Cloud Computing is The New ‘Added’ Utility

In trying to demystify Industry 4.0, I have written about 3D printing (Additive Manufacturing) and The Internet of Things (IoT). In between, I was able to squeeze in a post about swear words. https://thespearking.com/never-use-swear-words-its-easy-to-mind-your-language/. I think Cloud computing is the next logical topic. Keep reading and you will see why.

I remember taking a walk with a Precious little person whilst talking about storing data in the ‘Cloud’. My Precious little person asked me: “Why do you look at the sky when you speak of cloud computing?” I am glad to say that was just a glitch as I am back to my senses.

This time last year, I had no interest in either Cloud computing or Industry 4.0. An encounter with a group of ‘smart minds’ @MMU made me curious. https://www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/course/msc-industrial-digitalisation/. Initially, these ‘smart minds’ appeared to be a bunch of noise-makers. Most conversations revolved around Tesla and ‘The Future of Making’

A lot has changed since last year. I have a growing list of new interests. You can say I have ‘intelligent distractions’. https://thespearking.com/you-need-to-develop-intelligent-distractions/. In addition, I am now interested in what the noisemakers have to say

What is Cloud computing?

There are lots of theories on how the name ‘Cloud computing’ was coined. I am not sure which I believe or that it matters. Nevertheless, there is a highly technical definition of cloud computing by The US national institute of standards and technology (NIST):

‘It is a model for enabling ubiquitous (found everywhere), convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction’.

There are lots of keywords/phrases in this definition which I will list below:

1. Ubiquitous (found everywhere).
2. Convenient.
3. On-demand network.
4. Rapidly provisioned.
5. Minimal management effort.
6. or service provider interaction.

In a nutshell, this means ‘Quick and easy’ internet access. The crucial part of the definition is ‘Shared pool of configurable computing resources’. These resources include networks, applications, storage, servers, etc. Simply put, the hardware and software are in large data centres (I would describe as cloud/clusters of large computers belonging to someone else!

We, the users, subscribe/pay to use storage and computing facilities. Without the internet, this would be impossible.

Why do we need the ‘Cloud’?

All arms of Industry 4.0 generate a large volume of data. Most people may not understand how much data I speak of. I will, therefore, use common examples: emails and photos.

It will not be smart or easily accessible to store emails, photos, or documents on your device, a USB or Floppy disc . (What’s that?). Devices like these can get lost or stolen and have limited storage space.

We can access emails, documents, photos from a smart device. Without cloud computing, this would be impossible. This is the business model for the Google account. Your Gmail comes with 15 GB of free storage space (In the cloud). The storage space houses/saves your emails, photos, and your google drive. Cloud usage incurs charges similar to other utilities such as water gas and electricity, once the free storage is used up.

Cloud computing providers include:

1. Microsoft
2. Amazon
3. Google
4. Alibaba
5. IBM
6. Dell

Is cloud computing important?

Imagine life without Cloud computing? There will be absolute chaos and life will stop; for some people.

The economy and important institutions rely on cloud computing. Check out the list below. This is not exhaustive.

1. Educational institutions at all levels: Universities, high schools, online learning,
2. Health sector: Patient electronic records, online training, GMC records
3. Financial institutions: Banks, trading companies, insurance houses
4. Social media: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Tiktok, Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn
5. E-commerce: Shopify, Woo-commerce, postal services, Esty, Amazon, Alibaba
6. Security: Storage of video footage from CCTV, password storage
7. Personal use: Data storage for documents, photos, Cable TV, Mobile device use
8. Automotive industry: Robotics, smart cars

It is wise to say cloud computing is important and in fact, indispensable in this day and age. Cloud computing enables the Internet of things (IOT’s) and is invaluable in the development of smart cities and homes. https://thespearking.com/astonishing-offsprings-of-the-terminator-internet-of-things-iot/.

Is cloud computing safe?

The answer to this is a matter of opinion and based on past events!

Wannacry hit the NHS about 12 months ago and brough health care to its knees. There are individuals out there who want your data for negative reasons. With cloud computing, we give up the right to control our data to the network provider. There is a level of security provided by passwords and 2-factor authentication to log into your cloud accounts but are these 100% secure?

‘The activity of using the internet to attack a country’s computers in order to damage things such as communication and transport systems or water and electricity supplies: The use of cyber warfare can destabilise financial systems, the telephone system or the energy grid. Cyberwarfare has fundamentally changed national security because an attack can come from anywhere‘.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cyber-warfare

With the advent of cloud computing came Cybersecurity jobs. Most large institutions that rely on cloud computing have cybersecurity department. They are tasked to ‘police’ all that has to do with computing and the ‘Cloud’.

Concerns with Cloud computing include:

1. Abusive use of the cloud.
2. Malicious insiders.
3. shared technology.
4. Account hijacking.
5. Data loss or leakage.
6. Unknown risk profile
7. Users have no control over the lifecycle of their data. There are no guarantees that your deleted data is deleted from cloud storage.
8. Users lack control on how their data is used
9. For mobile devices: Electronic eavesdropping and tracking, mobile malware

Cloud computing is here to stay. It is virtually impossible to live without it. I do not have the answers to the security risks or how to mitigate them. However, I am certainly not letting Delilah  or the likes, into my home.

Personally, I sometimes prefer to learn by listening. If you are like me, the links below will appeal to you. ‘David Baddiel tries to understand’ on BBC Radio 4 gives some insight on the puzzling topic of ‘The Cloud’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07jywbn

Similarly, James Bridle, an author and technologist tries to make sense of ‘The Cloud’: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000nc1n

Take home message: None for this post

Ref: Cloud Computing. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-812810-7.00001-7 Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.