by Mark Ollig
Transitioning software files and
application programs stored on our computer hard drives to data storage servers
on the Internet cloud has been ongoing for the last few years.
Granted, there is debate whether we can
trust our information will remain safe and secure when it is stored outside of
our direct control. Nevertheless, we continue the progression to what I believe
will be the day when we are using cloud-based computing – exclusively.
Many of our personal computers use
either Microsoft Windows, a version of Apple’s Mac OS X, or an open-source
operating system similar to Ubuntu.
The computer’s operating system (OS)
is fundamentally, a software program.
The OS manages all of the computer’s
basic tasks and operations. It controls the memory usage and the flow of the
information between the hardware and the software.
It controls how information is
presented to us.
Sending data to where we want it to
go, whether it is to our display screen, or having it output to a printer, is
determined, in part, by the operating system.
It essentially controls and oversees
the operation of software code as it interacts with our computer’s internal
components, program applications, and peripheral hardware.
My work computer here in Minnesota
is a HP Compaq, using the Microsoft XP operating system.
This computer is connected to my
company’s privately networked, cloud-based array of data servers. The
computer’s profile attributes are copied onto these data servers.
The data servers are remotely
located in Madison, WI.
My work computer’s Microsoft XP
operating system has been interfaced to work under the control of the Remote
Office Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (ROVDI) software, called VMware.
In the ROVDI world, rather than hosting
and processing all of the applications, data, and other information on my
physical computer, those duties are now being handled by a very powerful set of
data servers located in the Wisconsin data center.
VMware now accesses all of the
application programs I need to use via the high-speed, high-bandwidth
connection from my Minnesota office to the remote servers in the data center.
My work computer is now considered a
virtual machine on a private cloud computing network.
The ROVDI desktop screen looks just
like a regular personal computer’s desktop. It has everything I need to do my
job.
Although it appears to have all the applications installed and running
inside my physical computer, it’s actually displaying what is installed and
running on those data servers located in Madison.
The information I click on and type
in is being handled by the remote data server, which processes it using virtual
processing servers. The results are then shown on my display screen.
All my computing is taking place
instantaneously; I notice no lag time.
I am able to print documents from my
work computer to the printer physically located in my office, which is also
networked to the remote servers.
The information I create is being
copied and saved as I add or makes changes to it.
This information is duplicated over
a variety of remote data servers in data centers located in separate buildings
in Madison.
In the event one data center
encounters an unforeseen outage, my information and application programs would
have been saved onto another data server in another data center building, thus
ensuring the preservation of my data, and my access to it.
If my work computer has a hardware
failure, I can simply login to any ROVDI-converted computer from any of my
company’s offices and have complete access to my virtual desktop – just as if I
was seated at my regular work computer.
Looking ahead, the next progression
of public/private cloud computing will be the introduction of some type of
universal cloud-based operating system.
A cloud-based operating system will
replace not only the need for an interfaced program to control the existing
operating system in our personal computers; it will remove the necessity for
our computing devices of needing an internal operating system when connected to
the cloud.
One cloud based operating system
currently being talked about at this time is a transparent operating system
named, TransOS.
TransOS was developed by Yaoxue
Zhang and Yuezhi Zhou of Tsinghua University, in Beijing, China.
The TransOS operating system code is
stored on a cloud server, and will connect to a minimally-equipped basic
computer, or simple user terminal device.
The computing device will have
enough software code in it to perform a simple boot up (start-up), and connect
to the Internet.
From the Internet cloud, TransOS
will download specific pieces of client-like software to the user’s computing
device.
The user is then presented with the
familiar graphical user interface showing their software programs and applications
– much the same as if the user was operating their regular personal computer
with a built-in operating system.
The twist here is the operating
system is now cloud-based.
TransOS will oversee all the
resources needed to provide seamless, cloud-based services for any networked
user.
TransOS will also work with mobile
devices, such as smartphones and tablet computing devices.
In addition to a basic computer,
user terminal, or computing device, TransOS could also be used to communicate
with properly modified household appliances or other apparatus connected to the
Internet.
In order to be compatible with the
considerable number of software applications being used, the researchers behind
TransOS said the work needed to provide the appropriate cloud operating system
architecture and interface standards – should begin now.
