Twitter and the cloud debate

The lesson from Twitter’s experience this week is simple; cloud computing is not yet as secure as we need it to be. Apparently, the Twitter employee who was hacked, was using a weak Gmail password and an easy to guess password-reset question. These are pretty basic errors, especially for someone working at such a high profile online Company.

Of course, Twitter’s own security has regularly come under the spotlight, following a number of successful hacking attempts.

With so much data now stored in the cloud, there needs to be a more robust way to ensure its security. It’s clear that providers can not rely on users developing and then remembering a separate, strong password for each of the 10 or 20 sites they use, which require logging in.

If cloud computing really is to be the way ahead, surely something needs to change?

Google’s downtime raises a question

Of course, with so many people now relying on providers, like Google, for ‘cloud computing’ services – The question is; “Is cloud computing reliable enough yet?”

This is not the first time Google’s services have either been unavailable or too slow to use. Indeed, many other well respected providers of cloud computing have experienced similar issues, including Amazon and Microsoft.

People love the cloud

Cloud computing; where the user uses online apps and online storage – as opposed to storing them on their computer, has many benefits. Storing data externally, for example, means that should a computer be stolen or critically damaged, the data is still accessible. You can also work on the same document, using multiple machines, without worrying about synchronising them.  Services like the superb Google Docs and Google Calendar are extremely popular; giving users the ability to work from anywhere, on any computer.

All you need is a browser, an Internet connection and a reliable service at the other end.  It’s the final part of that list, where the current problem rests.

Cloud computing & netbooks

The recent surge in netbook computers is also partly due to the popularity of cloud computing.  Manufacturers can now ship a machine, running any OS, knowing all it needs is a browser for the user to be able to run a host of popular cloud computing apps.  No need for huge hard drives or stacks of productivity software.

Netbooks manufacturers can ship a machine with just 8 gigabytes of hard drive space – because there’s services like Microsoft’s Skydrive, which offers users 25 gigabytes of storage, for free, in ‘the cloud’.  Providers like Amazon offer a low cost alternative.  Then there’s services like flickr, where you can store images for free too – the list is almost endless.

Corporate clouds & personal clouds

If you are using cloud services for personal use, it’s unlikely that the occasional hour’s downtime is going to cause a major problem.  However, if a business / enterprise user needs to get a proposal to a client by end of business today – BUT they have no email access, it could be a very costly experience.

As the popularity of cloud computing increases and providers are better able to cope with the kind of traffic jam Urs Hoelzle mentioned, I think cloud computing will be ideal for all of us.  For now though, the element of risk might still be too great for some.

Microsoft Midori?

Microsoft Midori is being developed in a bid to totally move away from a Windows based OS.  Apparently, Microsoft Midori (not Windows Midori), is going to be far leaner than Vista and Internet focused.  It is also rumoured to be a spin-off of Microsoft Singularity.

At the moment, there are stacks of rumours flying around.  Most rumours suggest that the Microsoft Midori OS is being designed to provide a very different user experience to the traditional Windows experience; with a strong focus on what developers call ‘distributed concurrency‘ and the rest of us know as cloud computing.

What would YOU like to see included in Microsoft Midori? Let us know!

Today, as you will already know if you visited Twitter or stacks of blogs / websites, Amazon’s S3 cloud storage was down for around 8 hours – and it’s NOT the first time either.  Om Malik has blogged it here on the superb GigaOm.com blog.

However, FAR MORE INTERESTING is the question asked today by Antonio Rodrigez on his “The Onda” blog, Antonio asks;

“…if AWS is using Amazon.com’s excess capacity, why has S3 been down for most of the day, rendering most of the profile images and other assets of Web 2.0 tapestry completely inaccessible while at the same time I can’t manage to find even a single 404 on Amazon.com? Wouldn’t they be using the same infrastructure for their store that they sell to the rest of us?”

Answers on a post card to…. well, leave a comment below!

However, right now, in 2008, I think it’s a very brave person who would entrust their business data to one of the thousands of micro-businesses offering ‘cloud computing’ services.

Why?

‘The cloud’ is actually just a server in someone’s building at another location. There are new, small businesses coming up every day offering us a cloud computing facility – may of whom will not even be trading in 12 months. Remember, over 50% of new businesses cease trading within the initial 12 months!

What happens to our data if they go broke and their servers are snatched back by their creditors? What about the security of your data – when the cloud provider no longer owns the servers?

Another common problem with the initial raft of cloud server services is scaling. New 2.0 businesses tend to grow too fast. They quickly get too many people storing too much data – which is being uploaded and downloaded too frequently and BOOM – it all grinds to a halt. So, there you are about to give a presentation to a major client, when you log on to download your snazzy presentation from ‘the cloud’ and nothing happens! Even Twitter, with all its millions of VC funding find itself ‘broken’ at some point most days!

I think cloud computing WILL be totally dominant by 2009, but I think it’s best to wait until the market is better established before storing anything mission-critical on ‘the cloud.’

What do you think?