[Discuss] What Happens when a cloud service shuts down

[Bill Horne]

On 1/20/2012 4:01 PM, Daniel C. wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 2:35 PM, Jerry Feldman<gaf at blu.org>  wrote:
>> Theoretically, a cloud is a virtual storage device where the actual storage
>> media should be in several different locations fully mirrored.
> I understand the value of backups, and I understand the value of
> virtual computing, and parallel computing, and other things.  Could
> someone (and I apologize if this is OT to the thread) explain to me
> what exactly the buzzword "cloud computing" means, exactly?

I'd like to see that explanation myself.

> My BS detector flashes every time someone says it, but I have been wrong
> once (okay, *maybe* twice) in the past.

That happened to me about two months ago. It was actually a relief, 
knowing that I had finally made a mistake, and that I could stop 
wondering when it would happen.  BTW, my "BS detector" (which has an 
analog indicator) has been stuck at the mechanical stop limit since the 
start of the Reagan administration.

> Is it just a way of saying that you have a distributed, parallel app whose individual nodes can
> come online (or go offline) dynamically without interrupting the
> service?  Is it strictly used to reference data storage - as in the
> original email in this thread - or does it mean more than that?

I think it's a way of saying "I hired someone else to do it", with 
specifics left to the imagination of whomever hears the statement.  For 
practical purposes, it's a way of saying "Don't hold me accountable for 
any mistakes made in the future: I hired <company x> to take the blame 
for them".

Bill

-- 
Bill Horne
339-364-8487