I don't know if you got any responses to this, Tatjana, but I just came across this 3 minute explanation of cloud computing that folks might find interesting. I imagine more than a couple of people were wondering what cloud computing is... http://commoncraft.com/cloud-computing-video Holly Gordon Technical Support & Network Systems Specialist Central Texas Library System, Inc. 1005 West 41st Street, Suite 100 Austin, TX 78756 512-583-0704 ext.15 www.ctls.net <http://www.ctls.net/>
________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tatjana Versaggi Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ctls-l] Cloud Computing - Discussion Request of viability forlibraries.... Hiya Fellow Tecchies and those that deal with server issues, Now that we've solved Texas Library email distribution problems (HA!) (PS) Thanks to Xan and Clark for reading our posts with interest! Everyone should be so lucky as to have a company so engaged with it's customer base! I was on my virtual computer (I have been using G.ho.st since it was in beta test) wondering about how to solve our email conundrum when one of my co-workers mentioned wishing they could work on stuff at home.... and by the way should couldn't access the Server (on its last leg). Since we are already are using the cloud for our checkout and notification system, why not put the server in the cloud? Certainly backing up to the cloud would be good. It's definitely cheaper than buying machines with loads of memory, not to mention buying new servers (something I'm dealing with on a broken budget!!). Does anyone use an internet-based server system? Does anyone out there back up their server to a cloud system? Has anyone even considered this? Of course, as I was pondering on my drive to a class in Austin, I heard the BBC talking about the city of LA moving email to Googlemail <http://www.edlconsulting.com/newsdetail.php?id=484&headline=City_of_Los _Angeles_will_use_Google_cloud_computing_email_services> : http://www.edlconsulting.com/newsdetail.php?id=484&headline=City_of_Los_ Angeles_will_use_Google_cloud_computing_email_services I know that google offers their supped up services to non-profits and education for FREE. Unfortunately I have been unable to actually sign up to test the system. I can't get past Step two no matter what browser I use.:P Any experience with this? There are many downsides to this, most of them more trust issues for those of us who have grown with the internets over many years of varying degrees of reliability. I STILL think it is a worthwhile discussion. Thanks in advance for discussion on this topic. Cheers and Very Best. Tatjana Tatjana Versaggi Technical Services Dripping Springs Community Library 501 Sportsplex Dr., Dripping Springs, TX 78620 (512) 858-7825 www.dscl.org <http://www.dscl.org>
