- Author: Karl Krist
I'm doing it.
I'm moving my entire worklife to 'The Cloud'. It's a leap of faith that I'm taking in the same way that I take most leaps: headfirst with my eyes closed.
So last Wednesday I started a grand experiment: I formatted my entire computer, without copying anything.
I didn't have ANY backup.
But, I did not lose a single file.
About 4 months ago I put my MyDocuments folder up on Microsoft's SkyDrive service. All of my files live there now. (Instructions if you want to try this.) When I installed the new operating system, all I had to do was re-connect my SkyDrive, and all of my files were instantly available to me. Easiest computer upgrade I have ever done.
As my 'first review' of the updated service I will say this: SkyDrive is nice. I can connect to my files from ANYWHERE. I can be out in the real world- at a CE office, on campus, in the car (not driving of course) or on my patio and I can open any of the files I typically work with.
Just a few weeks ago I was at the Sonoma CE office and Stephanie Larson made a request related to a project I was working on. I was able to update the pertinent file on my phone as she talked to me. That file was also shared out to someone else on my team. They were able to take action and get things done before I even arrived back in the office.
SkyDrive also includes Microsoft Office programs online.
You can be at Grandma's computer and access all of your work files even if she doesn't have Office installed. (Now if only you could get rid of that purple dinosaur cursor... ) Skydrive has a web version of most Office applications included. The online versions of these programs are good...not perfect, but definitely serviceable. And they are going to get a whole lot better soon. In 3 weeks, I hope to be using the online version of Office as a replacement for my desktop applications. I'll provide updates on that experience.
With the cloud, I can access my files from my phone.
I recently switched from an iPhone, to a Windows Phone. Call me kooky, or call me a Microsoftie, but I think the Windows Phone is a big step up from the iPhone, especially for work. For one thing, Windows Phone runs Office. In my job, I use Office all the time and having it on my phone is great. On the personal side, the integration with Facebook and other services is fantastic. (With that said, I would not recommend you buy a Windows Phone today. The next version of Windows Phones will be out in the Fall and the current crop of phones is incompatible with the new OS. I will try to give you a full rundown when I am able to get the new version. But if you can avoid the siren song of the the iPhone 5, you may find that there are better alternatives available.)
This is my new phone- I really do like it a lot.
Backup. Who needs backup?
With all of my files on SkyDrive, I don't need to worry about backup at all. Frankly, I trust Microsoft's ability to back these files up much more than I trust ANR's ability to do it...and I'm in charge of ANR's data backup. Using SkyDrive also keeps a copy of the file on your computer. If the Internet goes down, all is not lost. Explaining the whole thing would take a few paragraphs but I can summarize it in two words: it works.
Beyond SkyDrive
SkyDrive by itself is really nice, but it is only one small piece of my experiment - I need to go much further.
Windows 8 and Office 2013 will be launching this Winter- I've already installed the preview copies of both of them on my compuer. I'm the technical guinea pig for the Division, and testing new software is part of that job. Both Windows 8 and Office 2013 rely heavily upon the cloud. Both of them will tie into storage systems that are NOT on your computer by default. Tying these with SkyDrive is really the way to go- and like I said earlier, it really works.
But wait- it goes a whole lot further:
I am hoping to move to Office 365.
Office 365 is a service provided by Microsoft, and an extension to the Office products you are familiar with now. It adds some new features you may be interested in:
- 25GB or UNLIMITED mailbox sizes. Currently our default Exchange mailboxes are 500MB in size. This means you will have 50 times as much storage as you have now.
- Web-based versions of all Office programs. Many of you have used Outlook Web Access (OWA) (UCD Link) which is a fairly serviceable version of Outlook available via your web browser. They've got a version of Word, PowerPoint and other Office programs available. These are pretty darn good. Not as good as the 'real' versions of the programs, but I think they are a heck of a lot better than the Google Docs offerings. As I mentioned above, I will be moving to these 100% to assess the usefulness of the service. In addition, you will have access to the desktop versions- but it is the web version that is new and exciting.
- Shared storage. Not only will you have your own private cloud storage (probably 25 gigabytes) but you will also get a place to SHARE your files with colleagues. No more uploading/downloading of files, or sending them via email. You'll have a giant shared drive available from anywhere. It will be up to you to determine who can access the files, and who cannot.
The cloud is working. My own experiment has shown me that my files are available from anywhere. I can rely on the service, and I don't need to think about backup. After a thorough test of Office 2013 (Which so far is good, but nothing thrilling) I will delete the Office Suite and move entirely to the cloud.
It is my goal to be able to find a computer anywhere, and have the same experience I have at my own desktop. The current technology is getting very close to making this a reality.
How will YOU benefit from all of this?
My goal is to remove the necessity of people sitting in the same chair for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. I want all of us to be able to move around and still be effective. If that means I can sit on my patio at 4:00 on a Friday afternoon and get my job done, that is a good thing.
Being tied to your computer is an artifact of the way our work lives have been arranged for the last few decades. 10 years ago the promise of telecommuting was exciting- and a huge disappointment. We're moving into an era where the technologies will make your physical location less and less important, while making your work more visible to everyone.
Finally
This experiment falls into the same category as two other projects I'm working on: Videoconferencing2 (not to be confused with our previous videoconferencing project, because the first round of videoconferencing was on par with the first round of telecommuting- just not that good) and what I call 'Scan and Store'- which is a matter of digitizing every piece of paper in the Division.
The common theme is that you will have access to the information or people you need from wherever you are. Making us truly mobile workers.
Being a mobile worker isn't too bad really- especially from my patio at 4:00 on Friday.
Patio work time...
Of course Microsoft would not have survived had that debate gone towards the cloud at that time plus no one was comfortable with renting space from someone they didn't know.
Interesting that society is changing . . .
Terminal computing was the concept where ALL software and Data lived came from the server. The Terminal was simply a shell of a computer that could not do anything on it's own. This didn't really save much in cost in the long run as you still needed the terminal computer plus the server and the network. When the server went down everyone had a problem.
Cloud storage is a hybrid of terminals and workstation computing. Where the critical information is saved in a central location and the client software and Operating system still resides on the client computer. Cloud storage does not reside on any single server but on a large array of servers so when servers go down others are still available and nothing is lost.
I've got my phone to automatically sync my pictures with SkyDrive. I can't decide if that is a good idea or not. You know, some of those pictures don't really need to exist anywhere....
But I'm glad you're using it. Once you start doing this it is hard to go back.
Lastly- is your phone 4G? What kind of data plan do you have? My operating system recently changed, and now all traffic can go over the 4G/LTE connection. No limits on file size or anything. No WiFi necessary...and I never sync it with my computer.
This is really good, because from my backyard the 4G signal is a lot faster than my WiFi.
We're swinging more and more right back to the concept of people not managing their own computers. We've done that for the last 30 years or so, and a lot of people would say it hasn't been fun.
The thin client era you mentioned was a bit too far on the centralized control side. That was during the period of green screens and keyboard commands. Now that people have experienced the benefits of their own choices, it would be hard to go back to a locked-down situation. This new plan is more of a mix between the good parts of centralized control, and the good parts of personalization. I think this will go over a bit better.
I mentioned my Windows Phone in this article. The system is not totally 'locked down', but there are not a whole lot of options for customization. And that is okay. I can change enough of my phone that it seems like it is 'mine' but not enough to get into trouble. I think that is where we need to be.
John- as one of the Division's bigger techies, how do you feel about these change? Are you comfortable with it this time around?
First of all I want your job and to be able to sit out on my deck at 8 am on a Friday lol...I am new to the cloud atmosphere and I am wondering if the clouds are really a better option than a separate back up disc? I have my own back up system because I used so many graphics on this computer and prefer to have them separate from our shared drive but those files take up a HUGE amount of space too. Is the cloud storage a better option at this point? Does the cloud store everything and would it be prudent to save my outlook backup files on the cloud too?
Thanks for allowing a newbie to pitch in my comment here too.
I would say that it really depends on what you are comfortable with.
Personally I made the choice that if I lost all of my data, it's my own fault and I would deal with the consequences. The reason for my testing is to determine if the system works well enough that I would recommend you do the same. Currently I would say you should stick with the backup system that you are comfortable with.
For the CS&IT data archive (publications, photos, etc) we keep at least 5 copies of everything. 1 copy is on a server that is only turned on for about 2 hours each month- just to transfer data. Another copy is on DVD that we ship out to Richmond. The other 3 copies are on servers which are geographically separate.
I do this because I am paranoid about losing any of this valuable information.
But to echo my statement up above- I trust Microsoft more than I trust my own plan. I just don't trust them with other people's data yet- only my own.
Right now you can upload all of your files to SkyDrive. Use it as another backup location. Once you start to feel comfortable you can use it as your primary storage location.
But adding it as another backup method= smart idea.
The front door of my house faces West. My backyard faces East. You can see the light was shining on me.
So instead of this photo having been taken at 4:00 in the afternoon, it was actually taken in the morning. In fact, it was about 7:15 in the morning, and I was taking pictures for work! (more to the point, I dragged my wife out in backyard saying, "I need you to take some pictures!" she was not happy)
It's not all champagne and strawberries here- we just pretend that it is.
If we move to Office 365, the cost will *probably* be handled centrally. As we currently pay for Exchange, Office 365 becomes an extension of that expense.
SkyDrive is currently free. I recommend that you sign up for it very quickly- as they have provided some really nice perks for people who have older accounts. The best way to have an 'older account' next year, is to create an account this year!
Hmmm...I'm surprised you have a clunker in Sonoma County- I know there was a recent spate of upgrades.
You say that you are using Windows 5.1. From my knowledge (well, a Google search actually) Windows 5.1 is Windows XP.
XP is not dead per se, but the support for it is diminishing quickly. Windows 7 should be able to run on the same hardware.
I would wait 6 more months, then look desperately for an upgrade. Right now you aren't missing too much, but soon you will be left behind.
The UCCE office here is in transition and our old tape back-up system in not up to par. We have contracted with a new IT support consultant and he recommended we move to a cloud system. He recommended Amazon but I see you are using Microsoft. Is UC willing to work with us to test run a cloud back-up for our two offices, possible share the costs? This would be ideal as in the next year we will be combining two separate office locations into one and do not know if we can absorb those costs. If no on the cost share, then would you have time to talk to him directly to brainstorm on a cost effective solution?
Thanks-Darin
Backup of data is one of the services we get the most requests for. Unfortunately, it is typically the office Internet connection speed that causes problems.
I *would* recommend a cloud based solution for backup. Whether it is Microsoft, Amazon, or DropBox, there are a lot of useful tools. We will be looking into these this summer, hopefully to provide a recommendation soon.
If you have an outside contractor you have been working with, I would recommend you follow their lead.