Cloud Computing

 
 

Vocabulary

cloud	demand	revolution
access	network	broadband
24-7	secure	large-scale
app	scalable	skyrocket
facility	struggle	ground (2)
on-site	keep up	no wonder
server	firewall	bottleneck
router	invest	continually
stoke	plug (2)	blue-cable
run (3)	expertise	turn of the century
belch	scale (3)	basement
boiler	shift (2)	no longer
deliver	reliable	ground to a halt
turbine	upgrade	make sense
core	in-house	take for granted
proven	platform	affordable
reveal	migrate	take it (2)
exist	virtually	go through the roof
icing	upfront	collaborate
device	distribute

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 
 
 

Transcript

What is cloud computing?

Could computing is a revolution in how computing power is delivered to business.

It’s been made possible by very large-scale data centers connected to high-speed, low-cost, broadband networks.

Today’s users require 24-7 secure access to more business apps, on more devices, wherever they are.

Demands on IT are skyrocketing.

It’s no wonder, traditional, on-site computer facilities are struggling to keep up.

With cloud computing, you only pay for what you use.

Gone are the traditional IT bottlenecks — which means no more waiting. Gone are computer rooms full of servers and data storage; firewalls and routers, along with a team to support it. Gone are the needs to continually invest in upgrades and rebuilds.

Instead, by plugging your blue-cable into the wall, you access exactly what your business needs, including all the support and expertise, paid for as a service.

History reveals that a similar shift happened when business used power at the turn of the century.

In the late 1890s, every factory or business, had in its basement, a smoke-belching, fuel-consuming power generator, stoked by grey-suited boiler men, who serviced it, and kept it running as best as they could.

When things worked, they worked nicely.

But when they didn’t — which as quite often — the machines ground to a halt. The lights went out, and nothing got done.

Chicago, 1900: the Edison Power Company developed the turbine power station, which could generate and distribute large-scale power to business.

This provided cheaper, more reliable and cleaner power than any factory or business-based generator — without many of the headaches.

By 1920, most businesses had made the switch. Business now accessed power, simply by plugging into the wall. In-house power generation no longer made sense.

Today, we take virtually unlimited power for granted . . . we can’t imagine it any other way.

As we speak, a similar revolution is happening in IT, called cloud computing.

Business no longer has to buy, build and manage costly computer facilities on site.

Just as business learned that power provided by a specialized power company improved reliability and quality, cloud computing has proven to be more secure…more reliable…more scalable…and ultimately more affordable than traditional on-site IT.

This is why most online and business apps now deployed in the cloud. Just like electricity one hundred years ago, a business can access all the cloud computing infrastructure it requires as a service for all its uses, wherever they are, on whatever device they use.

This is called Infrastructure As A Service, IAAS for short.

Your applications remain the same, but running on more reliable cloud infrastructure.

This is where most businesses will start to use cloud. Apps will be migrated as existing in-house infrastructure reaches the end of its life.

IAAS is the power station at the core of all cloud models.

PAAS, or Platform As A Service, builds on the power of IAAS, as a platform, to make it easier to collaborate and develop software.

SAAS, or Software As A Service, is the icing on the cake: fully serviced software running on fully serviced infrastructure.

Gone are upfront investments for new business application packages.

So cloud can be all three models with IAAS at the core.

As demands for your in-house IT go through the roof, contact MacQuarie Telecom, and take it to the cloud.
 

Questions

1. Cloud computing means storing data and accessing programs and applications from clouds in the sky. Is this right or wrong?

2. Are IT programs, data, traffic, applications gradually increasing?

3. Describe the traditional, conventional in-house IT system and operation.

4. The video gives an analogy to cloud computing. True or false? What is the analogy?

5. What are the advantages (pros, benefits) of cloud computing?

6. When a company’s IT hardware, infrastructure and programs becomes too old, they will buy and install new ones. Yes or no?

7. How many main service models are there in cloud computing? Can you describe them?

8. What was the purpose of this video? Was this a pure documentary; or was it also promotional, marketing and advertisement?
 
 
A. Does your company or institution have a traditional IT department and system, does your company subscribe to cloud computing or is it half-half?

B. Though cloud computing may sound very technical and esoteric, it is basically a form of outsourcing. What do you think?

C. Do businesses and institutions have any reservations, fears or concerns about cloud computing? If yes, what are their fears?

D. I don’t want to save (all) my data on a cloud server or database. Do you agree?

E. What do you think will happen in the future?