Cloud computing is amazing. All your files can be accessed from any device anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection. With two step security no one can see anything unless they have the password and the email or the mobile phone.
So far sounds perfect.
I tried Google Drive for a while and I am surprised to see what we have been missing. We no longer need to have pen drives everywhere, moving and updating the files manually like in the 90's or forgetting files at home while we are in the office. Now with the cloud all the files are up to date all the time and pretty secure.
The cloud has a few problems. One is you don't have the same processing power like when using the desktop on a fast computer. Things take longer to move, read, write and access because of the cloud system and because you are using a browser. Another problem is it takes time to get used to use the files on the cloud and forget about easy copy paste, creating and deleting files very fast. For heavy computer users it takes a lot of time to adapt to this new work system.
Google Drive is a "true" cloud solution. I say true because Google does the best to move all your work entirely to the cloud to eliminate the need to have a desktop. You have all the files in the drive. To create or delete a document you just need to access the drive. The same is true for a spreasheet or a presentation. The advantage is clear, you can create (for free) documents and work together with anyone you want. All the files are in the cloud all the time (free from the desktop) and can be accessed anywhere.
Drive search is like in Gmail, very fast and accurate even when there are thousands of files inside the Drive. The disadvantage is simple, it does not have a lot of power to work with heavy files. Even simple sheets take several seconds to load and to update especially when there is a lot of math involved. Since you work with a browser everything moves a bit slower than on the desktop. You will take some time to get used to it, but once you master the Drive, it's hard to want to go back to the desktop.
Why?
Everything is secure, search is very fast even with a large number of files whereas on the desktop once you start having thousands of files search takes several seconds even a minute to complete. The files on the cloud are updated all the time. You don't have to worry about updates, security (just keep the password and the mobile phone safe) backups, multiple files on multiple devices and out of date versions.
The only thing Google should improve is the response speed especially when using large files.
Microsoft Drive wants to be the best in the cloud and it offers Word, Excel and Powerpoint online. These free online versions are a bit slower than on the desktop, don't have all the features but are more powerful and complete than Google's solution. Just like other solutions, Microsoft offers for free plenty of space, access from anywhere, two step security and another thing the competition does not have yet which is the full power of the desktop software to work on the files on the cloud, giving the best of both.
With Office 365 you can have all the features of Microsoft Office suite, for a reasonable monthly price and save all the files on the cloud. The advantage of this system is clear, work on the desktop or on the cloud with the online suite, save the files in the cloud (or on the desktop) share and collaborate, move from computer to computer and everything is there and don't worry about backups and file versions.
Think of OneDrive as the cloud solution for heavy work.
Is this the right time to move everything to the cloud?
The answer I see from specialists on magazines, blogs, forums is it depends on the kind of work you do and how sensitive it is. My experience is the peace of mind of having everything important to your work available all the time.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Is water cooling necessary for high performance computers?
Water cooling is much better than it was 10 years ago. Back in 2004 and 2005 when the first end user water coolings were sold they were something like a high risk system. It was new, the tech was low tech and it was really water that was running inside the system. If you did something wrong, the house could be on fire.
Today things are different. Most water cooling systems are not water cooling but a liquid that cannot conduct electricity so if there's a leak, the computer won't be damaged, at least that's what they say.
But do you really such costly, high performance and expensive system to cooldown and 8 Core AMD or the latest Intel i7?
You don't.
If you like silence, air cooling is still the best you can install. I have one computer with liquid cooling. The temperature is perfect all the time and even with the air temp is at above 35 ou even 40ºC, the computer runs almost at 0ºC. Incredible. The problem is the noise. You almost can't hear music because the fans are running at peak speed all the time. The system does not come with software to control the maximum temperature or the fan speed/noise.
Air cooling, the best big fans, run much slower and they are capable of cooling even the fastest processors, for almost the same cost and with the advantage of being almost completely silent. Air cooling also has the advantage of lasting much longer in terms of lifetime and they don't require as much maintenance.
For mid performance computers liquid cooling is "out of question" simply because normal, even stock, air coolers are more than enough.
Today things are different. Most water cooling systems are not water cooling but a liquid that cannot conduct electricity so if there's a leak, the computer won't be damaged, at least that's what they say.
But do you really such costly, high performance and expensive system to cooldown and 8 Core AMD or the latest Intel i7?
You don't.
If you like silence, air cooling is still the best you can install. I have one computer with liquid cooling. The temperature is perfect all the time and even with the air temp is at above 35 ou even 40ºC, the computer runs almost at 0ºC. Incredible. The problem is the noise. You almost can't hear music because the fans are running at peak speed all the time. The system does not come with software to control the maximum temperature or the fan speed/noise.
Air cooling, the best big fans, run much slower and they are capable of cooling even the fastest processors, for almost the same cost and with the advantage of being almost completely silent. Air cooling also has the advantage of lasting much longer in terms of lifetime and they don't require as much maintenance.
For mid performance computers liquid cooling is "out of question" simply because normal, even stock, air coolers are more than enough.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Is Google Drive the end of desktop computing?
Google Drive recently unleashed some updates to their product that, in my opinion, makes Google Drive the best place to have your files and work both online and offline.
In some posts before I wrote about how the cloud is never going to replace the desktop and I thought the desktop was and would be always the best place to work of all. It simply depends on what kind of work you do. People who work with video edition won't have much advantage using Google Drive except to backup some small videos. People working in an office will have a lot more competitive advantage working with the Drive.
What are Google Drive advantages?
1. Work anywhere and collaborate. Anywhere means you can work even from the metro if you have batery and internet connection. There are no limits or barriers. The drive works just like Gmail does. You access your files fromt he cloud, they are encrypted between the Google servers and your computer and working with any document, spreasheet or presentation is very easy. Collaboration is easier than ever before. Do you remember the good old times when you had to send an email for your time with the sheets and then have each of them work individually and send back the file to you? Version after version, mistake after mistake and the work would be finally done. Now it's simple, just share a file and everybody can work on it in real time at the same time.
2. Use multiple computers. If you are like most people you have a desktop, a laptop and a tablet. Using a pen drive (you can lose) to have the work ready on (almost) all devices is something of the past. Drive allows to work on all computers, at the same time if you want, and get the work done no matter what the computer is, as long as it has internet.
3. Security. It's hard to hack a desktop and today so is hacking the cloud. Google recently released a new feature so anyone trying to hack into your account will have to have your mobile phone as well. Google is serious about security and hacking Google servers is pratically impossible. Your work is safe.
4. Work offline. With Google Drive for the desktop getting everyone on the cloud and working on the desktop is amazing.
5. No cost. How much do you have to pay for an office suite? Probably hundreds of dollars. How much do you have to pay for computer security suites? Almost that amount again. With the cloud for documents and sheets and then some presentations you have to pay nothing. The storage is huge.
For offices and students I predict the desktop does not have a lot of value anymore.
In some posts before I wrote about how the cloud is never going to replace the desktop and I thought the desktop was and would be always the best place to work of all. It simply depends on what kind of work you do. People who work with video edition won't have much advantage using Google Drive except to backup some small videos. People working in an office will have a lot more competitive advantage working with the Drive.
What are Google Drive advantages?
1. Work anywhere and collaborate. Anywhere means you can work even from the metro if you have batery and internet connection. There are no limits or barriers. The drive works just like Gmail does. You access your files fromt he cloud, they are encrypted between the Google servers and your computer and working with any document, spreasheet or presentation is very easy. Collaboration is easier than ever before. Do you remember the good old times when you had to send an email for your time with the sheets and then have each of them work individually and send back the file to you? Version after version, mistake after mistake and the work would be finally done. Now it's simple, just share a file and everybody can work on it in real time at the same time.
2. Use multiple computers. If you are like most people you have a desktop, a laptop and a tablet. Using a pen drive (you can lose) to have the work ready on (almost) all devices is something of the past. Drive allows to work on all computers, at the same time if you want, and get the work done no matter what the computer is, as long as it has internet.
3. Security. It's hard to hack a desktop and today so is hacking the cloud. Google recently released a new feature so anyone trying to hack into your account will have to have your mobile phone as well. Google is serious about security and hacking Google servers is pratically impossible. Your work is safe.
4. Work offline. With Google Drive for the desktop getting everyone on the cloud and working on the desktop is amazing.
5. No cost. How much do you have to pay for an office suite? Probably hundreds of dollars. How much do you have to pay for computer security suites? Almost that amount again. With the cloud for documents and sheets and then some presentations you have to pay nothing. The storage is huge.
For offices and students I predict the desktop does not have a lot of value anymore.
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