Archive for the ‘Cloud Computing’ Category

The latest issue of Educause Quarterly is dedicated solely to the topic of Cloud Computing. Similarly, the May/June issue of Educause Review covered the cloud as well. Here are just a few of the articles from this excellent issue:

• Cloud Computing Explained
• Universities and Libraries Move to the Mobile Web
• Embracing the Cloud: Six Ways to Look at the Shift to Cloud Computing
• Using Cloud Infrastructure as Part of a Digital Preservation Strategy with DuraCloud

MakeUseOf has an excellent run-down of the 4 Best Sites To Get 10GB Free Online Backup & Storage by Mohan Ramkumar. Each site in the list is briefly reviewed including details of features and storage limits. I was excited to find out about Windows Live SkyDrive, offering a whopping 25GB of free online storage!

The latest issue of Educause Review focuses on cloud computing “as college and university, association, and corporate leaders discuss the opportunities/risks and the promise/peril in using cloud services”.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has issued a new report concerning The Future of Cloud Computing. Here’s a quick overview:

“Technology experts and stakeholders say they expect they will ‘live mostly in the cloud’ in 2020 and not on the desktop, working mostly through cyberspace-based applications accessed through networked devices. This will substantially advance mobile connectivity through smartphones and other internet appliances. Many say there will be a cloud-desktop hybrid. Still, cloud computing has many difficult hurdles to overcome, including concerns tied to the availability of broadband spectrum, the ability of diverse systems to work together, security, privacy, and quality of service.”

via Stephen’s Lighthouse

Web Directions has issued a report on The State of Web Development 2010. The study is based on responses to 50+ questions about technologies, techniques, philosophies, and practices that today’s web professionals employ. I found the information on cloud computing usage particularly interesting and useful.

Erik Mitchell, Ph.D has published Using Cloud Services for Library IT Infrastructure in the current issue of Code4Lib.

“While much of the focus on cloud computing in libraries has been on subscription service or platform (e.g. ILS hosting) there are cases where libraries need computing resources for requirements that are not provided by service or platform providers. This article looks specifically at the experience of one library in moving its IT infrastructure to cloud-based environments. The article seeks to address how well these systems fill library IT needs, asks what other elements define the success of the use of cloud-based infrastructure and concludes with a case study discussion of one experience.”

Today I had the pleasure of presenting on cloud computing in libraries in Copenhagen to the IT-faggruppen interest group of the The Danish Librarian (Workers) Union. It was a great all-day conference dedicated to cloud computing topics.