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"Cloud computing" is all the buzz. It helps to know that the "cloud" is the Internet as opposed, I guess, to the "ground" of your personal hard drive. Demystifying this stuff: Using your Web browser to get to software that runs on the Web, not on your desktop.

Wikipedia: Cloud computing means Internet ('Cloud') based development and use of computer technology ('Computing'). It is a style of computing where IT-related capabilities are provided "as a service", allowing users to access technology-enabled services "in the cloud" without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them[3]. It is a general concept that incorporates software as a service, Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, where the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.

Read Write Web: Wuala Launches P2P Cloud Storage Solution

Wuala puts a new twist on cloud storage. While typical cloud storage services move your data onto servers managed by the provider, Wuala also uses disk space on other members' computers. Files are encrypted on the user's own machine and the chopped up into little pieces and uploaded to Wuala's servers, as well as numerous other users' computers (Wuala calls this 'social grid storage') to provide a redundant storage solution. Wuala's local client is written in Java and runs on OSX, Windows, and Linux.

Ars Technica review: First look: Wuala online P2P backup service makes us nervous

...Hailing from Switzerland, Wuala (pronounced like the French "Voilà") is the product of three years of research and a desire to make web-based file storage and sharing easy....

This system offers a few advantages such as no bandwidth limits, no file-size caps, and, theoretically, more reliable file recovery if your hard drive dies or other Wuala users go offline. On the very significant flip side of that coin, however, are the security concerns Wuala evokes by not only storing (portions of) files on offsite servers, but on random users' computers across the world. Casual users may not care if their hard-won collection of Hilary Duff pictures falls into the wrong hands, but SOHO businesses and anyone larger can't be blamed for not touching Wuala with a ten-foot pole.

That said, our experience with Wuala was a mixed bag. Signup and install was easily initiated from Wuala's site, and soon the client opened to a default of the public images area. Another selling point of Wuala is its emphasis not just on cloud storage, but socializing and file-sharing. By default, everything uploaded to Wuala's default 1GB storage area is private until set otherwise. A healthy set of sharing features allow for e-mailing a file link to a friend and sharing the file publicly for all other Wuala users to do with as they please. If you need more storage, you can purchase it starting at 10GB for $25 per year, or you can trade local disk space for online storage. This gives Wuala more room to store encrypted portions of other users' files while still allowing you more room...

Cloud Failures Are Serious - Time to Revisit P2P?

Read Write Web likes the idea of distributing the work among users' computers, like those who make available their computers to search for extraterrestrial signals for SETI@home. When GMail went down last week, people who've put all their eggs in that basket -- by routing all their email addresses through GMail -- were distraught.

But I'm not sure that depending on a million little PCs is the answer, either. I wonder about those who save electricity by turning off their computers when they're not in use. How to access your distributed data then? And why are my photos on somebody's computer in India, anyway?

That cool logo looks like vaguely Persian script to me -- well done.

 Tags  cloud computing Web 2.0 Wuala

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1 Comments

Tom Hoffman said:

Netflix's outage this week is an interesting variation on the theme.

Link | August 15, 2008 12:04 PM
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