But although the term might be a relatively recent one, the concept isn’t. Distributed computing has been around for longer than that, in the form of peer-to-peer networks. These concentrate on distribution, but inherent in distribution is a form of storage. So these could be viewed as synonymous with Amazon’s S3 or ECB offerings. Distributed processing has also been around for some time – the SETI project invited users to download an application to process the vast amount of data gathered listening to extra-terrestrial radio noise.

I can’t help but think that the worlds of cloud computing and peer-to-peer networks will converge to offer the same distributed storage and processing, and that we’re at the cusp of seeing that convergence now. The distributed storage is already there.

Distributed processing will prove more of a challenge and the lack of guaranteed availability will prove to be the biggest stumbling block – it will ultimately be organisations that have the need for the distributed processing power. As the processing power available globally, however, continues to grow at an exponential rate – with most of it sitting idle – sooner or later this power will be harnessed.

The lack of guaranteed uptime ceases to be a problem when the resources are ubiquitous.