Lately there is much talk of cloud computing and in particular SaaS: Cloud paradigm is gaining interest from companies because it lowers costs, easier maintenance and simple operation for users. But on the other hand, there are many reasons to maintain a version of an application in desktop, first of all bandwidth usage.
A simple example to understand better what we're talking. Application desktop Physically it is an application that runs on your computer: has previously been installed and is distributed in the form of application that can be installed by the user. An example: Skype.
Application, cloud, instead resides on a cloud (hence ‘cloud’): is made available through the connection to another system (for example via the Internet). It requires no installation (usually the user accesses the application from a browser) but requires an Internet connection to be used. An example: Gmail.
After reflecting on the advantages of both solution, I decided to share my opinion on the two solutions.
| Desktop Applications | Cloud applications | |
| Software Installation | The application must be installed before being used. | No installation is required (apart from the browser if the application will be enjoyed by browser). |
| Use of resources | The application uses the resources of the machine is installed. For applications that have a large computational load hardware requirements are well defined. | The computational load is almost entirely managed by the service provider that offers the service, reducing the hardware requirements of the machine that uses the service. |
| Updates | The application must be updated manually by a user or system administrator | The user always accesses the latest version of the software available without having to install anything: the application loaded by the browser is always updated by the service provider, nothing is charged to the user. |
| Platform Independence | Some applications are only available for certain platforms (is. MacOSX, Windows), leaving other platforms discoveries still used by some users (Linux, FreeBSD). | Since many applications are accessed through a browser, many of the cloud applications are platform-independent user |
| Independence / Network Usage | A desktop application is independent of the presence of the network (While the main function is not to use the network). | No network connection, a cloud application can not work (less than caching mechanisms provided by the browser [is. Google Gears/HTML5 Web Storage] and / or by the application developer).In addition, the footprint of a cloud application on the network is typically much stronger than the equivalent of a desktop application, because of the increased amount of data exchanged with the remote party. |
| Authentication and authorization | Authentication and authorization are delegated to the operating system. Since this practice is typically established and well documented, is a desktop application usually safer counterparty cloud (both in terms of physical security of that logic). | Authentication and authorization are made on an unsecured network such as Internet, that can be tampered with and / or monitored. The use of encryption solutions is a solution of obligation to protect data in transit by the service provider to the end user. |
| Backup | The data are usually stored on the user's PC, you must provide a backup data clocked (if not provided by the system). | The data are almost entirely managed by the service provider, that, according to the SLA guaranteed user, must provide the proper data backup and recovery in case of failure.Inoltre, as mentioned, This results in a maximum utilization of bandwidth to transfer data from PC end-user service providers to. |
So, what is the best solution? The desktop and the cloud?
Lately, the tendency is to bring many applications to the cloud, and relate to cloud all the applications that can be accessed via a browser. I remember that a cloud application must comply with several aspects to be called cloud:
- must be independent of platform and hardware used by the user
- must support access via API
- must be accessible through any Internet-connected system
- must be transparent to the user to use no matter where the application is installed.
What is the best solution? The right answer, as usual, is depends. It depends on many factors, As we can see, and each of the two solutions has its strengths and weaknesses.
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An excellent summary!
Hello Michele, nice post.
I would add one of the main advantages of cloud applications: the possible use of my application (and my data) from any location connected to the web. This, eg, means I can access my personal email from work, from an Internet kiosk at the airport, etc., without having to install anything.
Another interesting factor is the massive use of cloud computing by mobile and embedded devices (Television, decoder…). Since these devices have limited resources for computation and storage, but often have a fast Internet access, usually rely on their own cloud to make the most complex operations and to store data.
On the issue of security I am afraid that it is difficult to make precise comparisons: depends very much on the scenario, objectives and investment. From my experience, the level of data protection for most users (and small business) is significantly lower than that fielded by the major players in the world Cloud.
I saw with my own eyes a small company in which the mail server was configured a machine in his spare time by an employee with a passion for Linux, without firewalls and shared with other core network services for that company (all with backups on a USB disk).
Probably, If that company had used a solution-type cloud, come Gmail for domain, the security level was incredibly high.
Do not forget, also, the risk of lock-in: If today I choose to use the cloud provider XYZ, who assures me that tomorrow will not fail? And in this case, What will happen to my application and my data?
Thanks for your perceptive comment, Andrea.
I agree with you on the security side: in fact it is mathematically certain that a desktop is more secure consideration in the cloud, nor vice-versa. The factors involved are too.
[...] For now, though, the whole thing still seems big and a bit unwieldy – and hard to explain in the desktop computing vocabulary most people have learned via basic home and office [...]