Have you herd about Cloud Computing?

[Southern_Lenders]

A low cost solution to small businesses, and their IT needs.

Benefits include:

•Reduced Cost
Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving organizations money.

•Increased Storage
Organizations can store more data than on private computer systems.

•Highly Automated
No longer do IT personnel need to worry about keeping software up to date.

•Flexibility
Cloud computing offers much more flexibility than past computing methods.

•More Mobility
Employees can access information wherever they are, rather than having to remain at their desks.

•Allows IT to Shift Focus
No longer having to worry about constant server updates and other computing issues, government organizations will be free to concentrate on innovation.



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more about clouds --> Cloud computing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Seems start up cost could be rather low for something like this. One could put together a custom server with say 6tb's of storage using some super duty Western Digital SATA HD's ( Tb 2 Hard Drive - Hard Drives - Over $1,600 - Compare Prices, Reviews and Buy at NexTag - Price - Review ) for 5 to 6,700.00 a pop. I think Mozy.com is one such Company.

[ajk8914]

Funny you posted this I was just looking at OnLive and Otoy. These are cloud computing for video games that will be released in the future but I find this very interesting and appealing as far as other directions you can go with it on a business aspect.

I also agree, seems like you could start something of the similar nature with a smaller overhead, which has me interested to look into this further.

What does everyone else think?

[Southern_Lenders]

Unless you know about system security, and maintenance , you'll have to keep someone around that knows about that stuff, and paying those tech guys by the hour aint cheap. Also, you're going to need a T1 connection.

I really don't know much about it..I JUST found out about this stuff from an article on CNN.

[noob]

Been using it for over a year now. Way better than the old way of managing servers. I use to have my own server racks which was an inefficient way of doing things. I then switched over to dedicated hosting and from there to managed hosting and finally onto the cloud. The cloud is amazing and I wouldn't use any of the other services but its mostly for people who need it. Unless your business is running a lot of resources, its a bit more expensive than necessary to have.

[Carlos™]

I have. I've been seeing a trend of servers offering cloud computing. And its not just for video games.

Yes, it requires broadband from the user's side, but an incredibly powerful machine to offer it as a server solution.

The biggest sell of cloud computing is that it costs less to "produce" meaning for cheaper server prices for the end-user.

This is why OnLive costs 14 bucks a month instead of 50 bucks a month. If OnLive used the same server infrastructure that we've been using for years, they'd not have priced it at 14 bucks, its higher.

Right now, how much we pay for cable and internet is somewhere between 20 to 50 bucks a month. If companies still use the current server infrastructure instead of cloud computing, they'll lower the prices to cloud computing, or lower.

[noob]

Right now, how much we pay for cable and internet is somewhere between 20 to 50 bucks a month.

I wish I was still paying around that price. The amount of bandwidth I kill at home and the number of connections I have requires a higher plan and now I pay I think somewhere around $120/month for internet after taxes. I use to pay $40-$50 but that doesn't really cut it anymore.