On the dangers of cloud computing
By Felix Pleşoianu. Saturday, 31. January 2009, 08:18:26
The bookmarking service Ma.gnolia.com suffered a catastrophic failure on Friday, January 30, 2009. Now, it's just, you know, bookmarks, and I do have backups of my own, old as they are. No big deal, right? Right. Apparently, they didn't (have backups, that is - Wired Magazine has more details). That's more serious, and people have a right to be upset. After all, putting up a Web service is making an implicit promise to your users. Yes, even if the service is free.
But what exactly is that promise? That your data will be safe? Really, in the hands of a stranger? Same for confidentiality: a secret known by two people isn't a secret. No, I think the real problem is service availability: a Web app makes an implicit commitment to work for you wherever you are, and whenever you need it. That's why Twitter users were so upset last summer; they didn't lose any data, but neither were they able to do what they wanted - heck, maybe needed - to do, while the site was down.
And that, I think, is the real danger of cloud computing: Web apps are single points of failure. If I lose my Internet connection, or if my computer crashes, that doesn't hurt anybody else. But if some online service fails, a lot of people are affected, all at once. It's like a flood, or a fire. Oh wait, no, it isn't. The right analogy is a volcanic erruption. Which raises a serious question.
Is it really wise for us to move en masse to the sides of active volcanoes?
But what exactly is that promise? That your data will be safe? Really, in the hands of a stranger? Same for confidentiality: a secret known by two people isn't a secret. No, I think the real problem is service availability: a Web app makes an implicit commitment to work for you wherever you are, and whenever you need it. That's why Twitter users were so upset last summer; they didn't lose any data, but neither were they able to do what they wanted - heck, maybe needed - to do, while the site was down.
And that, I think, is the real danger of cloud computing: Web apps are single points of failure. If I lose my Internet connection, or if my computer crashes, that doesn't hurt anybody else. But if some online service fails, a lot of people are affected, all at once. It's like a flood, or a fire. Oh wait, no, it isn't. The right analogy is a volcanic erruption. Which raises a serious question.
Is it really wise for us to move en masse to the sides of active volcanoes?
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