Cloud's future bright despite looming concerns

There are undoubtedly questions and concerns revolving around cloud computing and hampering its growth. The technology, despite its power and growing pervasiveness, presents security, technical and legal issues that could limit its potential if not addressed. However, industry experts are optimistic that these concerns will be dealt with quickly and decisively. In a recent TG Daily report, Intel's Jason Waxman and industry expert David Kanter both addressed issues surrounding the cloud and concluded those concerns will be solved.

Waxman recently told conference audiences at an industry event in Oregon that the company expects at least 15 billion internet-connected devices to be active by 2015. According to Waxman, understanding the sheer volume of IP-enabled endpoints requires some non-traditional thinking, as traditional IP devices, such as computers, smartphones and mobile computing devices, are just the beginning of the cloud's area of impact. By 2015, Intel expects automobiles, televisions and signs to be connected to the internet and able to access the cloud for applications and services.

To respond to these changing trends in the cloud and IP-enabled endpoints, Intel is focusing on developing hardware and infrastructure capable of interacting with these diverse computing devices. This will allow cloud providers to expand their service offerings while simultaneously improving both consumer and enterprise operations. Managing the growing number of users and increasing amount of data in such vast environments will be critical to this success.

To support the cloud's long-term potential, Waxman identified three major areas for improvement - security, legal issues and performance - and confidently stated that the necessary changes are possible.

Waxman dealt with security relatively quickly, saying such issues as malware are incredibly threatening in cloud environments because shared devices with non-partitioned virtual servers can corrupt multiple users if even one is compromised. To resolve this, Waxman emphasized the importance of developing virtualization-specific security systems, an ideal that should be reached without too much trouble.

Legal issues, on the other hand, are more complex. To illustrate this, Waxman told the story of a cloud provider that had all of its servers shut down because the Federal Bureau of Investigation had to find a single file that was evidence in an important case. Waxman said issues of this nature come into play because some cloud providers do not track where each piece of information is stored at any time. This occurs because there is so much data in virtual environments that tracking it can be challenging. However, Waxman emphasized that monitoring systems that can identify the location of any file can be deployed, resolving this issue handily.

Performance also becomes an issue in cloud environments, as both data center systems and endpoint hardware need to be able to adequately handle the unique demands presented by the cloud. In data centers, servers are faced with higher utilization and supporting architectures, such as heating and cooling systems, need to respond appropriately. For endpoints, a balance between processing and any necessary data storage capabilities needs to happen. In both cases, technology exists to meet cloud needs, Waxman said.

Industry expert David Kanter reiterated Waxman's conclusions. He told the news source cloud computing definitely has challenges that need to be dealt with, but he sees no reasons why these issues cannot be addressed in the near future.

According to a recent Data Center Knowledge report, the mobile application development sector could be completely revolutionized by the cloud. The report said mobile applications are quickly changing from a system where programs are stored on the mobile device, and will soon go completely to the cloud, forcing shifts in development structures.