Cloud Computing

Mon, May 30, 2011 - The past decade has seen the emergence of new services--many of them free--that allow you to stream music from the Web, as well as to store your own music files online for easy access from your PC, your TV, or your smartphone.

Mon, May 30, 2011 - If you subscribe to a triple-play broadband package through a major cable or phone company, chances are good that your phone service already runs through the cloud--that is, the Internet. But you can get even more flexible calling options--and cool extras such as video chat or automatic voicemail transcripts--from a pure cloud service provider such as Skype or Google.

Mon, May 30, 2011 - Your PC's hard drive may have half a terabyte of data on its platters, and you might not remember the last time you backed any of it up. In all likelihood, though, you use only a few gigabytes' worth of files on a regular basis. With a combination of cloud-storage services, you can keep that data backed up and synced among all of your computers automatically, and access your most essential files whenever you want.

Mon, May 30, 2011 - One of the biggest criticisms routinely leveled against desktop security software is that it's bloated and inefficient, slowing down PC performance and nagging users about frequent updates. In response to those complaints, a new breed of security apps is emerging from the cloud.

Mon, May 30, 2011 - Everyone seems to be moving into the cloud. With Web-based apps and online storage services that give us constant access to the most important data from all of our devices, we have more computing power at our disposal than ever before. Online productivity suites let you work with Office documents on your laptop or smartphone, and keep them perpetually available on the Web for easy access. Cloud streaming services make your entire music library available on any device you have handy, or let you tap into an unlimited supply of free tunes from a personalized online radio station. Web-based phone services allow you to call anyone in the world--with video--for next to nothing, and receive calls on any phone. You can even protect your PC with online antivirus apps.

Thu, May 19, 2011 - For IT departments wanting to do chargebacks or cost-justification, figuring virtualization and cloud services ROI is tricky, at best. Experts outline four methods you can use to break down costs and returns.

Mon, May 16, 2011 - It's not a laptop. It's not a netbook. Exactly what is a mobile device based on Google's Chrome OS? Bill Snyder breaks down the pros and cons of this cloud-minded groundbreaker.

Mon, May 09, 2011 - New studies indicate that IT workloads are increasing as more technology is added without staff increases.

Wed, May 04, 2011 - In 2010, creative services firm Aquent moved even its custom ERP system to the cloud -- where most other key business apps such as e-mail were already running. The result: Better agility and IT spend slashed by 50 percent.

Wed, April 27, 2011 - With its Novell acquisition now closed, the company is looking to expand the customer base of Suse Linux