Top 10 Sites for File Sharing

"File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images, and video), documents, or electronic books (wikipedia)." As w/ any business or educational institution integrated w/ technology, it's important to have a solid grasp on file sharing and be fluent in the use of file sharing technologies.

Top 10 Sites for File Sharing

Box - Probably the most popular of the web based file sharing sites that integrates w/ Google Apps. Also, has the ability to share/store files in a folder which is ideal for embedding into a site.

Minus - A simple file sharing site that allows users to embed their file into a blog/site or share w/ a unique URL.

File Dropper - A free easy to use site that allows users to upload up to 5 Gig of data.

Pipe Bytes - An ideal way to share files in a private setting either as an URL or embed code.

DocDroid - A great site for file sharing which allows for password protection and the ability to choose what format you want to download the file in.

Papyrs - An excellent site for sharing files in a social network type setting.

Go Pileus - A simple to use site (drag-n-drop) for sharing files that also integrates nicely w/ bit.ly for URL shortening.

Sendoid - A site that is also available as a free app for sharing files person to person rather then storing on a server.

Air Dropper - A unique site that allows a user to create a dropbox that allows others to access via a request and then download.

WeTransfer - A fun site for transferring files w/ a nice user interface. Also, a person has the ability to add a message to their file transferring email.

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Cloud computing Vs Virtualization: Differences and Similarity

Virtualization and Cloud computing are been rapidly embracing the internet techies.With the rapid growth of these technologies, innovative trends captured the whole Home and Business computing platforms.Let us walk through what these technologies aims for and current underlying platforms in web that backs up these ideas.

For new to these technological terms simply speaking “Cloud computing is a technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth”.A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email or Gmail etc. You dont need a software or a server to use them. All a consumer would need is just an internet connection and you can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud ( internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo , Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits.

Both the terms Cloud computing  and virtualization  are some way or other interrelated.The basic difference is “virtualization” happens on your own hardware and “cloud computing” happens on someone else’s hardware. At the lowest level they are the same.Virtualization and Private Cloud Computing are inter-related yet clearly different from each other. Virtualization itself can take several forms, from server virtualization, to network, desktop and storage virtualization. In each case, and importantly, virtualization abstracts the resource, i.e. Windows or Linux server, from the underlying physical hardware. The most popular products for virtualization include VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, KVM and Citrix Xen.Private Cloud Computing is the application of Cloud Computing concepts to a privately owned and operated data center(s). Thus, features such as on-demand provisioning, distributed redundant architecture, and self-service administration should be part of a Private Cloud Computing implementation. Companies such as VMware are expanding their Virtualization offerings to support buildout of a full Private Cloud.”Virtualization is simply one of the elements that makes cloud computing, so cloud computing can happen without virtualization..

Glenn Dasmalchi, technical chief of staff in the office of the CTO at Cisco, provides a summary of how cloud computing and virtualization are related, and what advantages are afforded to customers. He also touches on the network play with the cloud-virtualization linkage.

Spoon.net -pioneer in application virtualization and cloud computing technologies

Named by Virtualization Review as one of the top two companies to follow in 2011, Spoon is a pioneer in application virtualization and cloud computing technologies. Spoon enables users to launch desktop applications from the web with no install, so you can test and use applications instantly, wherever you are.Today Spoon.net has over a thousand apps available for launch from the cloud with a simple browser plugin. Imagine what’s coming next.

Spoon is a virtualization platform that lets you run desktop apps from the cloud. If you install the provided plug-in, you will be able to access these applications you love without having to worry about installing or updating them. Since everything is hosted on the cloud, that part is done for you.There is nothing to install, and no need to ensure you have the latest version or patch. As long as you have installed the Spoon plug-in, you will be able to play all the games that are included on the site.Some of the featured apps are TweetDeck, Skype, VLC Media Player, Adobe Reader, WinAmp, GOMPlayer… You can check the best of the best on the main page. And the same goes for the featured games, of course – the best titles are spotlighted for all to see.Visit Spoon.net.

Citrix XenApp-employing Virtualized Applications.

 
Citrix XenApp is a remote access publishing platform that allows users to connect to their business applications, available from XenApp servers located in central locations (as Data Centers). Applications can be open it in these XenApp servers, using server hardware (CPU, Memory, hard disk, etc), and images are send to user client devices, instead to the server screen. A XenApp client shows the XenApp published applications to users like a local installed application.

XenApp it is a recently name given by Citrix, renamed from Presentation Server, which was originally known it as Metaframe. Citrix renamed the product due inclusion of many features which gave it new functionalities and to create a “line” of virtualization products, which includes XenDesktop and XenServer.

According Citrix, XenApp means:

Xen = Virtualization
App = Application

XenApp = Virtualized Applications

One XenApp server can support many users, generally from 30 to 80 users, depending of the XenApp server hardware specs, application requirements to run and user usage. A set of XenApp server constitute into a Citrix XenApp Farm. A farm can have around 5000 XenApp servers, supporting thousands and thousands of users.To use Citrix XenApp, you need Windows Servers with Terminal Services capabilities and install specific Citrix XenApp client on user machines. XenApp versions have different features, going from Standard/Advanced to Platinum, with more configuration options and integrated products. XenApp client installations will depend of which operational system you will use on client computers, and can be Windows (all versions), Linux, Dos, Mac Os and others.

Example of Citrix XenApp utilization

A new user is hired in a remote site of a company and needs a computer with Microsoft Office, SAP and some legacy applications using a dedicated and limited WAN link. IT department can create his domain and email account and associate domain groups to give him access to XenApp published applications. Then, IT department can send by post a Thin Client to user with instructions about how to plug mouse and keyboard, and how to turn on the device. After turn on the Thin Client, user will asked for his domain credentials and will see a Windows XP interface (blocked to any user software installations) and with all application icons in Start Menu, ready to work.

If for some reason, a XenApp server has a problem, when opening a new application, user will be automatically redirected to other healthy XenApp servers. If user workstation (ThinClient) has a problem, the same user can input his credentials in any other company workstation and have all same interface, applications and files. And if this user is going to visit an external location, he can easily keep one eye on his XenApp applications using his mobile.

If this company decide to migrate all 10.000 users from Microsoft Office 2003 to Microsoft Office 2007, the job can be done in just few hours in a weekend. IT team needs just deploy the new Office into XenApp farm, if everybody in company it is using Citrix XenApp.This is an video from Citrix made in 2003 – which is still very relevant.

Discussion on cloud and virtualization technologies never ends since it involves diversity such as desktop virtualization , storage virtualization as well as  further applications employing these  technologies such as wine, VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Browser OS etc .

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Cloud Computing - a new buzz

These days we are hearing about cloud computing a lot, though this phrase has been in discussion for a decade now. This is the most talked phrase being used recently, after the 'Web2.0' hype. I am trying to peep into the basic idea of this hardcore buzz and to know what it is all about. After exploring few articles I got amazed that unknowingly I have been using 'cloud computing' as some of the web services since a long.

 

Introduction:

Cloud computing is a latest buzz all around with respect to web technologies and services. As web 2.0, this phrase is also being defined differently but the basic idea is almost same. In which users are getting web services on free or priced manner from service providers located at remote places.

 

Cloud computing seems to be a new phrase but looking into the concept, we all have been using it since quite a long., e.g. email services of yahoo, google, sify or others, YouTube and, Google Docs etc. are embedded with the 'cloud computing'. These services are free and we have also been putting important information on our email IDs, youtube, flicker, and now few social networks (facebook etc.) where we have been sharing or shifting our personal information or data in different formats on the web. All these servers holding our information on the web can be metaphorically treated as clouds.

The ideal crux is, when we are directly or indirectly shifting our personal or organizational data on the servers which offer their services (web services, infrastructural services or application's platform) free of cost or on payment, is called 'cloud computing'. In simple terms, our data which has stored over the Internet (virtual place) and can be accessible 24x7.

Areas of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing is again still searching for an established definition but as of now it means using web services of others to satisfy users' computing needs, like – software applications, data storage and using different platforms to build needed applications. On basis of this cloud computing can broadly be divided in following three segments:

 Software as a Service (SaaS): In this application or software is given as service to users, who can access the required programme online. For example email and few other services offered by Google, Hotmail, Yahoo, Sify, Skype etc.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): To run required service a special platform or application infrastructure is also being provided to the clients where clients can build their web based applications. Client does not require to know programming language, database management systems, etc. to run applications. Windows Azure, Google App Engine and Force.com can be few of good examples of PaaS.

 Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): In IaaS, clients are being offered with storage, networking and processing of data. Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) or Simple Storage Service (S3), VMWare vCloud are some of its examples.

Inspite of using cutting edge technologies in 'cloud computing', still we are in debate of its use in our official systems. Therefore, following pros and cons have been observed which may broadly be focused upon.

Positive:

• All time accessibility of data. 
• Technical problems related to storage and accessibility can be taken care by the providers. 
• No need of procuring high capacity storage server.
• User does not have to download and install any update on his/her desktop.
• User does not have to be master of the applications used in 'cloud computing'

Negative:

• Security of data is the major concerned.
• Need high capacity bandwidth while accessing subscribed services.
• You can lose control on your information or data.
• What happen when stored data get lost?

Use of cloud computing is depend on person to person and organization to organization. Storing personal data or information on other's servers may not going to effect anyone else except you but where shifting or storing organizational data on other servers may effect everyone associated with that organization. Library is a service oriented system, which need high speed IN and OUT processing of data. It is good when data from these web based clouds is accessible to users but what will happen when we see any cloud burst?

Now question arises, how do we use and where we use 'cloud computing' in libraries, we would discuss the same in our next post.

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Fedora Commons and DSpace Foundation Join Together to Create DuraSpace Organization

Fedora Commons and the DSpace Foundation, two of the largest providers of open source software for managing and providing access to digital content, have announced today that they will join their organizations to pursue a common mission. Jointly, they will provide leadership and innovation in open source technologies for global communities who manage, preserve, and provide access to digital content.
The joined organization, named "DuraSpace," will sustain and grow its flagship repository platforms - Fedora and DSpace. DuraSpace will also expand its portfolio by offering new technologies and services that respond to the dynamic environment of the Web and to new requirements from existing and future users. DuraSpace will focus on supporting existing communities and will also engage a larger and more diverse group of stakeholders in support of its not-for-profit mission. The organization will be led by an executive team consisting of Sandy Payette (Chief Executive Officer), Michele Kimpton (Chief Business Officer), and Brad McLean (Chief Technology Officer) and will operate out of offices in Ithaca, NY and Cambridge, MA.
"This is a great development," said Clifford Lynch, Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI). "It will focus resources and talent in a way that should really accelerate progress in areas critical to the research, education, and cultural memory communities. The new emphasis on distributed reliable storage infrastructure services and their integration with repositories is particularly timely."

Together Fedora and DSpace make up the largest market share of open repositories worldwide, serving over 700 institutions. These include organizations committed to the use of open source software solutions for the dissemination and preservation of academic, scientific, and cultural digital content.
"The joining of DSpace and Fedora Commons is a watershed event for libraries, specifically, and higher education, more generally," said James Hilton, CIO of the University of Virginia. "Separately, these two organizations operated with similar missions and a shared commitment to developing and supporting open technologies. By bringing together the technical, financial, and community-based resources of the two organizations, their communities gain a robust organization focused on solving the many challenges involved in storing, curating, and preserving digital data and scholarship," he said.

New Products
DuraSpace will continue to support its existing software platforms, DSpace and Fedora, as well as expand its offerings to support the needs of global information communities. The first new technology to emerge will be a Web-based service named "DuraCloud." DuraCloud is a hosted service that takes advantage of the cost efficiencies of cloud storage and cloud computing, while adding value to help ensure longevity and re-use of digital content. The DuraSpace organization is developing partnerships with commercial cloud providers who offer both storage and computing capabilities.
The DuraCloud service will be run by the DuraSpace organization. Its target audiences are organizations responsible for digital preservation and groups creating shared spaces for access and re-use of digital content. DuraCloud will be accessible directly as a Web service and also via plug-ins to digital repositories including Fedora and DSpace. The software developed to support the DuraCloud service will be made available as open source. An early release of DuraCloud will be available for selected pilot partners in Fall 2009.

Key Benefits of the DuraSpace Organization
DuraSpace will support both DSpace and Fedora by working closely with both communities and when possible, develop synergistic technologies, services, and programs that increase interoperability of the two platforms. DuraSpace will also support other open source software projects including the Mulgara semantic store, a scalable RDF database.
DuraSpace is mission-focused. The organization will be associated with its broader mission of working towards developing services and solutions on behalf of diverse communities rather than focusing on single-solution product development. This change in orientation can be characterized as moving beyond the software and toward the mission.
DuraSpace will bring strength and leadership to a larger community and amplify the value brought by each organization individually. With both organizations working in unison, there can be significant economies of scale, synergies in developing open technologies and services, and a strong position for long-term sustainability.
Learn More about DuraSpace
DuraSpace will be represented at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Open Repositories (http://openrepositories.org/). Please check the schedule and visit the Fedora Commons and DSpace information tables at the conference to learn more. Also, initial information will be available at the DuraSpace website, with more information forthcoming in June 2009.

About Fedora Commons
Fedora Commons (http://fedora-commons.org/) was established in 2007 as a not-for-profit organization and the home of the Fedora repository software and related open source projects. Fedora is a robust, integrated, repository system that enables storage, access and management for virtually any kind of digital content. The Flexible Extensible Digital Object Repository Architecture (Fedora) was originally designed by Sandy Payette and colleagues at Cornell University and was established as an open source project in 2001 by Cornell and the University of Virginia. Fedora has a large international user community and is installed worldwide at universities, libraries, research institutions, cultural organizations, and corporations.

About DSpace Foundation
The DSpace Foundation (http://dspace.org/) was formed in 2007 to support the growing global community of institutions using DSpace open source software to manage scholarly works in a digital repository. DSpace was jointly developed in 2002 by Hewlett-Packard and the MIT Libraries. Today, there are over more than 500 organizations worldwide using the software to manage, preserve, and share their scholarly output.

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