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What makes something a "cloud" and not a "directory manager"? Why is for example http://code.google.com/p/relay/ http://code.google.com/p/relay/ not a cloud so

by cateye 14y ago

What makes something a "cloud" and not a "directory manager"? Why is for example http://code.google.com/p/relay/ http://code.google.com/p/relay/ not a cloud solution? Is it only a marketing term or does functionality like being able to syncing from multiple devices make something a cloud?

lbotos 14y ago
Cloud is pretty much just a marketing term. Although it does imply a "seamless" experience such as syncing data so that environments are equal. I wouldn't say that syncing is the requisite but seamless is more so the goal.
phaer 14y ago
It's more than just a directory manager. It is also an extendable platform, see http://apps.owncloud.com/ http://apps.owncloud.com/
- cateye 14y ago
  I am not sayin that is just a directory manager. Just starting the discussion to give "cloud" a more substantive meaning. If "extendable" is the criteria, then any directory manager is a cloud because you can easily write a plugin and extend the functionality.
sp332 14y ago
Historically, the "cloud" was a symbol drawn on network maps to show the part of the network you don't care about. So you'd draw some servers over on one side, and a line going through a cloud to indicate a bunch of routers and stuff, and then the line would go to some clients on the other side. Your ISP is a "packet routing as a service" cloud provider. After a while people started asking, if we can put network routing in the cloud, why not other kinds of computing? So the idea started to take shape: instead of just asking the "cloud" to route your packets to servers that would send back computations or stored data, you can ask the cloud for the data directly. Again: the cloud is just the part of the computer/network that you don't have to care about to get your job done. Google docs: you don't have to care about the disks your data is on. Amazon: you don't have to care about the CPUs your programs run on. None of those are perfect implementations but they're close enough for marketing departments :) A better example is the Kademlia DHT: just throw a hash into the network and you get data back. Much cloudier! :)

by cateye 14y ago

lbotos 14y ago

Cloud is pretty much just a marketing term. Although it does imply a "seamless" experience such as syncing data so that environments are equal. I wouldn't say that syncing is the requisite but seamless is more so the goal.

phaer 14y ago

It's more than just a directory manager. It is also an extendable platform, see http://apps.owncloud.com/ http://apps.owncloud.com/

cateye 14y ago
I am not sayin that is just a directory manager. Just starting the discussion to give "cloud" a more substantive meaning. If "extendable" is the criteria, then any directory manager is a cloud because you can easily write a plugin and extend the functionality.

sp332 14y ago

Historically, the "cloud" was a symbol drawn on network maps to show the part of the network you don't care about. So you'd draw some servers over on one side, and a line going through a cloud to indicate a bunch of routers and stuff, and then the line would go to some clients on the other side. Your ISP is a "packet routing as a service" cloud provider. After a while people started asking, if we can put network routing in the cloud, why not other kinds of computing? So the idea started to take shape: instead of just asking the "cloud" to route your packets to servers that would send back computations or stored data, you can ask the cloud for the data directly. Again: the cloud is just the part of the computer/network that you don't have to care about to get your job done. Google docs: you don't have to care about the disks your data is on. Amazon: you don't have to care about the CPUs your programs run on. None of those are perfect implementations but they're close enough for marketing departments :) A better example is the Kademlia DHT: just throw a hash into the network and you get data back. Much cloudier! :)