Stateless Computing

A few days ago I read a review of Merrill Lynch’s Jeffrey Birnbaum LinuxWorld keynote on stateless computing.

“With stateless computing, users’ settings and data are automatically saved to the server, which could be run by their employer or outsourced. Cloud computing generally refers to technology that lets people use Web browsers to access applications running on central servers, though it also can refer to general-purpose server infrastructure that companies can tap into as needed.”

This mean that the cloud will continually hold our current computing state, ready to support us via whatever network or device we connect with. It also means that the cloud may need to hold multiple states to match the possible permutations of devices, networks, applications, etc. that we may connect with. All those states would also need to be available for transfer between the multiple public and private clouds that we may use. And don’t forget the need to maintain privacy and security for us all.

Whew. Makes my head hurt.