SynapDx searches hundreds of
thousands of genetic markers, looking for clues about autism in 880 children
across 20 states. A few years ago, this would be the task of a major company or
research institution. Thanks to cloud computing, the start-up in Lexington,
Mass., does it with 22 people, a few laptops and an Internet connection.
“Without the cloud I’d need $1
million, plus staff, just for the computer,” said Mark DePristo, a vice
president for SynapDx. Instead, his company spends $25,000 a month on computing
and steadily gets more computer power as it needs it.
You already work in the cloud, too, if you use a smartphone,
tablet or web browser. And you’re using the cloud if you’re tapping online
services like Dropbox or Apple’s iCloud or watching “House of Cards” on
Netflix.
Cloud computing, an airy term for real systems of cleverly
networked computers, powers thousands of mobile games, workplace software
programs and advanced research projects. These services harness global networks
of millions of computers, renting and using huge amounts of computing power.
For the half-century that
computers have been part of the workplace, companies have bought their own
machines for corporate data centers. But that may be about to change. Industry
analysts at IDC figure that if largely cloud-based things like mobile apps, big
data, and social media are counted, over the next six years almost 90 percent
of new spending on Internet and communications technologies, a $5 trillion
global business, will be on cloud-based technology.
Technically, cloud computing refers to an efficient method of
managing lots of computer servers, data storage and networking. More than a
decade ago, engineers figured out ways that data and software could be
distributed efficiently across several machines and their power pooled for
collective use.
It no longer mattered which
servers were running a job; it was just inside this “cloud” of machines. There
were immediate performance gains, since stand-alone servers typically used only
a fraction of their capacity in case there was a surge in demand. By linking
the machines together into a larger “virtual” system, the surge problem eased
and a lot of computation was freed.
And it became available to anyone able to pay the rent.
“The biggest events in the world, the World Cup, the Super Bowl,
the big reality shows, all use the cloud” for various online services, said
Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon Web Services, or AWS, the largest cloud
computing company. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration broadcast
the Mars Lander using AWS, and the Obama campaign used it to place a million
calls on Election Day 2012. Even part of the Central Intelligence Agency is
inside AWS.
A handful of big companies dominate this new sort of technology.
Customers like Netflix and Shell run on AWS. In Shell’s case, it’s for seismic
research. For Netflix, it’s for all those movies and television shows streaming
to your television and computers.
Google has a big cloud, too. You’re on it if you use any sort of
Google service like email and photo editing. Seventy million Nigerians recently
registered for local elections on Google’s cloud and millions more people study
on Google’s cloud through the online educational service Khan Academy. The
young messaging app Snapchat grew to millions of users overnight, without
spending millions to support them, by running on Google’s cloud.
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