Next-Generation of Cloud Computing: Distributed Cloud
Cloud Computing is not a new concept. In the 1960s, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Project MAC, a collaborative project on Mathematics and Computation, already carried out computer networking experiments.
In 1969, a Computer Networks group was created in order to allow people on different computers and in different locations to access and share the programs and information located on a single computer.
It was the beginning of what it was later going to be known as Cloud Computing. One of those gigantic, archaic IBM computers using reels of magnetic tape for memory acted as a primitive Cloud with two or three people accessing it.
In 1997, Professor Ramnath Chellapa of Emory University defined Cloud Computing as the new “computing paradigm where the boundaries of computing will be determined by economic rationale rather than technical limits alone.” And the history of Cloud Computing continued to evolve. Fastforward into the present we encounter the concept of Distributed Cloud, which is one of Gartner’s Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020.
The cloud expands its territory and becomes a distributed cloud. This is the distribution of public cloud services to different locations while the originating public cloud provider assumes responsibility for the operation, governance, updates to and evolution of the services. According to industry analyst Gartner’s report, this represents a significant shift from the centralized model of most public cloud services and will lead to a new era in cloud computing.
A distributed cloud means that the computation, storage, and networking are in a micro-cloud located outside the centralized cloud. The distributed cloud is closer to the end-user as a decentralized cloud system.
Cubbit Cell is an Italian startup innovating and building the Distributed Cloud. The Bologna-based startup is building a next-generation cloud: Distributed, secure, and eco-friendly. The startup is the first one accredited by the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. Founded in 2016 by Marco Moschettini (CTO), Stefano Onofri (CEO), Alessandro Cillario (COO), and Lorenzo Posani (CSO), Cubbit Cell also counts with a base in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Cubbit Cell is a plug-and-cloud device. The basic model comes with 512GB of cloud space. Whatever happens to the Cubbit Cell, such as a disconnection or a blackout, has no impact on the users’ data, which is always safe and accessible anywhere. In fact, they are not stored in their entirety on a single Cell, but distributed over a swarm of Cubbit Cells.
The successful startup is funded by TechStars, Barclays, Barcamper Ventures, and supported by the European Commission along with the Horizon2020 (H2020) program known as Climate Kic, a European knowledge and innovation community, working towards a prosperous, inclusive,climate-resilient society founded on a circular, zero-carbon economy.
Climate-Kic is the European Union’s main climate innovation initiative supported by the EIT, a body of the European Union. Cubbit’s distributed cloud is already up and running in beta in more than 10 countries. In addition, the startup actively collaborates with the CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and one of the world’s largest and most respected centers for scientific research.
The Italian startup has recently received a $150,000 investment by Italian business angels Nicolò Manaresi and Alessandro Fiorentino together with Barcamper Ventures – VC fund of Primomiglio SGR SpA. This investment received was in addition to the $120,000 already invested by Barclays, a world-class U.K. bank, and Techstars, which is the third biggest startup accelerator in the world. Among theinvestors of the campaign is Legacoop Bologna, which is exploring new business synergies with Cubbit Cell.
Cubbit Cell’s ambition is to completely change the face of the Internet, starting from the cloud.
