Cloud Computing — Why Platform Might Not Matter!
Cloud computing is a term that is used to describe the coming trend of simplifying the data center using virtualization technologies to make computing functionality simple to computer end users. Cloud computing is not the same thing as “software as a service”. The technology behind the cloud computing world becomes invisible and makes transparent what device or platform is in use.
Related services like cloud storage are already available in services like .Mac and Google. Cloud services are provided already by Amazon and Google web applications. The latest cloud computing vendor is now Microsoft with Live Mesh, which is in a closed beta phase. Live Mesh is a platform that provides people with the ability to build applications that take full advantage of the underlying services on Internet cloud computing.
Microsoft is finally embracing a growing trend called “cloud computing,” where users increasing access software and services online rather than via software that is installed locally on their PCs, Macs or mobile devices. Through Live Mesh, Microsoft will for the first time migrate its major computing platform off of the PC desktop and into the Internet cloud.
This initial version of Live Mesh is currently in a closed beta aimed at developers but will be opened up to the public later in the year. It will attempt to provide four key services:
- Device interoperability
- Anywhere access to files, folders, and programs
- Simple sharing and interaction with others
- Automated updates
While none of this sounds particularly revolutionary, remember that this platform exists in the cloud, not on a PC desktop. Central management of devices and applications online, for example, is unexplored territory for Microsoft and its customers.
The first developer-oriented beta of Live Mesh includes a number of low-level technologies that will both form the basis for the entire platform and enable programmers to create unique solutions of their own. Live Mesh includes programmatic access to core services such as (online and offline) storage, sync, peer-to-peer communication. The programming model is identical between desktop-based, device-based, and cloud-based solutions, meaning that a single Live Mesh application will run identically on any supported hardware platform.
Listening to a recent podcast between Leo LaPorte (TWiT) and Paul Thurrott (WinSuperSite), Microsoft seems to be moving computing away from Windows in a focused way and towards the future of computing on the Internet. The idea of mobile computing will change as the use of services like “GoToMyPC” and other RCP programs become less relevant for computing users. The future of computing is in the clouds.
