Cloud Computing 201

By Danny Mizrahi

What is cloud computing, and how can it enhance your association or nonprofit?

At first, businesses had scattered workstations/laptops, but they did not want all of their data in different places. There was a need to have one central location for data and security, so businesses started to buy servers.

With servers, businesses quickly realized that they were being underutilized, and there were software conflicts when having multiple applications on one physical machine. In addition to that, the larger companies had hundreds and hundreds of servers, and all of them were being virtualized. Companies started to realize they could offer these solutions to the public. That’s when the idea of cloud computing started to become a reality.

The generic term “cloud” is really in reference to public clouds, which is when you have one operating system that goes throughout the entire data center (and sometimes multiple data centers). The cloud can then be replicated to another data center, which creates a real multi-location, redundant, cloud-computing environment.

Leveraging the Cloud
Utilizing a cloud infrastructure, such as those from Amazon, Google, or Microsoft, is better, more secure, more redundant, and safer than onsite. Cloud Computing offers a lot of benefits at a reasonable price. There are several ways associations and nonprofits can leverage the cloud, including:

  • Email, calendar, and contacts;
  • Online collaboration;
  • File storage;
  • Backup and disaster recovery;
  • Public cloud/private cloud;
  • Virtual desktops.

Email, Calendar, and Contacts
When making the transition to the cloud, email, calendar and contacts can/should be the first component to go to the cloud. Email is critical to stay online so that you can communicate to staff, members, and other networks in the event of a disaster. Two of the most common solutions are Hosted Exchange (Outlook) and Google Apps for Business.

Online Collaboration

  • Solutions such as Google Drive or Office 365 allow real time editing/collaboration/video conference, etc
  • Online versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc. similar to the Office you’re used to
  • Document sharing, file transfers and access control via solutions such as Dropbox, Box.com, etc.

File Storage

  • The “poor man’s” disaster recovery solution - file safety in the event of a disaster
  • Unlimited data for a small price
  • Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3 are a few of the most popular solutions

Backup and Disaster Recovery

  • “Rich man's” disaster recovery - replicating or moving full servers to the cloud
  • Infrastructure that is more powerful than what a typical small business can afford
  • Peace of mind!

Public Cloud / Private Cloud

  • Netflix is a typical example of how to use the public cloud
    • No need for initial powerful infrastructure
    • Ability to scale up to millions of people using the service
    • Many different options of providers
    • Being able to handle “Oprah’s favorite things” type of instant publicity/popularity
  • Private clouds are physically dedicated servers
    • Your dedicated equipment, and sometimes even your physical equipment
    • Private, secure connections
    • Not a shared tenant environment

Virtual Desktops in the Cloud

  • Not yet widely affordable, but headed in the right direction
  • Great for not having to replace hundreds of physical, older, desktops

There are many advantages to cloud computing for businesses and organizations. Technology is increasing the options to the consumer and making better, more innovative products available, at lower prices.

Danny Mizrahi is Founder and CEO, Contango IT. This article is based on his presentation cloud computing at NYSAE’s 2015 Technology Institute. He can be reached at 212-737-0608 or through his website at www.contangoit.com.