‘Cloud Computing’ – Old Te This article gives a hint of the presentation that Harald Raetzsch will make at the Parking Industry Exhibition (PIE) inMarch 2012 in
Chicago. Editor. By Harald Raetzsch
Most of us use theWorldWideWeb. But many view the Internet as just a source of information such as documents
or audiovisual content. It’s more appropriate to view it as one gigantic machine, actually the most reliable machine that mankind has ever created. All laptops, computers, handheld devices, smartphones and
tablets are little windows into this machine. The Internet offered 55 trillion links in 2007, accommodating 100 billion clicks per day by users. It thus represented, five years ago, approximately the same amount of storage and links and a similar processing power as one human brain. And it grows year by year in an exponentialmanner. And a new phenomenon has surfaced in the past few years.
Everything now is about “cloud computing.”Actually, and from a technical point of view, cloud computing has been around for quite some time. It was called an Application Service Provider (ASP) around the turn of the century. Other acronyms have been used since then, such as SaaS, or Soft- ware as a Service. In talking about cloud comput-
ing” in this article,we refer to the def- inition of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, Version 15, 10-7-09): Cloud computing is a pay-per-use
ary approach, instead of facing the disruptive nature of change. Many vendors even tried for some time to simply adapt
what they have and call it a cloud offering or an online system. This is comparable to someone in the taxi business who owns a limousine with seven seats deciding to start a new commercial endeavor where he wants to carry up to 40 people between dif- ferent locations. Instead of buying a bus, he decides to cut his limo apart and use welding to “stretch it.” He adds 33 seats and starts offering bus tours. While everyone understands there is a difference between a
welded and stretched limo and a bus seating 40 passengers,many still believe this approachworkswith software and try using “vir- tualization,” “terminal servers” or other technologies to prolong the life of a non-cloud architecture under a new cloud logo or product name. The characteristics of a true cloud solution are easy to
True cloud solutions adhere to the “Enhanced Shakira Principle.”
model for enabling available, conven- ient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal manage- ment effort or service provider interaction. Each deployment model instance has one of two hosting
types: internal or external. Internal clouds reside within an orga- nization’s network security perimeter and external clouds reside outside the same perimeter. While ASP came and went, the cloud has made its inroads
into so many aspects of our lives that it will stay. Not only because the infrastructure needed for cloud computing is now widely available, butmore important, cloud services are general- ly accepted and used bymany of us. Every iTunes user is a cloud user. Everyone uploading pho-
tos to Flickr, Panoramia or similar services is a cloud user. Those who use Google Earth or GoogleMaps are cloud users. The cloud is a reality in the consumerworld.
Cloud Solutions for Ticketing and Access Control The users of ticketing and access control systems have defi-
nitely changed in the last decade. Network infrastructure is mature and omnipresent; human behavior and expectations have changed dramatically. But most of the systems offered for ticketing and access con- trol have tried to cope with these changes in a purely evolution-
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explain with a simple analogy. The Columbian singer-songwriter Shakira released “Whenever,Wherev- er” in November 2001 as part of her first English-language album “Laun- dry Service.” The song hit No. 1 in 29 countries, becoming the biggest hit of 2002worldwide. “Whenever” and “wherever” are
two key characteristics of any cloud solution. Bu there are two more: “Whatever” and “Whoever.” I like to say that true cloud solutions adhere
to the “Enhanced Shakira Principle.” Whenever – a cloud solution will service me anytime, 2 a.m.
at home or 3 p.m. in the office. Wherever – it’s not important where I am. Service will happen in Los Angeles, as well as in Europe or China. And cloud solutionsmay be utilized independent of the type
of device. Itmay be an iPad,Android smart phone,Windows PC, self-service kiosk or even inmy car on the GPS screen –whatever device Iwant to use to be serviced in the cloud. And I may be a Brazilian computer expert or an Austrian
farmer, a U.S. computer-literate white-collar worker in an office or a trucker in Ghana –whoever I am, I can use the cloud service. Whenever,wherever,whatever,whoever – this is cloud!
Parking Management in the Cloud A new cloud solution is operated in a centralized fashion,
either as a private cloud deployment or with several customers sharing IT resources provided by the solution vendor or using a provider of hosting services. Typical ticketing and access control devices used in car parks
are barriers, exit and entry columns, pay-on-foot stations, kiosks, vending machines, cash registers and web portals to buy vouch- ers or tickets or to performreservations in car parks.
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