Migration to "the cloud"

Corporate America wants everyone to move their data off local storage and into the private servers of megacorps. This is not a conspiracy. Microsoft is openly pushing the "cloud" version of MSOffice over the "traditional" version.

What is a conspiracy is, is there an ulterior motive for this. Is this just to drive consumer culture and make corporations tons of money, or is there something more sinister going on?

As a systems administrator who works at a SMALL software as a service company, it's pretty remarkable the power I have to "manipulate reality." I don't want to go into the details, but I'd like to mention that someone at google has the ability to go into your emails and change their contents. If they wanted to they could go through your email and edit out all references to a specific person for instance.

They could create email conversations where you appear to negotiate with drug dealers or terrorists, or commit some other criminal act. There's a chance they could even do this without leaving any record, that is if someone at google even bothered checking the record.

That's what it means for your data to be in "the cloud."

reply to post by scwizard


Dear scwizard,

I tend to agree with you, the cloud means that the government will have access to all your files for the rest of your life. In the future you will not have a hard drive and will be required to use an individual lifetime IP address. That is why IPv6 was created.

They wont be forcing me to any cloud setup. im keepin my info where it should be, right on my HDD.

they want my info, their gonna have to try to outright hack me, and i'll be underground with linux

I don't trust the cloud. Never had a need to use it either really so I will be old fashioned and keep my data on my own equipment. I have no doubts any alphabet agency that wanted to could access the information or even manipulate it.

What if the cloud went down and I had an insatiable urge to watch a movie of the adult midget variety.

reply to post by scwizard


I remember being against "the cloud" since 2007. Think about it:

All your data is stored on someone elses hard drive.
You have no physical control over your data.
Someone can go into that center and physically remove your data by taking the hard drive.
It's connected to a server that anyone can have access too seeing it's connected on the net.

I mean, I'm totally against it. I wouldn't host anything other then maybe some family pictures or college documents there. Much less actual business documents or extremely personal information. Even encrypted. That's why I never liked the ChromeOS and Chrome books. Why in the hell would I want a computer that can't be used if there's no internet around? Honestly?

I have a home NAS connected via LAN (no network) with enough storage to last me another ten years. I'll be keeping my storage local.

...but just think:

If everyone moves their files to clouds, and those clouds are hacked, the people themselves will DEMAND internet controls. Tight ones.

Our company used Amazon web services AWS for email. We found out the hard way that unless you replicate your data to a min of 2 different data centers your still just sitting on 1 box with a drive. When AWS had major problems with there disk system we were down for 3 long day and this was all email. You can just reload 3TB of email in a flash.

I then looked at Google and after having many meetings I finally got to engineering which told me your data will be housed in one of our data centers then replicated to another for backup. IN the even that both centers fail your data is still on another continent (provided connections are up)

In a nutshell its just a rack with a drive in the cloud and the cloud can fail you so why not just keep it local.
Most NAS servers have a cloud connection so you can still access your home data while on the road.

We have brought our data back in house and will keep it there nice and safe and we will be accountable not some random kid on a skateboard.

There's nothing nefarious about the concept behind businesses moving data-storage to "the cloud". In fact, it saves large companies big $$$ by doing so. No need to lease, manage, maintain offsite/NOC systems or personel. No need to invest heavily in multi-redundant storage devices, backup systems, switching, security, UPS etc. The list goes on.

Small companies can easily get away with managing locally or maintaining 1 co-location.

You should research some of the upsides of "the cloud". Not only is it the way of computing-futures but many companies involved in the manufacture of equipment and services are making me a good bit of money on the stock market

In a business model, cloud computing makes a ton of sense. For most non-technical, small to mid-size companies, it does not make sense to spend the money on IT resources, both physical and human. All you need is a nice, reliable network pipe and you're good to go. There are still issues with entrusting sensitive data to a third party, but the savings usually justifies the risk. I think this wave will continue to gain momentum.

For the consumer model, I think it's a really bad idea to entrust your personal data to a third party for security reasons. No matter how much a xAAS provider works on security, all it takes is one rogue sysadmin to screw things up for you. Plus, consumer grade storage is so dirt cheap these days, you can buy multiple external drives to have redundant backups and ensure your data is safe. Consumer network connections are not the best either... I like to be able to access my data when the network is down or all the neighbors are streaming the Olympics.

Unfortunately, the trend in personal computing is to make the whole experience as idiot-proof as possible to gain the highest adoption rate. Microsoft, Apple and all the big boys want grandma and grandpa in the game, and doesn't want them to have to think about storage, applications, etc. Apple's entire business model depends on this.

I think having the option of cloud computing is fine, but I truly hope the technology and the technology companies don't push people to the model. I think there are enough techies around in this generation that we won't see this happen any time soon. But, I don't like the future of personal computing beyond that.

Originally posted by scorpiosin
I don't trust the cloud. Never had a need to use it either really so I will be old fashioned and keep my data on my own equipment. I have no doubts any alphabet agency that wanted to could access the information or even manipulate it.

What if the cloud went down and I had an insatiable urge to watch a movie of the adult midget variety.

Even very private data has to be stored out of your HDD (DVD, pen drives, etc). This is not acting like someone who owns a degree in security but simply common sense.

Anyway the witch-hunt over internet privacy runs speeding up since time ago. Certainly.

reply to post by scwizard

I agree with you, this "cloud" is a government owned and operated database. This means that TPTB will have full, unfettered access to all your files.
I myself do not like government intervention on my computer files. That is why I run Linux with encrypted partitions, even my swap partition is encrypted. If I wish to save files, I burn them to DVD. I have files from conspiracy websites that are no longer up.

reply to post by scwizard


Time to pack up the kids, tools and seeds and move to the hills.

I am just sick SICK of bl""dy everything about society and their spy tools.

Freedom and privacy. WHAT freedom? WHAT privacy.

grrrrr......

I'm really tired of this dysfunctional bunch of power greedy horrid people at the top messing it up for the rest of us.

The further we go, the less life we have.

-sorry for the rant. I am just totally brim full.

If "they" were trying to get to and spy on your personal data, they would give away all the cloud storage you want for free.

Let's take Apple for example...

When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. And that’s plenty of room, because of the way iCloud stores your content. Your purchased music, movies, apps, books, and TV shows — as well as your Photo Stream — don’t count against your free storage. That 5GB goes a long way for your mail, documents, account information, settings, and other app data. And if you need more storage, you can easily purchase an upgrade right from your device.

Get 5gb Free!

5gb of free storage is nothing.

5GB of free storage is plenty for most people. But if you need extra space, you can always buy additional storage.

Additional Storage Price
10GB $20/year
15GB total iCloud storage
20GB $40/year
25GB total iCloud storage
50GB $100/year
55GB total iCloud storage

iCloud Storage Options

100.00/yr for 50gb!

This is all about corporations making money. Apple intentionally created the iPad with no USB port for a reason, and it's not to spy on your private data.

i getting the feeling that in the near future, i'm going to have 1 computer with NO connection to the internet, and 1 with a connection. that way when i need to send "data" i will have choices of delivery methods and editing. and if need be...we can always share critical information by simply mailing it via the post office. slow, but more secure. i think the number 2 pencil along with a notpad is going to make a comeback.

Originally posted by Zarniwoop
In a business model, cloud computing makes a ton of sense. For most non-technical, small to mid-size companies, it does not make sense to spend the money on IT resources, both physical and human.

It neither costs a lot to have your own networked NAS with enough storage nor do you have to be an IT specialist to set one up and maintain it. I run a small business and that's what I do. And I have no IT knowledge what-so-ever except from what I've learned over the past couple of years thanks to Engadget and Gizmodo and a few other online publications. (And of course Google when I really need help with something.)

reply to post by Auricom


Congrats

It all depends on the nature of the business, I suppose.

@autowrench:

I agree with you, this "cloud" is a government owned and operated database. This means that TPTB will have full, unfettered access to all your files.

Not true. Many corporations are making clouds. It's nothing more than a server farm that hosts files. Of course, a subpoena from the government could change that. Remember uhm, Megaupload?

That is why I run Linux

Totally agreed!

@Zarniwoop:

100.00/yr for 50gb!

You can buy a USB 1tb drive (external) for 99. One time purchase. That's 20 times the storage. Hmm. Any moderate to large company should still be utilizing that process for "sensitive" data. No personnel files on the cloud, all local.

The cloud is not bad. Google put my docs on the cloud. Automatically. They are stored there, and if lighting fries my computer or my hard drive fails, or my son spills (by accident) a glass of kool-aid on my laptop, well, I don't have to worry about it. I can just download them again.

Here's a hypothetical for you:

Experian, and the other credit agencies switch to cloud storage. You could hack the cloud (much easier than proxy servers behind a firewall), and change your scores, manipulate data.

Is that a bad thing?

If hackers got in, and manipulated a coveted credit score, yes.

Personally, my opinion is that clouds should only have non-sensitive, generalized info. Be careful what you post.

The cloud is really worrying...

Working in IT its not just jobs its going to take away, but control.

Think about it, you wont know where your critical system data is.

Does your data fall under the laws of the country that the servers reside in?

It seems countries are being hacked left and right now a days.. what happens when all you need to hack is a server farm to access 1000's of companies data?

Cloud seems risky.

reply to post by Agit8dChop


Excellent point. The hackers can be government agencies or any other individual, worldwide. There is no network that cannot be hacked. Pictures of last Christmas? Blah. That's cloud-worthy. Financial records? No way!

Never mind