How to get a Personal Cloud Server

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Cloud computing is a new concept which lies between us from long time, but now come into interest. Cloud computing is a process of having your own personal webspace in which you can run an operating system. This operating system can be any depending on the server or hardware you are using. With the help of new edge technologies and latest hardware support it is now become possible to create a faster, better and reliable virtual location for your business. Because of this it has now become easier for business and home users to deal with their existing content and share the same around the world. To explain the same in a more simple way. A cloud is just a much bigger example of WAN. In this you share your files with other and depend on the server technology. But because of new development it has now more flexible to have your own Cloud server and you can share it with others. There are many open source applications available which support both Desktop based and Browser based Cloud applications. You can keep your files, documents, media, etc on the server and play the same from browser itself. You do not need any third party app for that. For example, Google Docs. In Google Docs you can have your Office files. You can view them and modify it and on the same hand share it with others. The solution to this may be to create a "cloud" itself in the comfort of your home, with the ability to access all your files from any computer connected to the home network. It sounds advantageous and it is. It also sounds complicated, but not so well.

What is the need of Cloud Computing. This is a question which is needed to be answered first. Today due to expansion of Internet we are becoming more addicted to it. We want ourselves to be smarter and faster. Commercial process is enhanced everyday because of new technology support. Today cloud computing is costly but in coming future it can much more cheaper. On the same you can have your own Cloud server at your home. Cloud computing offers you access to software, data, and resources stored. You can give access to users and they can view your content. It does not matter where they are or what device they are using. They just need to have a computer or any device/gadget which can help them to access internet and view files. Cloud Computing offers a virtual infrastructure of working. A web browser is one of the lightest applications on desktop. Inside that web browser you can view your files modify them and there is no need to install or look for any third party tool. This saves your time a lot. The data is accessed and stored on the remote location. Much better bandwidth and hardware provides smoother service.

Cloud computing is a much broader concept which is not easy to define under some samples. Cloud computing just provide a web based sharing devices where data can be stored and accessed. This helps the business environment to grow much faster. Many companies have hires ready to use services which can host your website. This space is often more than enough for the page and could be exploited to install some software that can work in the cloud and interesting for the company move to the cloud, how about CRM. Of course we can not install any software but we must choose solutions based on Apache, MySQL and PHP designed to operate directly in the cloud.

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Important Points for Cloud Server

• The simplest alternative is to put a fixed computer hard disk and share the same network. Today's operating systems supports sharing your file over net and over a small network. So you just need to think about choosing the right operating system for the process. Basically Linux is recommended for the process. But Windows and Mac are not to behind under this, there are many apps for them also.
• There are many of us who are aware about webspace. So first you must have ample of space if you are going to host your server on the web. Because limited webspace can hamper your cloud performance. The higher the space you have the more application or data you can add-on.
• Another important thing that you must have a good upload speed. There are chances when your server performance lacks because of upload speed. So you must have a better bandwidth for the upload.
• he other major issue at the network level is to request a fixed IP address, so that communications are set correctly, although this option is not entirely necessary if it is highly recommended to avoid problems. This is not very expensive.
• Finally at the software level must be installed on the server and manage the services of Apache, MySQL or any other similar database software demands that we take to the cloud and PHP. These programs are free but have some administrative costs that we can not neglect. Then there is the question of time we devote to these matters and subtract to the administration of our business.
• The upside to mount our own web server to host both our corporate and our applications in the cloud have virtually unlimited space for our records and control over them forever in our facilities. On the negative side we have to be a little more expensive if we have to choose to increase the bandwidth up and a fixed IP and lose time on managing server services.
• You can then use, which is known as NAS . This technology lets you connect a storage device (pen drive, hard drive) directly to the network, without requiring a computer.

Guide to Create your own Cloud Server with Ubuntu Cloud

Ubuntu is an open source operating system. The new version offers you to have a cloud version pre-installed. You can just add your operating system on the web and share your file from anywhere. This does not refer to plain remote desktop support, but more than that. The Cloud Live Image is available free for download. Download Ubuntu 11.10 version. To make your own cloud there are some pre-requirements you have to do. First installing Ubuntu 11.10 on your system. Configuring Orchestra and Juju to initiate the cloud process. In principle, the placement of the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud designed really very simple. Installing a first server as a cluster and assign a name for the cloud. All other computers should belong to this cloud, set on a node. This process is really easy to handle.

Orchestra Server: This is one of the awesome features of Ubuntu. You do not need to do much configuration here. You just need to first install Orchestra Server. For the run the following common in terminal:

• sudo apt-get update
• sudo apt-get install ubuntu-orchestra-server -y

Orchestra Server is an important component to initiate network environment. It comes with components like Cobbler, Nagios, Ensemble and Rsyslog. Every component has its specific role. When you are installing Orchestra it might ask you about your network configuration. This is necessary to specify the DHCP settings. The interface is easy to use and within some steps you can understand how this works. Do not forget to add the dhcp server also: sudo apt-get install dhcp3-server.

Juju: Once you are done with Orchestra you have to start working with Juju. Juju is a kind of cloud infrastructure for Ubuntu. This is an important element for the Cloud server as maximum components will be deployed on this only. Type the following in terminal : sudo apt-get install juju
Once you are done with the above component setups you have then start configuring the environment. Configuring the environment is creating a directory for Juju and deploying its environment. Type the following commands in Terminal :

• sudo mkdir -p ~/.juju
• sudo vim ~/.juju/environments.yaml

Just copy pastes the following :

juju: environments
environments:
orchestra:
type: orchestra
# Specify the orchestra server's IP address
orchestra-server: 10.1.2.3
# Specify storage. In this case we are using webdav installed by orchestra.
storage-url: http://10.1.2.3/webdav
# Specify cobbler's usr/pass
orchestra-user: cobbler
orchestra-pass: cobbler
admin-secret: fooooo
# Branch from where we will install ensemble
# juju-branch: lp:juju
# Management classes
acquired-mgmt-class: orchestra-juju-acquired
available-mgmt-class: orchestra-juju-available

Now the pending things to do is to create a SSH key if it is not present and Bootstrapping the environment so that it can function automatically. Type ssh-keygen -t rsa for ssh key and juju bootstrap in the terminal to initiate the process.

I had just mentioned a very basic method to being with Ubuntu Cloud. You can have a look on the official documentation for detailed information on the same. The configuration on Ubuntu might be lengthy first, but the process is much easier than others. There are much web base service also which offers you the same.

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Microsoft System Center 2012

Microsoft System Center 2012 offers you to start your own private cloud. This is a commercial product, but you can start with a Trail to test it. System Center 2012 offers you to manage your business in better way. There are many features available here. You can deploy your own IT environment. There is better management capability available under this. It is not just a tool with management of Cloud environment but also helps you to keep your data more secure. You have to buy a license for that as per your need. This is mostly recommended for commercial purpose only. As we are aware that Microsoft products are rich with feature and tech support.

System Center 2012 is a high end tool for entire cloud management. It is suitable for mid size and large businesses. I will not recommend this for your home usage. You can view the documentation for this on the official website for more info.

Microsoft System Center offers you the following:

• App Controller is a single point of control for applications through the Cloud public or private
• Configuration Manager, a tool that aims to unify the administration and security of physical or virtualized applications, PC or mobile. It allows a user to access applications, regardless of the device he uses. The Release Candidate of the solution supports a wide range of devices, including mobile platforms Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7
• Data Protection Manager still in beta phase, deals with real-time protection of data and provides a single interface for security management
• Endpoint Protection is responsible for protecting systems with malware detection and warning system vulnerabilities
• Operation Manager provides centralized management from single console resources of public and private clouds
• Orchestrator manages the automation and process orchestration with

Using Tonido

Tonido is only available as binary packages for Ubuntu and its derivatives in RPM distros like Fedora and openSUSE and Arch Linux. This means that you can install all of these distros Tonido using the package management tools. In the first run Tonido prompts you to create a profile. Create the profile is as easy as specifying a unique profile name, password and some other pieces of information. The profile name is all that is sent to the Tonido service, and is performed only once.

Tonido has two user interfaces. The simple interface provides quick access to key applications Tonido as a blog, workspace, sharing tools and the torrent files and so on.

To gain access to other features and settings Tonido, you can switch to the advanced interface. Despite its name, the advanced interface is quite simple. The left sidebar allows you to launch applications Tonido, while the toolbar at the top provides access to different options and modules. Before you start using Tonido, however, there are a few important things you have to do. By default, Tonido accepts only local connections, so if you access the Internet server, you must enable the Web access feature. To do this, click the installation link next to the server URL in the summary panel.

This starts the Setup Wizard that helps you access Web-enable and configure the Web Access function. If you have not configured port forwarding, the assistant can do for you, this always your router supports UPnP (Universal Plug-and-plug). If you are using Tonido server to collaborate and share data with others, you can add groups and users you invite. To do this, switch to the Groups section, click the Create tab, enter the required information for the new group and click the Create Group button. Once you create the group, has the option to send group invites.