~~ Cloud Computing ~~

I am mildly disturbed by the fact that the very piece of equipment that I use everyday has such a huge infrastructure supporting the applications, programmes and interconnectivity and I have been so ignorant about it. Prior to taking this module, I only know that I am using my laptop and I get connected to the net because of the presence of a server (which, to me, was just a huge computer with no monitor). Furthermore, I have always taken the Internet for granted, cursing when my YouKu videos take ages to load (which I now believe it’s probably due to the lack of a Content Delivery Network).

Simon did a great job in explaining how Amazon Web Services (AWS) aims to provide a permanent solution for such problems by being more than just a web-host and how the various services provided by AWS will pave the way for an IT revolution, with him as the technology evangelist. I admit that I do not understand certain technical aspects discussed during the question and answer session but the talk has nonetheless been beneficial for me. I think there are a couple of main ideas. Firstly, storing data in one location is like putting all the eggs in one basket, but with AWS, the data is replicated several times in different geographical locations, thus it is fail-proof , ‘unless there is a nuke that wipes out the planet,’ [Simon]. Next, the scale of AWS makes it possible for them to buffer traffic surges by allocating more resources to a particular instance.

All in all, having attended the talk, I am beginning to appreciate the efforts that website owners take to resolve problems such as the following: too little traffic, too much traffic, suddenly spike in traffic, server down-time, content delivery, etc. I shall end of with a quote that Simon used to describe the Simple Storage Service (S3) of AWS.

‘Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes.’

It kind of reminds me of one of my favourite quotes: “Whatever it takes.”