Problems with the cloud:

• Pricing of cloud storage, servers, or services is seldom a clearcut equation – server + processor cycles + storage + bandwidth + internet costs
• One element of cost in cloud adoption that is seldom considered is the cost of higher speed (and redundant) internet connections.  This can easily blow away whatever savings might be acheived.
• Most (if not all) cloud backup providers have disclaimers in their SLAs (service level agreements) that exempt them from liability for data loss.
• It centralizes data – puts lots of eggs in one basket – creating a ever larger (and more fruitful) target for hackers -  losses or breaches to Sony Playstation, RSA, Epsilon, Gmail, CitiGroup, Sega, Dropbox, etc  occurred in just the first 6 months of 2011.

How many times have you worked with software where a the function of a given setting is simply confusing- and the available documentation does little to clarify.  Too many times, we’re left with just experimenting with the program, discovering what effects a setting has, and re-documenting it ourselves.

 Just ran into a backup program, in there were two settings – for overwrite and append.  Each had an “Infinite” option…  the problem is that the Infinite option for overwrite has the effect of NEVER being able to overwrite – but the Append’s “infinite” option means it can always append (or write) to a tape (or disk, file).

A possible laundry list of topics? 

• Systems vulnerability
• “The Cloud”   – risks, hidden costs
• Various observations - TCO – Total Cost of Ownership
• Pet peeves

When will I write… who knows – I’ll be soliciting help and advice from friends and associates of how they manage yet another intrusion on their day.

Gary