By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Google Drive is a free synching and file storage service that is the foundation for a comprehensive cloud service. Google’s big cloud initiative is starting to form more cohesively.
Cloud Computers: Samsung developed google Chromebox and Chromebook computers are purely cloud terminals
Is Google Drive aiming to be the best cloud solution or is it a new OS in the making?
Google has always been about cloud computing. Their popular services like Picasa image sharing and gMail have always been server-based cloud apps that were accessible from any connected computer. Google Docs, their version of Microsoft Office, was likely a web-based cloud service that offered a free suite of applications such as a word processor, spreadsheet, database and presentation software that could work on virtually any computer and for free!
The best feature about Google Docs was the collaborative nature. Documents can be worked on by multiple users concurrently and in real time. If any of those computers fail, get lost or are stolen, then the documents are safely stored in the cloud, accessible from any terminal. Google Docs is now known as Google Drive.
Google Drive has been around for roughly a month. Most users gravitate towards the service because as an extension of Google Docs, it is a convenient and easy to use system, specially for collaborating on documents as well as sharing files so that they are accessible from various devices.
Google Drive gives users 5GB of free storage which can be expanded to 25GB for a nominal monthly fee of US $ 2.50.
The Chromebox features an Intel Core processor, 4GB of RAM and uses the cloud for storage
Google Drive also allows users to download desktop clients (it is available for Mac and PC) which places some files on their computers. The desktop client synchronizes remotely with the server version so users can maintain the lastest iteration of the documents they are working on locally and on the cloud.
They announcement today that a new version of Google’s Chrome OS will be accompanying new hardware from Samsung in the form of a a Chromebox desktop PC and a new and improved version of the Chromebook.
I tested last year’s Google Chromebook as a personal machine and used it (or, rather tried to use it) as my mobile computer for a month. While the browser basedOS was fast and seemed capable of handling basic computing tasks, I found working with documents quite frustrating.
Without any ‘offline mode’ it was impossible to work on Google Docs documents away from a WiFi connection. I also encountered various issues with the actual cloud service being down or inaccessible. This made it impossible for me to do my work or access my files.
The experience just felt too much like amateur hour and I could not see this solution being used in businesses or mission critical situations.
Since then, Google has bolstered Google Docs and introduced Google Drive. It has also updated Chrome OS and released these new notebooks and desktops that all seem to fit into this growing ecosystem. What’s Your Tech? Is a cheaper and cloud connected alternative to Windows and Mac an attractive solution for you or is cloud computing for the birds?
