internet to use it. What if you’re stuck somewhere where you don’t have an Internet connection, or are on the move and need to make a quick adjustment to a document before you forget and can’t be arsed to connect to the Internet?

Google Gears is the answer.

Gears, as it is now known as it is not a solely Google-related application, is an open source collaborative effort to develop a framework to provide offline access to online applications.

It is a free plugin to your web browser and can be downloaded from the Google web site.

When Gears is installed, your Google Docs web session has an ‘Offline’ option in the menu bar, which when clicked allows you to ‘add’ the site to the Gears plugin:

Once enabled an icon will be added to your programs folder;

Launching the application will display the same document in your same web browser, but will indicate that you are editing the document offline:

The next time you login when you are connected, the document changes will be synced automatically. Pretty cool eh?

Other companies are re-inventing themselves as “cloud service providers”: Microsoft has long had its Hotmail email platform, now called ‘Windows Live’, and has now launched a hosted Exchange service in the US allowing companies and ‘prosumers’ to enjoy the functionality of an Exchange 2007 server-based mailbox, without the worry of having to install, configure and maintain it. Exchange now supports such a wide range of access methods and client device types that it no longer matters where in the world your mailbox is physically held, if you have a connection to the Internet you can send and receive email.

Apple has recently launched its MobileMe service, and has integrated it into the iPhone, iPod Touch and MacOS X platforms as well as releasing a client for the Windows operating system. MobileMe (http://www.apple.com/mobileme/) provides an online storage area and tools to synchronise mail, contacts, calendar, photos and files with your device.

Nokia have also jumped on the bandwagon and have set up the Ovi service (http://ovi.nokia.com/services/)

The OVI Suite is a free download from the Nokia web site and comprises a number of applications:

·         Nokia Music

·         Nokia Photos

·         Nokia Videos

·         Nokia One Touch Access

·         Nokia Map Loader

·         Nokia Software Updater

·         Nokia Home Media Server

The main 'dashboard' of the software is designed as a portal to online services, and as an online storage area, similar to MobileMe, where you can upload your photos, pictures, files, etc. 

OVI also has all of the applications that are shipped with the Nokia PC Suite:

·         Application Installer

·         Content Copier

·         PC Sync

The One Touch Access application allows you to establish a connection to the Internet via your connected Nokia phone with a single click.

The Nokia Music application offers similar features to iTunes in that you can manage the music on your PC, transfer it to your Nokia phone and purchase new music from the online Nokia Store:

The Photos and Videos applications allow you to browse the contents of your Nokia phone’s media folders and upload them to your personal storage area in the “Nokia Cloud”.

The Nokia Map Loader application lets you download free map information for the built-in GPS software on the new Nokia E and N series range of devices. The Nokia Software Updater, as its name suggests, checks for firmware updates for your phone, downloads and installs them.

The Nokia Home Media Server allows you to share content on your PC with other users on the same local network who also have the OVI software installed:

Personally, with the cost of storage forever plummeting, and the technology now available to cram 1TB of data onto a 2.5-inch laptop hard drive, I still prefer to store all my data locally, but having it online and available from anywhere in the world from a mobile device is pretty cool.

The big question is whether businesses will see the potential of cloud computing and start to replace the traditional model of having Microsoft Office installed on every PC with one where applications are hosted online and accessed via a web browser.