Big Picture - August 2015 - (Page 18)
inside output
Cloud Coverage
Cloud computing may be the one constant in changing technology. | by Craig Miller
S
BIG PICTURE
August 2015
ome of you have been in this industry long enough
to remember customers delivering or personally
picking up PageMaker and Quark print files on
clunky SyQuest drives. There was no internet to
magically send files over. Luckily, today, things have
changed. The vast majority of our print files are delivered over
the web, and all our clients and design and pre-press departments exclusively use Adobe Creative Cloud. Our management conducts business on Office 365, which is also cloudbased. These programs and their method of delivery,
collaboration, and communication point the way for our entire
industry. It would be unwise for us to think that the future
doesn't hold the same disruptive technology changes that we
have experienced in the past.
We currently have a server room with racks of expensive
state-of-the-art computers. We have a dedicated archival
system that some would refer to as network-attached storage.
We must have more than a dozen powerful workstations for
graphic design, CAD/CAM, and RIPs - a sophisticated wired
and wireless network - and 100 mbps (megabits per second)
of fiber connection to the outside world. That would have
been an unimagined amount of IT for a small print company
like ours a decade ago.
Moore's Law governs all things computer. It roughly says
the number and density of transistors on a chip will double
every two years, which basically translates into a doubling of
speed. Anyone who wants to keep up with current technology
will be replacing everything with circuit boards at least every
three years. It will be time for us to upgrade our entire
infrastructure in the not-too-distant future.
As resolutions grow, so do our data needs. And as we add
3D printing, CAD, and scanning, the need for ever-more
sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software
DEFINING THE CLOUD
One option is having a cloud-hosted platform service rather
than expanding the physical network at our plant. With this
option, we may be able to significantly downsize our physical
network. But what is the cloud? The cloud is simply a
metaphor for the internet. Basically, it's a way to store and
access data and programs over the internet instead of having
that capability at your facility or home. Think of having the
hardware physically present as local computing and storage.
Having those same computing and storage functions occurring remotely in internet server farms is the cloud.
Hosted platforms are a subsection of cloud computing.
They take advantage of a software technology that enables
you to access virtual computers in the cloud. These virtual
computers can be configured to run any operating system and
be as powerful and as flexible as you need them to be. Need
CRAIG MILLER is a principal shareholder in Las Vegas-based
Pictographics, (pictographics.net) where he is also director of military
and law-enforcement projects.
18
drives our efficiency and competitiveness. We also host
multiple websites and plan to expand our web-to-print and
storefront capabilities. All of this has required our little
printing company to have a competent IT staff since the late
'90s. We fear that we may be required to expand our IT staff
to support this expanding network if we don't embark on a
different path.
http://www.pictographics.net
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Picture - August 2015
Big Picture - August 2015
Contents
Insight
Wide Angle
Upfront
Inside Output
Dynamic Signage
Air Superiority
Rock ānā Roll Media
R+D
Explorer
Big Picture - August 2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20200607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20190607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20180607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20170607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20160607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20150607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20150102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20140607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20140102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_mediainksourcebook1314
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_sourcebook1314
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20130102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/bp_201203
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com