Posts tagged cloud

Background

Google Chrome OS is an operating system and computer that does one thing and one thing only: runs the Google Chrome web browser. You cannot save photos to it.  You cannot run Microsoft Word on it. There is no way to archive an email. Yes, Google Chrome OS is only good for working “in the cloud.”  ….and that is probably a good thing.

Working in the Cloud

I have long argued that you can do 95% of your business while only using cloud app.  And I do not mean small business, I mean big business, too.  Email, documents, database systems, customer care, video conferencing can all be done in the cloud effectively.

And if you are working completely in the cloud, why do you need a “regular” computer?  You do not need a CDROM or the ability to run install applications - you just need to be able to get to your cloud applications wherever you are.  So Google created a platform called Chrome OS that fits perfectly in this niche.  It is fast, runs on inexpesive hardware and allows you to access your cloud data when you need it.

Security, Encryption

One of the side benefits of Google’s Chrome OS is security.  First of all, you do not really store any data on Chrome OS…it is all kept in the cloud instead. So Chrome OS keeps your data secure by not storing any data at all.  But we all know that there are temp files and browser cache files on our computers - so what about that?  Chrome OS treats that secondary data as a first class citizen and encrypts all of it.  In fact, the user cannot opt out of encryption whether they would like to or not.  As a result, it is impossible to extract any data from a Chrome OS computer.  All of it is locked away and inaccessible.

eDiscovery

How much easier would your eDiscovery life be if your users could not store data on their computers?  No emails, no contracts, no instant messages.  Yeah, I though you would be interested in that. Chrome OS may very well be the best eDiscovery operating system ever created.  It forces users to store data on centralized, cloud-based resources and therefore stop data sprawl all over your network.

In Practice

I have been using a prototype Google Chrome OS laptop (thank you very much Google!) and I love it.  It is fast, responsive and allows me to get my work done. Even my document review platform is accessible via Google Chrome OS.  And while Google has some kinks to work out before their OS hits the consumer and business markets, it is clear that this form of computer is the wave of the future - as well as a sigh of relief to eDiscovery attorneys everywhere.

Last Year

I wrote about Google Chrome OS over a year ago.  At that time, Chrome OS was in a very early alpha development release.  If you knew a developer, like Hexxeh, who was nice enough to build Chrome OS and provided a good USB boot image, then you could test it out.  I was geeky enough to do just that, and I gave Chrome OS high marks for potential.

Reprise

Earlier this month, Google released a beta version of Chrome OS.  This time, Google actually shipped Chrome OS laptops to chosen (and lucky) developers and test users.  This beta program is designed to generate interest and allow the new platform to be user-tested before an official release later in 2011.

It is hard to imagine what Google has been doing for the past year, since in many ways Chrome OS is not much better than it was a year ago.  Which is to say, it is still very good.  My thoughts from last year about Chrome OS came down to:

• Virus-free computing
• Very fast performance
• Able to run on inexpensive hardware
• Runs the applications people actually use

From that perspective, not much has changed.  Sure, Chrome itself is simply faster, thanks to rendering engine improvements and major improvements to the already lightning fast V8 javascript engine.  That said, Chrome OS is so basic that there is not much Google had to do to improve the OS.

New Thoughts

Do I have any new thoughts since last year?  Yes. I am surprised to see how practical Chrome OS is for not just couch or travel surfing.  Last year I thought Chrome OS would be a great computer to use while watching TV.  Well, since then a couple of things happened.  First, I stopped watching much TV at all.  I now get most of my entertainment through the computer.  Second, the launch of the iPad and the new tablet-based paradigm has supplanted laptops/netbooks as a the major on-to-couch computing platform.  So, in some ways, Chrome OS is not longer all that relevant.

What has been a pleasant turn of events, however, is how practical Chrome OS is in the workplace.  As long as your company is already computing in the cloud, Chrome OS makes perfect sense for a business.  Why?  Well, for the same reasons I stated before:

• Virus-free computing
• Very fast performance
• Able to run on inexpensive hardware
• Runs the applications people actually use

For what will likely be a mere $100-$200 per laptop, businesses can get a full-functioning laptop, operating system and security platform.  Not bad.  And the cost for future upgrades is only the cost of the new hardware, since user-data migration in Chrome OS is as simple as logging into a new Chrome OS computer.

Sure, Chrome OS is limited.  It can only run web apps, and despite the amazing advancements of HTML5, web apps are still limited in nature.  That said, Chrome OS supports Citrix and some other sort of VNC-like remote access, so rich applications can be deployed to Chrome OS users fairly easily.

The Fly in the Ointment

The big question becomes, is Cloud Computing trust worthy and will businesses adopt this new approach to computing.  On this point, I think Google is making a very good bet.  While many naysayers have tried to rain on the Cloud Computing parade, I have log argued that Cloud Computing is the inevitable computing platform of the future (here, here, here and here).  If Google is creating the first Cloud-only OS, they will be well positioned to take advantage of the direction of the future.

What do you think about Chrome OS?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Here’s a fun project I think I will embark on: A physical media tracking database that uses CouchDB, QR codes and Google Chart APIs.

In litigation support we often have a need to track physical media.  One of the issues is finding the right solution to this problem.  How do you track a CD/DVD, attribute it to a client/matter number, identify its contents and allow the media to be identified whenever you run across it?

So here’s my thinking.  Use CouchDB to track basic information about a piece of media: Date Received, Client/Matter, Label Information, Contents Description, Unique Media ID.  Then use CouchDB to create the web interface to load the information about the media and use some javascript goodness to auto-create a QR code via the Google Chart API.  It will look like this:

The CouchDB will have all the information that you need and all you need to open the entry to the database is click on the QR code with an webcam application, iPhone or Blackberry.

I think it would be an interesting project.

Google announced Google Chrome OS last week.  Chrome OS is an ultra stripped down operating system that only runs one application: Google Chrome.  The OS is fast, secure and easy to use - but then again, it only performs one major function.

Some people have already criticized Chrome OS as being too stripped down and providing  not all of the features people really need in a personal computer.  But I think that Google is not only on to something here, but they may very well have identified the future of personal computing - at least for 99% of users.

Pros:

• Virus-free computing
  • Auto updates
  • Each executable and step of the boot process cryptographically signed
• Very fast performance:
  • 7 second boot time
  • Web apps that run at near native speeds
• Able to run on inexpensive hardware
  • By the time Google officially launches the product in late 2010, netbooks may only cost $99
• Runs the applications people actually use:
  • Facebook, Twitter, news, photo sharing sites, video (YouTube, Hulu, etc), audio streaming (Lala, Pandora, etc), Gmail

Cons:

• Does not run native apps, such as Word, Outlook or Excel
• Does not run Windows or Mac OS X (but that is not really a con)

At the end of the day, Chome OS is exactly the machine I want to use when:

• Sitting in front of the TV
• Sitting in meetings
• Traveling
• Surfing before I go to sleep
• Reading the news when I wake up

At $99 per machine, it is a no-brainer whether I will use Chrome OS.  Sure, I will still have my iMac for iTunes and I will store my primary set of photos in iPhoto, but Chrome OS will be what I use day in and day out.

Now that Google has opened the Wave to 100,000 interested people, I have seen a lot more reviews of the nascent project on blogs and Twitter.  Some people like it, others shrug their shoulders. This got me thinking:

Should we evaluate new technology based on what it is - or what it could be?

What it is Today

Google Wave, today, is a very impressive party trick - but not a whole lot of there, there.  Yes, it can support 100,000 users, it makes a browser look like a full-blown desktop application, it helps you create both real-time and persistent communications at the same time and it can be federated all over the the world without any single company controlling the platform (just like email).  But there’s not much else…..  Of course, if you ask me, that’s pretty impressive in its own right, but it is true that - today - there is not much else.

In addition, the interface also has some quirks - impressive as it is.  Not everything makes sense in the Wave world and Google hasn’t deployed a solution to handle removing users from a wave or how to turn off the real-time typing.

What it Could Do

Wave is not just a sophisticated IM client, however.  Here are a list of distinguishing features that exist in the platform:

• You can link between waves, making it possible to share knowledge in a very web-like way
• Wave enables you to to publish individual waves to external web pages, making the Wave embeddable - a powerful force in the popularity of online video
• Developers can extend the Wave through automation via automated participants (called Robots) and by expanding the graphical interface/feature-set (called Gadgets)

Google Wave also hold the promise of being able to integrate with third party platforms, such as document management systems and CRMs.  Just look at what NetDocuments has done.

Is Wave Underwhelming?

If you look only at what Wave is today, then I suppose it is a bit underwhelming from an end-user perspective.  But if you look at what it can (and most likely will) become, it could could change the way we communicate on the web.

As reviewers, do we have a responsibility to only convey what we see today, or should we use our imaginations and give people perspective of what a new technology may become?

With the recent Gmail “failure” there has been lots of talk about whether we are really ready for Cloud Computing.  Is 99.9% availability good enough?  An interesting question.  But that made me think of a much more practical question, “Are we ready for in-house IT?”

Can your company handle:

• Regular, planned outages for monthly maintenance?
• Irregular, unplanned outages due to non-redundant architecture?
• Your IT inner workings understood by 2-3 elite engineers and few others?
• Large upfront capital costs?
• Large recurring expenses?
• The joy of Microsoft Enterprise Agreements?
• Non-existent business continuity plans?
• Long upgrade cycles?
• Paying very talented people to be experts in SAN architecture and virtualization, while your company’s core competency is really real estate or accounting or some other non-IT related field?
• Worrying about resource management as each new user requires more disk space and licenses?
• etc.

I know Cloud Computing has some drawback (lack of control being drawback #1), but in-house IT is hardly a walk in the park.  And for the sake of argument, I am not talking about IT in companies of 5,000 people or more.   I am talking about small to mid-sized businesses and the real risks they carry each and every day by *not* moving to Cloud Computing.