The GoPC.net Blog

Cloud computing is all about efficient IT infrastructure utilisation.

In traditional IT environments, we see a lot of isolated systems that are fairly similiar – ie a shared file (or data) server, a network, and some desktop clients. If you stand back from this, its actually inefficient. Those machines are often left running 24/7 – it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is a lot of idle computers (1E and Gartner hinted at a global cost in the billions in this report).

Another flaw in traditional IT environments is the lag time inherent in not having resources immediately available – a business has to balance maintaining a “buffer” of IT resources (staff, time and hardware) against the cost of those resources. Bernard Golden (Cloud computing will cause three IT revolutions [CIO.net]) talks about the frustration that users can feel when trying to get resources allocated (in addition to the culture shock that cloud computing is causing in the IT industry!).

A larger pool of resources is, in general, going to be easier to manage then a smaller pool. This is a basic resource management principle – matching resources to demands. The more efficiently that you can utilise those resources, the better off you will be (or so the theory goes!).

This leads to a natural “next step” of moving to shared physical resources. This is where cloud computing comes in – directly addressing the pain of matching IT resources availability to demand.

Gartner predicts that by 2012, 20 percent of businesses will own no IT assets.

For any business, there is a significant capital expenditure required to establish and maintain a minimum of IT infrastructure.

In a cloud based environment, much of this requirement can be pushed out to third parties (such as GoPC.net), who provide a complete desktop environment.

For a new business, this means that those vital early funds (and time) can be focused on establishing the core business.

As your business grows, you simply consume more of the cloud. If you need to expand overnight, your cloud provider should be able to support this – if they can’t, find a new cloud provider. Better yet, the inverse also applies – if that team of external contractors finishes a project, then your cloud provider should let you switch to a lower level of usage. You should only be paying for what you use.

Compare that to a traditional “in-house” IT system – servers, management and maintenance – the real question becomes “Will I get a return on this investment?”.

IT infrastructure should be supporting your business – not getting in the way!

Dustin Amrhein has blogged about the ongoing argument of security in the cloud.

Security Isn’t the Biggest Obstacle of Cloud Computing
— Frankly I’ve grown weary of the debates over the security of cloud computing. It’s not that I don’t appreciate that there are technical hurdles in front of us, but we have reached a point that a security vulnerability in a single offering, whether that offering is in the public or private cloud, results in loads of silly commentary that links the particular problem to the overall state of cloud security. I’m not sure if those involved in this commentary have a vested interest in driving this kind of dialogue, or if it happens because it is easy to write about, but in either case a majority of the discussions around cloud security have degraded to pure absurdity.

I totally agree with this – while security cannot be downplayed, it is a well known fact that one of the biggest security risks comes from your own staff members.

The same companies complaining about cloud security are the ones letting employees walk out the door with 30m customer records on a usb stik – Reuven Cohen ( @ruv on twitter ) – Founder of Enomaly.

The internet is littered with references to how big a problem this is – from people walking out the door with USB sticks, laptops, harddrives etc, to out right malicious attacks. Businesses need to be aware that the biggest threat to their IT infrastructure is either themselves or their staff. The fact is, on any IT network, principles of multi-level security have to come into the equation. Corporate networks are starting to deploy solutions that compartmentalise different staff groups as if they were external ( and hostile! ) entities ( and rightly so! ).

The balance is between accessibility and security – businesses are going to want more mobile access to their data, and I would much prefer to access my data in the cloud, then have to hang on to a USB stick. ( Also, USB sticks tend to stuff up my washing machine, I’ve found ).

Chris Hoy Poy

Systems Architect

A report by industry analysts Nemertes Research this week discussed GoPC.net as an example of how leading edge cloud providers are now deploying “desktop services”, in our case provisioning cloud-hosted Linux virtual desktops. It said this highlights the growing enterprise interest in both virtualized PCs and cloud provisioning”. It went on to say that, ” Half of enterprises expect to use virtual desktops before 2011“.

This succinct report from John Burke, Principal Research Analyst at Nemertes Research assesses the technology and market quite accurately. That they predict 50% of enterprise will adopt virtual desktops in the next 12 months is more rapid than we are budgeting on, but the growth rate will certainly be logarithmic and we are planning for explosive growth. This is not just another technology trend but a seismic shift for the IT industry as it is fundamentally changing everything.

We will also announce the release of some very heavy weight advances in the enterprise domain in the next couple of weeks which will add much more substance to this.

John’s report went on to reference GoPC.net further, citing strong investor interest in this sector:

“Investors: IBM (NYSE:IBM), Sun (NASDAQ:JAVA) and others offer desktop-as-a-service models; smaller vendors, including GoPC.net and Moka5 (privately held) are also building the market, and are take-over prospects for large service providers including Global Crossing (NASDAQ:GLBC) and Tata Communications (NYSE:TCL).” — John Burke, Principal Research Analyst, Nemertes Research

We have been presenting this picture to our investors over the last few years and 2010 is looking to see a part of this prediction come to fruition.

A quote I read in The Economist a couple of years ago predicted “As computing moves online, the sources of power and money will increasingly be enormous ‘computing clouds’”. For investors this will likely start to provide handsome returns in the very near future. Referencing power and money sounds evil but it’s just a statement of fact as the shift is occurring because of the compelling benefits for end users. Everybody wins.

Graeme Speak
CEO/Founder

GoPC.net uses NX to create a new generation of cloud computing, deploying virtualized PC desktop and server networks from within a supercomputer and reducing costs up to 90%

Rome, Italy, Jan. 4th, 2010 – NoMachine, creator of NX , the secure remote access, desktop and application delivery software announced that GoPC.net, a world pioneer and innovator of cloud computing technology, is now offering virtualized PCs and server networks in the cloud via NoMachine’s NX technology.

The GoPC cloud platform operates on a large grid of servers and uses NX technology with a backend server network to deliver the full functionality of PC workstations. Each user has a virtualized Linux desktop bundled with dozens of pre-configured desktop apps, ultra-fast online storage, group collaboration tools and security, all delivered via the Internet onto almost any computer screen. Using NX Advanced Server with NX Advanced Server Nodes, a grid computer array can be scaled to support hundreds of thousands of concurrent users.

NX Advanced products reduce downtime and guarantee fast provisioning, making them perfect for companies to scale out computing resources on-demand. The result is a new generation of cloud technology which can replace a traditional PC or server networks with equivalent functionality and save as much as 90% of the costs, support and logistics.

GoPC.net offers a much more functional solution to alternatives currently available in the cloud computing arena. Its adoption of NX has allowed it to fully embrace the growing demand by organizations to use virtualization technologies to deploy, maintain and access business desktops and applications in more flexible and efficient ways through the Internet.

CEO/Founder of GoPC.net, Graeme Speak said, “We’ve been developing cloud technology for over a decade and for us cloud means vastly more than just web apps and online storage. Integrating NX technology with GoPC has enabled us to create some amazing solutions that compete directly with traditional PC workstations and server networks and at a small fraction of the cost”.

With NX, GoPC.net delivers a sophisticated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) with nearly 100 integrated desktop applications equivalent to a normal PC workstation. The fully managed solution is targeted at business, education and consumers who can create a single user account in seconds or deploy a sophisticated network of 1,000 users – all from a simple dashboard.

“NX extends the boundaries of any datacenter, and allows you to take advantage of external computing resources efficiently and seamlessly. The combination of NX and GoPC.net can empower users to run their enterprise applications at the location that best meets their business needs.” says Sarah Dryell, Business Development Manager at NoMachine.

“NoMachine NX is an essential element of our cloud solution, removing dependence on physical machines and eliminating most software license costs. It’s the core of our flagship consumer product and allows us to deliver the equivalent functionality of traditional PC desktops and servers via the cloud,” said Speak.

About NoMachine
Based in Rome, Italy, NoMachine is the creator of award-winning NX software, an enterprise-class solution for secure remote access, application delivery, and hosted desktop deployment. Since 2001, NoMachine’s mission has been to revolutionize the way users access their computing resources across the Internet to make seamless desktop access as easy and widespread as Web browsing. NoMachine provides a comprehensive software infrastructure stack, core development, and support services built around the self-designed and self-developed NX suite of advanced components. For more information about NoMachine NX technology, please visit http://www.nomachine.com.

About GoPC.net
Based in Perth, Australia and Silicon Valley, USA, GoPC Pty Ltd is a pioneer and early innovator of cloud computing technology. Originally founded as an Application Service Provider in 1995 by Central Data Pty Ltd, the technology was spun off into the GoPC entity in 2005. GoPC.net is a disruptive cloud enabling platform that delivers full desktop applications, web apps, storage and security via the Internet displacing traditional PCs and server networks. For more information about GoPC, please visit the company’s website at http://www.gopc.net.

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GoPC heads for the clouds
3 December 2009, Mark Pownall, WA Business News

TIMING: Graeme Speak is raising funds to take his cloud-computing product to the wider market. Photo: Grant Currall

“WHEN Graeme Speak first encountered the term ‘cloud computing’ it was something of an epiphany.

Since the mid-1990s Mr Speak, bankrolled by his traditional Perth-based technology business Central Data, had been tinkering away with a concept of a virtual computing system for which the user needed nothing more than a screen and an internet connection. He called the business GoPC.”

Read full article …

Bessemer Venture Partners, Byron Deeter and Philippe Botteri, co- authored an excellent white paper which was published this week on Sandhill.com (the IT investment capital website from the heart of Silicon Valley, Sandhill Road). A 1-page summary is viewable at PRNewsWire.com.

Having pioneered most of our own development and direction through trial and error over the last 15 years I can attest to having made many of the mistakes outlined in the article and learned those lessons the hard way. It’s a good reference paper for anyone managing, investing, or working in a cloud computing Startup.

As a counter point to this article, we don’t separate the cloud into layers of SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS. The GoPC.net cloud fully integrates these functions together as one system and in doing so we have been able to create one of the most open, collaborative, cloud platforms possible. Cloud is far more than just “web apps”.

During the lead up to the Dot.Com boom all the analysts viewed the ASP industry (**) as being series of Ven diagrams that showed no overlap between the different industry elements. You “had” to be a network provider, a software vendor, hosting vendor, but you could not be everything. Then after the crash the only companies which were left standing were those of us who were at the intersection of everything, proving to me that the strength all along was actually in our model – vertically integrating all levels rather than focusing on one narrow layer.

Today, GoPC.net visualizes the infrastructure layer to provide an environment similar to Rackspace.com or Amazon.com, it provides a platform layer where customers use a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) equivalent to say a Microsoft PC and the network servers (without Microsoft license costs) and then on top of this we deliver the applications and collaboration capabilities which SaaS enables existing desktop apps as well as web apps. So what I see is a trend where most software vendors now refer to themselves a “cloud solutions” but focus only a thin vertical niche (e.g. Salesforce.com focuses mostly on CRM), others like Zuora.com with their payment system focus on one thin horizontal niche. But I describe GoPC.net’s version of cloud computing as a horizontal platform which services multitude of vertical niches.

GoPC.net is an open collaborative cloud that can run almost anything (web app, desktop app, even Microsoft based apps if we have to), and we’ve added to this by packaging into specific products the target markets from individual consumers right through to the enterprise. We offer an open platform so depending the ticket an organization buys from us, they can run almost any application or technology as a cloud solution.

Graeme Speak
CEO / Founder GoPC.net

** Cloud computing is the new name for Application Service Provider or ASP, which it was called during the Dot.Com bubble from 1999-2001.

Last week, the OpenOffice.org Community celebrated 100,000,000 recorded downloads for OpenOffice.org 3.0, launched just over a year ago.

“The download total doesn’t include, for example, installations included with various Linux distributions or copies included on CDs given out by magazines, so the actual number is likely much higher.” — The H

This week, the OpenOffice.org Community’s annual conference (OooCon2009) opens in Orvieto, Italy. Developers, end users, and anyone interested in OpenOffice.org are invited to attend.

“We are delighted to have the global OpenOffice.org community coming to Italy at such a memorable time.” — Italo Vignoli, Spokesman, Conference Organising Team on PR Web

If you don’t want to download and install OpenOffice.org, or have never tried the OpenOffice.org office suite before, with GoPC you can use OpenOffice.org from your browser.

Within two minutes of setting up a GoPC account, you can create wordprocessing, spreadsheet, presentation, or PDF files without ever having to download and install OpenOffice.org yourself.

Using GoPC you will never again need to re-install software or upgrade your computer.

You can join the millions of OpenOffice.org end users without downloading and installing the office suite yourself. And, with GoPC you can use OpenOffice.org from anywhere you have an internet connection.

Independent leaders make Cloud offering for Accounting

San Francisco, 26 October 2009: GoPC.net the world’s leading independent provider of Cloud Computing and TurboCASH Accounting, the world’s leading Open Source Accounting package for small business have jumped in ahead of industry giants and announced the first entry level Accounting SaaS solution for Cloud computing.

Read the full article at TurboCASH.net, GoPC.net or CNN iReport.