Thursday, July 22, 2010

The 2009 Horizon Report – Cloud Computing

Specialized data centers that host thousands of servers — has created a surplus of computing resources that has come to be called the cloud. Cloud computing makes it possible for almost anyone to deploy tools that can scale on demand to serve as many users as desired (Horizon Report 2009).
The cloud is always invisible to the users, supports applications doesn’t matter, the applications are always available, and data storage is very cheap.
The emergence of cloud-based applications is causing a shift in the way we think about how we use software and store our files. For example, educational institutions started using the cloud advantage for their own benefit for example, made applications hosted on a dynamic platform.
There are so many educational application can be hosted on cloud such as photo and video editing or publish presentations and slide shows. Those applications provide students and teachers with free or low-cost alternatives to expensive, proprietary productivity tools.
Currently, there are many cloud-based applications for teaching and learning started to be emerged such as animated educational environments. With cloud computing, applications could be easily distributed across a wider set of devices with low cost of computing and support for group work at distance embedded in many cloud-based applications. That would provide great benefits for many students or learners.

According to recent reports Armbrust et al, and DeCusatis, the leading obstacles which hinder the widespread adoption of cloud computing include security, data transfer bottlenecks, unpredictable performance and energy consumption.

Please visit the Horizon Report 2010 wiki at http://horizon.wiki.nmc.org/for more information!

References

Armbrust et al. (2009) “Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing,” EECS Department, University of California, Berkeley, Tech. Rep. Retrived on July 27, 2010. Available: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2009/EECS-2009-28.html

DeCusatis C. (2009). “Converged networking for next generation enterprise data centers”, Proc. National Science Foundation conference for the Enterprise Computing Community (ECC), Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY.

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