Cloud Computing

I would just like to take a second to talk about Cloud Storage and the benefits it can have for both a business and a single user. Cloud Storage has revolutionised how we access and store our data and with a wide range of cloud storage providers it can be difficult choosing a provider that you will benefit from the most. 

What is Cloud Storage:

Cloud storage is essentially an online hardrive that you can store and process information from an external server that stores all of your individual files. Some cloud storage companies offer more features but all provide the most basic function of cloud storage, which is to store and backup you're files to an external source and then allowing you to access your files remotely, for a price of course.

Benefits of using Cloud Storage:

Although there are a few concerns with privacy and security when it comes to storing your files online the benefits of cloud storage far outweigh the small concerns of the disadvantages of cloud storage. The files you keep on your own hardrive are under as much threat as files located on a cloud server.

Online Backup:

The most obvious benefit of cloud storage is having a total backup of the files you store on your own computer. If like me you are paranoid of your laptop suddenly crashing and losing the files you have built up over time then the benefit of having another location to store your files is enough of a reason for you to consider signing up for cloud computing. With such a basic requirement for cloud storage such as backup Dropbox would be the ideal place to go, Dropbox has built up quiet the reputation of being a reliable and safe cloud provider. Dropbox offers a generous 2GB of free storage just for signing up just to get you started. This is a sufficient amount for a person using cloud storage for the first time, and one can upgrade if they require more storage for a reasonable $9.99 a month for a single user.

Heres the link for Dropbox to get you started:

https://www.dropbox.com/home

Accessibility:

The only thing needed to access your cloud storage is a device and an internet connection, and with the internet being so widely spread and accessible you can access your documents virtually anywhere. Therefore you can go home and access your work files and work from home if needs be, that's only a small example of how accessible these files are to you and who you share them with. Most cloud storage providers have built applications for smart phones and tablets meaning files can be accessed and edited on the go and not just from the desktop at home or work. I personally like the function of uploading pictures I take with my phone directly to the cloud to stop my phone memory from being to bogged down, and yet I can still access these photos from anywhere.

 Collaboration Efficiency:

Cloud Storage makes it really easy to share file between colleagues or third party members, files and folders can be accessed by anyone anywhere provided the file or folder is public meaning open to anyone who wants to access the file can. Files and folders can be configured to allow specific people to have permission to view the files, this is useful in team projects as you can set the privacy permissions to that of your team and your team alone.

Cloud storage providers such as Google Drive also allow users to access and edit files simultaneously with other users that have access to files. Google Drive offers a lot more than just storage due to the added features of having an in house word, power-point and excel editor. This makes it so much easier for people to work together on the same files at the same time, Google Drive stores up to 30 saves of the one document and up to 50 people can edit the document at the same time. An added feature is the "Track Activity" feature which shows what changes were made, by who and when they were changed.

Here's a link to Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com - Try creating a document and allowing someone else to edit it at the same time as you its a very useful feature. Below is a video of the feature in action.

Business Continuity:

Protecting your date and systems is an important part of business continuity planning. Whether you experience a natural disaster, power failure or other crisis, having your data stored on the cloud ensures it is backed up and protected in a secure safe location. Being able to access your data again quickly allows you to conduct business as usual, minimising any downtime and loss of productivity.

Environmentally Friendly:

The cloud is in general more efficient than the typical IT infrastructure and It takes fewer resources to compute, thus saving energy. For example, when servers are not used, the infrastructure normally scales down, freeing up resources and consuming less power. At any moment, only the resources that are truly needed are consumed by the system.

Conclusion:

As I have stated cloud storage can be really beneficial even if only used for its basic function  of backing up files and being able to recover them. I urge you to give it a try at least as there are many cloud storage providers I will provide links to some of the more popular ones, they offer a few gigabytes of storage to get you started so what's there to lose? Thank-you for reading!

Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com 

Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com

OneDrive (SkyDrive):

https://onedrive.live.com/

Useful Sites Part II

Another edition to the useful sites section of my blog is dedicated to a site that is used worldwide. This site is used to help people with an interest in programming or web development hone their skills in a particular programming language. This is achieved by actually completing exercises and applying you're knowledge in different scenarios such as creating a simple tip calculator for a restaurant. The site i will be addressing is Codeacademy.

Codeacademy:

http://www.codecademy.com/dashboard

I cannot praise this site enough for what the creators have set out to achieve in the creation of this website. In my opinion learning to program and use a high level programming language is becoming even more fundamental as time goes on. I believe that eventually the learning of a programming language will be introduced in the educational system at a young age as maybe an optional subject to help promote children to learn how to code. 

As I attended a very small school in rural Ireland my choices were limited to Woodwork or Culinary Arts but if I was given the choice of a third (computer programming) I know what I would have chosen. When I attended secondary school in England there were mandatory subjects that were rotated every month such as culinary arts, textiles, art and computers and we learnt the basics of using HTML so I believe my theory isn't totally ludicrous. I believe I have digressed enough but the point I am making is more people are wanting to learn to program and it is sites such as Codeacademy that are providing the facilities for people to do so and I applaud them for that.

Codeacademy was founded in 2011 and is a non profit organisation and the site is completely free, therefore there are no trials and subscriptions unlike other sites.

There are six different languages available that are mainly applied to enhancing web development but what you choose to do with you're knowledge is entirely up to you. I mainly used the Python language to enhance my overall programming language knowledge, practising my skills by use of console applications.

Once you have selected the language you desire to learn, you are taken to the exercise page, this is where the learning begins starting of course with the basic syntax of each of the languages. The exercises are categorised into chapters of sorts such as the "Loops" chapter will cover do whiles, for loops and while loops, "Conditionals & Control Flows" cover if statements and comparators.

 Once the exercise has been chosen you are taken to the exercises you will be learning from, each with an instruction bar located to the left of the websites built in Text Editor. The text editor is where you will be entering your code and running the code to see the outcome. The instructions are easy to follow and with a hint function which will eventually solve the exercise with enough pushes it is very easy to follow along and complete the exercises.

This exercise was taken from the create a Tip Calculator exercise, instructions are on the left, you code in the text editor in the middle of the page, and the output of your program is projected in the window on the right its a simple layout but effective. On the bottom an indication pops up every time you run the code and once you receive the green  tick notification you can progress to the next part of the exercise.

As an extra incentive achievements and badges can be earned by programmers for completing exercises, and a percentage of how much of the course you have completed can also be seen, these are nice little features to notify a person on how much they have achieved during the course, and how much they still have left.

Overall i think this site is a very good starting point for people to learn how to program, I set out with the ambition to learn a little more about programming languages outside of what is taught in my course. I found the site fun and useful simultaneously but due to having my own projects and exercises to do for college I found myself taking a long break from using the site. I urge anyone reading this with an interest in learning to program to start with this site and start to learn the basics at least, soon you might even start to seek out more challenging exercises with your gained knowledge.

Here's the link to the site again and thank-you for reading:
http://www.codecademy.com/dashboard