NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: If this had been an actual emergency ...
On 11/29 09:06, Bob Frankston wrote: > We can think of Comcast's outage as a test of the emergency cloud > broadcasting system and it failed miserably. > One of the more important (and fascinating from a research standpoint) aspects of "cloud computing" is how to sufficently "harden" and "stage" data to avoid or minimize these sorts of problems. The nightmare scenario is total communications breakdown of course -- but odds are if that happens we'll be dealing with even more severe problems (e.g., during an earthquake -- and having been through two major ones here in L.A., that's not a theoretical for me). The navigation question is a toughie. Obviously a standalone GPS (hardware, or software-based on a phone with local map data) avoids this problem entirely, at the cost of less up to date data at least part of the time. But perhaps a middle ground is to keep the most commonly used data locally on the phone even for normally cloud-based navigation services. For example, if there's an earthquake, as long as I have basic L.A. area navigation data available on the phone without a data connection being needed, that's probably all I'm going to need until I get out of the local area. The flip-side to all this is that there are situations where *not* having the data locally can be a big win. If a hospital's files and IT are damaged in a disaster of some sort, being able to retrieve patient data from "the cloud" elsewhere could be very important. So as usual, these aren't simplistic situations either way. --Lauren-- NNSquad Moderator - - - On 11/29 09:06, Bob Frankston wrote: > We can think of Comcast's outage as a test of the emergency cloud > broadcasting system and it failed miserably. > > > > Imagine needing help during an emergency and being told, "Sorry, the can't > reach the cloud so all your medical information is unavailable and we can't > open our offices". We need to be very cautious about unnecessary > dependencies and unnecessary tethering. > > > > The "cloud" (whatever people now mean by the term) can be an immensely > useful resource but we have to be wary of dependency. Imagine having to > navigate during an earthquake only to find the Google Maps doesn't work > because it doesn't work if the cell towers are out - a distinct possibility > during an Earthquake. At a simply annoying level it's often unavailable when > traveling, especially for a US traveler abroad. Maybe more than annoying if > you are lost. >