Cloudy with a chance of data loss

 

This is a followup to my recent column about Steve Wozniak’s warning on the perils of cloud computing, especially cloud storage. It might surprise many users to know there are firms that sell cloud storage and do not back it up.  They rely on the disk RAID and some redundancy in the cloud to “protect” your data.  If something happens to their data center, they could probably not recover your data.

Remember MailandNews.com? They did not have a viable business model.  They also didn’t back up their servers.  One day they had a big crash and relied on the RAID array to recover the data.  It took two weeks and still not all of the data was recovered.

RAID is not a data backup technology.

What […]

By |August 11th, 2012|2012, Computing, Internet|46 Comments
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A belt and suspenders for your cloud storage

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak this week warned of the perils of depending too much on cloud storage and the general press reacted like this was: A) news, and; B) evidence of some inherent failure in cloud architecture. In fact it is not news (Woz never claimed it was) and mainly represents something we used to call “common sense.”

However secure you think your cloud storage is, why solely rely on it when keeping an extra backup can cost from very little to nothing at all?

No matter whose cloud you are depending on it will be subject to attack. Bigger targets get more attacks and something as big as DropBox, say, is a mighty big target, while that spare hard drive attached to a […]

By |August 8th, 2012|2012, Computing, How To's, Internet, Privacy and Security, Technology|36 Comments
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Facebook, Cringely and the devolution of the web

Some readers may recall one of my predictions for 2012 was the end of this column. It’s time for me to start explaining what that’s all about. Next month will mark 25 years of my doing some version of this column either in print or online. It’s not a record (I’m sure John Dvorak has that) but it is a milestone that I’ve been for some time determined to reach. But having achieved 25 years of continuous service, what then? Well there is no gold watch. In fact my transition is, if anything, forced by the declining economics of the web. Facebook has much the same problem.

Desktop computers are at or […]

By |August 7th, 2012|2012, Advertising, Breaking News, Family, Internet, Media|121 Comments
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YouTube’s Olympian Recovery

I had a surreal experience yesterday driving here in Sonoma County. My Bluetooth speakerphone rang and it was YouTube calling. How many people get calls from YouTube? The message was simple: I’d written a column critical of YouTube’s live Olympic coverage and they wanted me to try again.

“We’ve made a few changes,” said the voice on the other end of the line.

“What changes?” I asked.

“Just try it,” the voice said.

And so I did. And YouTube was correct.

The service is better for live streaming the Olympics. I can now reliably connect at 720p on a computer that couldn’t do better than 360p before. It’s still not perfect with occasional stutters and 1080p is still […]

By |August 2nd, 2012|2012, Internet, Media, Technology|32 Comments
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Apple and Samsung: brands at war

I was supposed to be on CNN last night to comment on the Apple v. Samsung  patent infringement trial that just started in San Jose, but then Mitt Romney insulted the Palestinians and I was bumped.  The way these things work is CNN calls the day before so I have time to think up something pithy to say. The question now is what to do with all that pith? So I’m dumping it on you. Consider this the long distance view of this legal battle in the context of what it really is — brands at war.

As a practical matter, I think it is very unlikely that Apple can win based on its accusation of […]

By |July 31st, 2012|2012, Breaking News, Business, Companies, Computing, Gadgets, Intellectual Property, Internet, Media, Phones, Tablets, Technology|68 Comments
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