Backup in the clouds

For those seeking greater clarification about the future of cloud computing, The Age’s Technology section ran an interesting article today about the centralisation of computer systems. It explained that before computers become available, mainframes where what people had access to they used to share them because of their sheer cost to buy them. This meant that computer processing was very central.

With the invention and access to the personal computer, these systems and data were eventually decentralised. Companies held their information locally. This is where we are today, most businesses today continue to store their data locally in their own data centre.

With ‘cloud computing’ becoming more of an accepted practice each day, we are heading back to that centralised model. Companies are opting to have part of their computer systems hosted offsite. Be this software or data. Truth being however that it is very early days and lots of sceptics.

The article makes an interesting analogy about some of the scepticisms surrounding “cloud computing”

There are of course many sceptics. That is in the nature of any new technology. I still run across people who say they’re not happy putting their applications and data out there in “the cloud”. Typically they cite security concerns or a feeling of uncertainty or lack of control.

Yet we all feel OK giving our money to the bank for safekeeping (well, most of us, most of the time). There is nothing intrinsically different about information – indeed, in today’s world, money is no more than a type of data. Attitudes will change.

Carbonite falls into the category of cloud computing because it enables the user to store a backup of their data offsite in a central data centre. So instead of holding the backup locally eg in a hard drive in the safe, the backup data is trusted with Carbonite.

Carbonite is not a storage solution as such, but for many smaller businesses out there looking for a cost effective and automated backup solution, the future is already here.

You can find the article here.