James Blog

Google Docs in the Cloud

    What's all this cloud computing about? Have you heard about the cloud but don't really know what's going on.

    Nothing to do with the recent rain, and the thing about this cloud is it continues to grow but does not cast any shadows.

    Recently in the news was the announcement that HP were to build a data centre in Sydney's west, investing $119 million in an  Eastern Creek 13.4 Ha site.

    This all means, that as data connections get faster with the role out of the NBN, the introduction of LTE 4G Mobile phone data and the continued uptake of the "SmartPhone" and tablet in Australia and the world, cloud computing will become a reality for all of us. It's all about storing our data in the cloud.... or at least in data centres like the one planned by HP for Sydney's West.

    Streaming music to your mobile device, editing an Excel Spreadsheet in real time while sharing the same spreadsheet with others, or simply storing your holiday pictures so they don't get lost are all a reality now and will continue to become more prevalent as data centres (The Cloud), mobile devices and internet connection speeds grow.

The typical office that is hard wired via blue data cable internally connects to their internal server at 100Mps and a typical wireless connection in the same environment or at home connects at 42Mps. This sort of speed is becoming available on Mobile devices with the introduction of 4G, so when you can connect at speeds like this while out and about, it's easy to imagine a world where everything we want is in the cloud and accessible when we want it in seconds.

    That's what Google Docs is about. That's what streaming music is about. FaceBook, Twitter and other social media is all about the cloud.

    It's all there now, and will all be there in the future... just more!