IBM to push cloud computing, using data from afar
IBM plans to build a sizable business by bringing Google-style computing to mainstream corporate customers.
The IBM strategy, to be announced Thursday, seeks to exploit the technical work and commercial interest in large data centers that can be run more efficiently, searched for information and programmed from remote locations over the Internet.
This model of Internet-based supercomputing is known as cloud computing because vast stores of information and processing resources can be tapped from afar–by a laptop personal computer, cell phone or other device.
IBM is calling its initiative Blue Cloud. Most of the basic software needed for cloud computing is open source, meaning that the code is freely available and can be modified by users. The hardware used in the data centers is typically many thousands of industry-standard server computers, powered by processors made by Intel or Advanced Micro Devices, and produced by many hardware makers.