On Friday 29 January 2010 14:09:37 Iain Buchanan wrote: > On Fri, 2010-01-29 at 10:00 +0000, Stroller wrote: > > On 29 Jan 2010, at 05:43, Iain Buchanan wrote: > > > They got it right for being open to OSS, but they got it wrong with > > > the > > > word "cloud"... > > > > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richar > > >d.stallman > > > > Seems like Stallman's objections don't apply because the proposal is > > that they own their own cloud. > > I don't think his objections are just related to public vs private. As > Neil said, there's the security problem to begin with, where one large > government data centre has more data to compromise that a small one... > > > I.E. the use of the word "cloud" is just buzzwordology to gain > > approval & acceptance. > > ... Another problem is the use of the word "cloud" when already we don't > know exactly what they mean by it (it sounds like a manager buzz word to > me) so they're going to have trouble defining it to themselves, and > other govt departments. > > But the principle still remains that they're handing over locally served > (ie maybe a server, maybe a desktop) data to a central "cloud" that will > put its own limits on security, size, etc. Not to mention the > separation of distance. No matter how good your network link is, it's > not as good as your SATA interface! And at the worst of times you may > loose not only your data, but your ability to create new data! > > > One could weigh the pros & cons of using regional data centres for > > this, versus a server room in the basement of the individual > > government buildings in Swansea (DVLA), Bristol (TV licensing) & > > wherever, but I just feel too pessimistic about this today to feel > > it's worth it. > > I'm all for data centres, since they can put massive CPU and storage > volumes at the other end of the network link for you to work with > (backups, web servers, etc) but it becomes very problematic when you use > a web browser to write an office document.
I think they are thinking along the lines of Citrix XenApps and thin client (e.g. HP running Neoware-RHL) on the desktops. This is what is being tried out currently in a number of offices/buildings. -- Regards, Mick
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