End-User Access to Cloud Computing

• Why the cloud model is being so widely

adopted?
• Applications / successful SaaS offerings that
are proving beneficial to end users:
1. YouTube
2. Zimbra
3. Facebook
4. Zoho
5. DimDim.
 Reasons for widely adoption of cloud
model
• Consumer-driven innovation
• The rise of power collaborators
• Changing economics
• Lowering of barriers to entry
 YouTube
• YouTube is the leader in online video, and a
premier destination to watch and share original
videos worldwide across the Internet through web
sites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.
• Founded in February 2005
• YouTube was purchased by Google in November
2006
• YouTube has become so popular and it provides a
set of development application programming
interfaces (APIs) to enable developers to integrate
YouTube functionality into their web sites.
YouTube API Overview
 Widgets
• Widgets are simple page elements that
developers can embed in a web site to give it
YouTube functionality.
• Widgets are JavaScript components that
developers can place in a web page to
enhance it with YouTube-based content.
• Two widgets that are currently available:
1. Video Bar
2. Video Search Control.
 YouTube Player APIs
• The Player APIs lets user to control the
YouTube player using JavaScript or
ActionScript.
• The Player APIs allow developer to
establish how users can control You-Tube
video playback on their web site.
• There are two types of players:
1. The normal “embedded” player
2. Chromeless player
 The YouTube Custom Player
• The YouTube custom player allows you to
customize a YouTube player and populate it
with videos you specify.
• Developers can easily configure the custom
player to show playlists, favorites, or custom,
locally available videos.
• Once the custom player is on your site, you
can easily update the appearance or content
by logging into your YouTube account and
clicking on Custom Video Players.
 YouTube Data API
• The Data API is primarily for developers who are
used to programming in server-side languages.
• The Data API gives you programmatic access to
the video and user information stored on
YouTube.
• Read the Protocol Guide to know how the Data
API works at the basic level using XML and HTTP
• http://code.google.com/apis/youtube/2.0/refer
ence.html
 Zimbra
• Zimbra, Inc., a company specialized in web-based
email and collaboration software for Linux, Mac
OS X, and virtualization platforms.
• On September 17, 2007, Yahoo acquired Zimbra,
Inc
• Zimbra Desktop is a free, open source email and
calendar client which runs on any Windows,
Apple, or Linux desktop computer.
• Zimbra Desktop uses Web 2.0 AJAX technology
and is designed to handle several email accounts
with multi giga byte storage
Yahoo! Zimbra Desktop
 Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS)
• ZCS version 5.0 is a modern, innovative
messaging and collaboration application.
• Ajax-based web collaboration is core to ZCS
5.0.
• The web client integrates email, contacts,
shared calendar, VoIP, and online document
authoring into a browser-based interface.
• ZCS 5.0 includes an Ajax-based administration
interface and scripting tools to use with the
ZCS server
 Facebook
• Facebook is a free-access social networking web
site that is operated and privately owned by
Facebook, Inc.
• Getting onto Facebook is easy. First you create a
sign-on identity and provide your email address.
• A simple three-step process is all it takes to
establish an account.
• Once you have completed the account creation
process, you are taken to your home page, where
you can customize it to suit your interests.
Finding friends on Facebook.
The Facebook default home page.
 Facebook
• The Facebook web site currently has more than
175 million active users worldwide.
• People can also add friends and send them
messages, and update their personal profiles to
notify friends about themselves.
• Facebook serves up over 50 billion page views a
month while employing fewer than 200
engineers.
• Facebook is the fourth most-trafficked web site
in the United States, and Facebook users upload
more than 14 million new photos every day.
 Facebook Development
• Facebook provides anyone the ability to
create Facebook applications.
• To create a Facebook application, one
should be well versed in PHP or some
other coding language such as Ruby on
Rails, JavaScript, or Python.
• basic understanding of the Internet, SSH,
MySQL, and Unix is also required.
 Zoho
• Zoho is an office productivity suite from
AdventNet, Inc., which was founded in 1996.
• Zoho has launched 15 different applications
• From the home page one can create an account
or sign in.
• Zoho Mail provides ample storage space.
• Zoho Mail offers advanced, self-learning
algorithms that keep unwanted spam out of
your inbox and deliver only legitimate emails.
• Zoho Mail can be read from an iPhone, and
support for other mobile phones is expected
The Zoho home page
Zoho Mail home page.
The inbox for Zoho mail
 Zoho CloudSQL
• CloudSQL is a technology that allows developers
to interact with business data stored across Zoho
Services using the familiar SQL language.
• CloudSQL allows businesses to connect and
integrate the data and applications they have in
Zoho with the data and applications they have in-
house, or even with other SaaS services.
• CloudSQL is offered as an extension to the
existing Zoho web API.
• Cloud-SQL supports multiple database dialects.
 DimDim Collaboration
• Dimdim invested more than 15 person-years of
engineering development into making a product to
support complex web meetings.
• Dimdim is available as open source software
• Dimdim Open Source Community Edition v4.5, code
named “Liberty,” is meant for developers and highly
technical enthusiasts.
• Dimdim Enterprise is based on commercial
streaming and media components (Adobe Flash
Server) and runs on top of their SynchroLive
Communication Platform.
The Dimdim sign-in page
 DimDim Collaboration
• Dimdim has a simple user interface that is easy for
presenters and attendees to learn.
• Meeting hosts and attendees do not have to install
anything to broadcast audio or video, because all
that is needed is a very tiny plug-in.
• Once you sign into Dimdim, you will see the home
screen.
• To start a meeting with Dimdim, simply click the
Host Meeting button.
• Provide a name for the meeting and an agenda and
then enter the email addresses of the attendees.
The Dimdim home screen
Dimdim Host Meeting screen
 DimDim Collaboration
• In the example shown in Dimdim Host
Meeting Screen, the meeting will begin
immediately.
• If you want to schedule a meeting for a future
time, click Schedule on the Timing option.
• In the Schedule Meeting screen, enter the
start and end dates and the start time. The
time zone you select should represent the
time zone where the meeting will be hosted.
Dimdim Schedule Meeting screen
 Meeting Scheduled dialog box
• Click the Schedule button to bring up the dialog
box shown in following Figure.

• You and your attendees will all receive an email.

• A single click starts your meetings.
An email confirming the meeting
invitation
Dimdim Web Meeting opening screen
Using the Whiteboard in a Dimdim
meeting
 DimDim Collaboration
• Dimdim has a fully integrated web browser,
which allows you to take your audience to
various web sites and show them specific
features live on the Internet.
• Dimdim is a powerful tool for collaboration in
the cloud.
• Dimdim uses an issue tracker and keeps it
updated so you can check the status of an
issue or view issues for all users.
Showing your audience a web site