is personal and relevant to you. information that is personal and relevant to you. whether that means i go down to mark hopkins or wherever and talk to the concierge, and i really would like to find a cheap chinese restaurant that i can walk to that is less than $5, then he gives me the right answer or she gives me the right answer, or i go to my doctor's office, and this is based on your gino and lifestyle, we need to put you on lipitor and need to exercise more, right? that is service, right? let me take you to computers. visualize the amazon website for a second. what are they trying to do there? they are not trying to deliver information that is personal to you, right? people like you bought this. people like you listen to this, right? i will ask a question. for the technical people in the room, where is the transaction processing system on that web page? i will tell you the answer -- it

is that little shopping cart in the upper right-hand corner. most of us in the tech field -- i have been around for a while -- we have all worked on the shopping cart. we have worked on transactions, processing systems, they met. how important is it on the web site -- it has to work, and has to work in scale, and all that, but it is not very important, right? what is important is they are trying to deliver information that is personal to you. let's take our favorite banking website. go to the website. you have to log in, right? from that point on, all you see is a transaction processing system, right? it does not actually care who you are. it has no idea who you are.

the consumer internet sees " is 200 terabytes. that is all it is. not very big. the challenge is how do you get it. how do you take that information? i hate shopping at home depot, okay? i do not really like going there. however, think about this scenario. what if three weeks ago, i bought tile, and two weeks ago, i bought a faucet, and last week, i bought a sink, and this week, i bought a vanity mirror? what am i doing? probably remodeling my bathroom, right? by the way, they also could know

that i have actually spent $10,000 over the past four months at home depot. with all that information there, why isn't the managers showing up when i show up at home depot showing me the three toilets that would match my title, right? my only point is all that information is there. it is not being harnessed to deliver information that is personal and relevant to you. this applies to finance assistance, health care systems, city systems. it applies across the board. the major step that we will see and people who innovate at this level will see is doing that. i will end by telling you a little trivial metric for you to walk away and think about. it is called servers per employee. all of you guys who work in a business, just to this for fun. go in and ask how many servers you have. big ones, little ones, i do not really care. abide by total number of employees, contractors, not contractors.

a number in your head, some of you? i will give you a couple of data points. turns out the u.s. government tracks this for global economic development purposes. by the way, if the number of servers per employee is zero, what is the chances for global economic development? 0. right. and that brazil is a 0.04. india is a 0.02. i have no idea what the u.s. is that. that gives you some metric. my friends who run these application cloud service companies, they are sitting at 0.5 to 1.0. most of the people who listen to me -- actually, i did this three or four months ago. the guy sitting right here was the cio of kimberly-clark, an old friend of mine. so i asked him how many servers per employee he had, and he said we had 0.4 and headed for 0.2, proudly. ok, who do you think is sitting

at 30 to one? facebook. would you think is sitting at 50 to one? for your technical people in the room, do you think they are operating inefficiently? no, i do not think so. furthermore, do you think that they are using all those servers to serve up web pages? no. right? these are truly information- power businesses. at the end of the day, my opinion -- lots of people may share this -- is all companies and that being information companies. all companies and of being software companies. i just did he know speech for a large german car company that you may know, that is clearly when you start realizing what they are trying to do, right -- it is really can we use all this cloud technology to takeoff structures down and across this down so now, i can change and 8% spent on a bunch of stuff that

other people can go due to 80% i get to build applications, which power a very different experience. you think about what the car of the future might look like, it is a computer with four wheels, right? that is what it is. what they start to do with it, etc., is completely different. i'm talking about what we all conceptualize as a manufacturer. when you ask the question what will happen in the future? it is harnessing this technology to really deliver a service economy, and the companies that do this, the guys that figure this out are going to be big winners, and they are going to change the way we think of them, the way we relate to them, the way we buy from them, all of that. that is what the future holds. i see the floor. >> thank you. i think the best questions are yet to come, and we are going to turn it over to the audience. >> we would like to remind our listening and viewing audience that this is a program with the

commonwealth club of california on the future of cloud computing. our thanks to our distinguished panel for their comments here today. now, we open the floor for a q&a session. we will be passing around a microphone, so if you have questions, please raise your hand and speak into the microphone. >> i have a key question about the backup plan. you mentioned the super bowl earlier. what is the backup plan in the unlikely catastrophic event of the disabling of the system? solar storm or whatever. >> there are lots of things that can go wrong. the rights can hit the planet, and the things go dark, and then we fix it. in general, the technology you are talking about is something which is broadly called cloud bursting, where essentially, is

used by google and other folks, there's not one computer called google.com. there's a basilian sitting behind a thing. there is a concept called load balancing, and it has been augmented of late with the ability to dynamically spinoff new instances of server applications in response to spikes in demand. the general concept called cloud bursting allows you to do that across multiple cloud vendors, so you could do it across amazon and various other people say you could get geographic diversity and so on. people doing this extremely well, for example, would be netflix. many of you in this room i'm sure use the netflix. what they did is dynamically throw what is this is as more and more people click on movies that they want to watch. so then what they are doing is as the need scales, they then have the ability -- they pay them, and, of course, it drops off as soon as the need drops off as well. so they end up essentially paying for average demand.

the technology is widely deployed around the world. >> as kind of a follow-up, individuals often use cloud services for backing up their computers. are we about to see people using their computers to back up their clout services to guarantee that they hold on to their data? >> you are at the tip of a very interesting iceberg. go 100,000 miles in space and look down at the earth. we are still driving more wavelength down. there is no problem distributing content out to users. what we have a fundamental problem with is distribution of power. power is dominating in terms of distribution networks q one of the reasons why it does not make sense is because you are at the end of the tree, a long way from distribution, a lot of transmission loss. the data centers move to where

power gets generated. what is the next hardest thing to move? big data. did it is still really hard to move, even though we have lots of wavelets. that says that the application moves to the data is. if you think about facebook and google and all those folks, they build data center's right were the power is generated. typically near hydro plants and so on. what you find is that more and more applications will move to where the data is. moving those big chunks of data is very difficult. in terms of enterprises in the cloud, there is certainly no reason to suspect that the systems used by cloud vendors like amazon are not capable of geographic replication and redundancy. it is absolutely the case that someone like netflix, for example, could survive an outage of two simultaneous amazon did a centers through geographic redundancy and so on. this stuff exists, and the

technology exists within the cloud providers to make sure that once your data gets there, it is not going away. it is just not a cloud provider solution. most enterprises will have things called disaster recovery, where they will keep all their critical data completely synchronized so that if one coast gets hit by an earthquake or terrorist attack, you have the other coast where you can get your data. it is completely synchronized, always available, on demand. geographically diverse disaster recovery solutions have been in place for some time, and they actually do allow for secure data storage. >> i think that for the individual consumer and home user, this storage in the cloud and backing up your personal computer in the cloud has been burgeoning of late because people want to have the ability to store their files securely, but the reason why, to answer

your question, is why do they continue to still backed up their clout back of solution onto a usb stick or on to their own pc is people still have to get comfortable with the idea of clout security, that the data truly is secure and they're comfortable with letting go. people still not quite comfortable with that concept yet. as people become more and more confident and more and more comfortable with the concept of data being safe, we will still have people, and we will still have instances where people want their data next to them, where they feel comfortable, where they feel safe and confident that their data is secure. >> if i were purchasing services from a cloud vendor, i would mandate that all data at risk is encrypted using keys that i own, that i provide when it is processed for me, and there is no excuse for anybody not doing

this. the technology exists. so it comes down to the probability that a bad guy could go and guess relocation. in amazon web services, you have more than 3.5 billion objects. they have to know which one to go for it here that have to break your access. then they have to break the description on the of jets. the probability of stealing your data and getting away with an attack is vanishingly small. >> i think you address one of my concerns, which was the security of my data out on the cloud, but you raised a new question -- who owns my data? what if i do want it to go away? >> there are very challenging concerns. certainly, governed by state boundaries. for example, numerous canadians do not want their data in american dissenters. under a land the vessels, that can be subject to inspection and seizure.

all the regulations relate to national boundaries there as well. a cloud providers actually end up having to meet numerous diverse regulatory requirements related to where data may resign and how it may be encrypted. there are different purchase centers for different christian center's and countries -- there are different encryption centers for different regions and countries. i think amazon wishes they could make it go away the same way they imagine the sales tax would go away sunday. [laughter] >> but is it clear that i own my data? >> it is clear that you own your data, but it is not clear that somebody with the opprobrious search and seizure warrants cannot just make off with it, too. and, of course, you know, here is the scary one. the fbi says there is an attack coming out of those few racks over there, and they walked out with several companies entire

computer set up just because some guy in one of those was doing a bad thing. that is scary. >> unfortunately, we have time for only one last question. weber has the microphone, please. then maybe it is a mistake, but i have the microphone. i came to this lecture trying to find a definition of what cloud computing is. maybe i understand a little better, but i still do not have its in the simple terminology that i understand. my other question is from my point of view as a user of computing services, i have recently had the experience with a couple of banks going through a total change of their website, which caused me no end of aggravation to try to continue my accessing of my data, and i

had the feeling, and i think you kind of touched on this, that for maybe financial reasons or because you technology people are so influential in the world you convinced these banks they had to do this, it just really made my life miserable for a couple of weeks trying to figure out how to use their new system. i mean, it seems to me that -- you know, i had the impression that technology people are sort of making work for themselves by influencing institutions that they need to change what they have already in place. i still go by the old model -- if it is not broken, do not fix it. so i am opposing these questions to the senate panel. >> those are great observations. i am in my mid-40's by now, and

there are programming languages used regularly that just did not exist five years ago. when you hear these guys talk, it is like gobbledygook to me. you get old with your music. you get old with your skills sets. it is just the way it is. because we are a technology- driven society, and we have completely inverted the traditional way back societies were built when -- where when you were older, what you learned was survival skill, and you were right. that is the problem. the young guys are right, and the old guys take it in the net. cloud computing -- let me try a simple one for you. used to be in the old days that everybody had their own electricity generating plant. people would generate electricity locally for their own production means for their own factory. that got turned into a utility.

the economics and study of that is very interesting. there's a fabulous book called "the big switch" which basically tracks that history. think of what clout is doing to computing is being analogous. instead of having to own and run your own software and hardware and computer systems, these things simply become services that you acquired by some horribly complicated plug. so it becomes viable economically -- the economics are compelling. you can consume by plugging in. you have to plug, yes, it is still the case that you know too much, but it is really that, that turning computation into a utility that can be consumed as opposed to requiring human to surround previous manifestations of the

technology. >> i thank the panel for coming here today. we also thank our audience here for those listening and viewing. now, this meeting of the commonwealth club of california commemorating its 108th year of discussion is adjourned. [applause]

>> i am the founder and chair of the heritage committee. today is may 1. [applause] many of us have said every month of the year should be asian- american month. we're very happy to have legislation so the entire country can celebrate the contributions and history of pacific asian americans in this country. we would not be here today or have this celebration without having a major that has always made time for us -- without having the mayor that has always made time for us and been so supportive everything we do. without further delay, and like to invite our mayor to help

launch the celebration this year, mayor edwin lee. [applause] >> thank you, claudine, for your wonderful work. it is my pleasure to join the board president chu, jane kim, eric marrs. have i missed anybody? school board members, yes. norman yee, everybody. [applause] [laughter] you know, i am getting up there. 60. it goes downhill afterwards. it is great to join everybody to kick off. we could be elsewhere. we could be protesting today on something. but we're here celebrating our asian pacific heritage month. it is a month-long celebration and recognition of things we have been doing to promote heritage. this year's theme is advancing

education. it is sorely needed by everyone. is something we naturally do. i want to welcome everything here from japantown, the southeast asian community, the philippine committee, the samoan community, all of our asian populations working together to promote this month and be able to tell more stories about who we are. it is a wonderful country. i just came back from seattle, my home town. i have my own homegrown seattle jokes i could tell you. they will ruin your day. it is great to link up roots. i went back to my high school in beacon hill where i grew up. i rethought the steps of how i got to san francisco. i met with housing groups that resonated with our international

hotel struggle. a lot of community groups that were part of my own personal history but have become part of our whole west coast history that we celebrate because it is really the same thing. every city whether new york, chicago, or san francisco, the asian populations have grown and matured beyond the immediate immigrant groups, but they still have strong ties. i am reminded of this constantly. we have an inner. population that wants to be involved in everything we do and the side. they know with the leadership we have at the board now and with our other elected officials, there is much more than just being part of an immigrant group. more and more, we are part of

the american foundation of freedom and life. it is up to us to take our position. in everything we do, whether we are heading up a non-profit, a department head, it is our responsibility to represent everyone. that is the greatest story for asian-americans. everybody now looks to us to be part of everyone else's leadership and community building, building bridges with business, building community safety, all of the cultural connections. we can readily understand other groups that struggle easily because we come from the history of struggle. that is why i wanted to mention the international hotel. that unites us. it is something we want to build on. whether we are heading up the greatest museums, it is world

renowned. we get to represent our culture in so many ways. i want to thank you for doing your part in joining the rest of the city by celebrating this. we will have a month long. i think it takes a whole month to recognize all of the different subgroups part of the asian-american experience. i am excited to do that. i am excited to be part of this great city. welcome to everyone. it is a great opportunity for everyone to participate. i am looking forward to ted's street celebration. all of you will have your own individual connections to the asia-pacific american experience. i will try to get to as many as i can. it will be celebratory and educational at the same time. most importantly, i think we have to make sure that we speak to all of our youth. they are now responsible for

carrying on these traditions we have. i love it every time i see more of our youth embrace that culture. they can help to create the immigrant experience, growing up in our immigrant communities and then celebrating that as they take up more responsibility in bed -- business, education, community leadership. it would be wonderful to carry that on for all asian american groups in our great city. that is why we're working hard with our school district to make sure the cultural connections are always going to be there. if you understand where you came from, you will note where we're going ahead. you know how we can create more connections for people to come together. thank you for celebrating ata month. this is just the beginning.

i look forward to going to every neighborhood and celebrating with you. a [applause] >> thank you. we look forward to seeing you at our proclamation signing ceremony. i would like to ask our elected officials to come forward as a group so that we can be efficient with our time. the school board members, sandra, i would also like to acknowledge the 2012 celebration co-chairs because they have been doing a lot. tobin/[applause] everything else we need to do, we call rose chung. [applause] i would like to invite our board president david chu forward

followed by the various other supervisors. david? >> good morning. look behind me. just a couple of years ago when i ran for office the first time, there was only one asian official that have an office on the second floor. now we have so many. eric marr and i get confused all the time. carmen and jane get confused all the time. we're here because of view, because of all the work done across all the sectors, because of all of the diversity of communities we have represented. i will not even go through the list. we represent the world diaspore, the world immigration story for

the country of asian-americans. i want to say welcome on behalf of the board of supervisors. we look forward to a month of celebrations. next week in addition to the ceremonies across the street, at the board of supervisors next tuesday, we will be acknowledging each district supervisor, the asian american heroes in our midst. thank you for being part of this committee. we look forward to continuing here in the year of the dragon. [applause] >> thank you. it is not just those of us standing up. it is your leadership that makes the asian pacific americans so strong it was such a strong voice. i wanted to say the theme of advancing education has been really important. a lot of us who have served on the school board serve part time. many of us are here.