The Problem
The cloud has solved several problems. We now have access to our data from anywhere. There are applications for just about any conceivable capability need. We no longer have to worry about those pesky servers and keeping them maintained. We still need devices to connect to the cloud and reliable internet, but those two have [mostly] been solved. But it’s not all great. The Cloud has some ugly secrets and it's introduced a significant problem. One that is more important than most people realize.
When you move to the cloud you give up control. Control of your DATA and PRIVACY. You’ve handed over two of the most precious assets of your business, organization, and/or personal life. It may not be readily apparent, but we can assure you, one day it will be undeniably obvious.
We understand it “appears” the convenience of the cloud outweighs these seemingly less important privacy and control concerns, after all, you have nothing to hide, right? But would you publish the credentials to your bank account online? Or what about your conversation with your significant other about a problem you’re having with one of your children? Did you know the government can come and request access to your data without your knowledge and the provider is not legally allowed to tell you about it? In today’s politically charged climate, this adds a significant risk of severe violation to your private business and personal information. One day this will cause you significant harm professionally and/or personally. But it doesn’t have to be this way. And don’t even get us started on the real costs of the Cloud
What We're Doing About It
We asked…What if there was a software platform that mimicked all the major cloud services, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, etc., with one MASSIVE exception? It wasn’t a public cloud platform.
In other words, it wasn’t under someone else’s control. You controlled your data. It was completely private, or as private as you wanted it to be. You couldn’t be De-Platformed from it. And the best part, it didn’t come with Per User Per Month or hourly usage fees. Fees that bled you dry every time you wanted to add someone to your team or share something with family and friends.
Think Amazon Web Services, with Office 365, Youtube, Salesforce, Twitter, Facebook, and many more services to run your business, organization, family or group of friends. It’s a true STACK, from hardware management to software services. It will be released as an open source project in the beginning of 2022. It can be installed on your own hardware, and will come with support options for businesses or organizations that require a supported product for their employees.
Affectionately named for its purpose. Genesis is the Stapel Platform installer. It’s the app that you use to get started with your implementation of the Stapel Platform. It will provide some low level management capability, but it’s goal is to take input about where you want to deploy the Stapel platform and then go out and make it happen.
This is a bit technical, but hang with us, we will do our best to explain the engine of the Stapel Platform in simple terms. As you may know, the Cloud has been explained as software running on someone else’s computer. If this is your first time hearing that, then it is the most simple explanation of what the cloud is…and it’s pretty accurate. We use the same exact approach cloud providers use under the hood, again, except it’s on your computer.
It starts with a computer (it can be a real computer or a virtual computer), then deploy an operating system (Debian) on it. Next, a specific piece of software (Proxmox) is installed that allows you to create virtual machines. Additional software (Kubernetes and Rancher) is installed that allows you to deploy software services (lots of cool open source software that does a lot of stuff you probably thought you could only do with public cloud services). One of the software services is the Stapel Platform Management console.
One thing separating the Stapel Platform from many other similar approaches, is the set of Core Services everything else leverages. Rather than just installing a bunch of different software that you have to create accounts for and that are not inherently tied together, it starts with an identity solution. This is the part where you setup your users. Then all services are based on this identity management system. This allows you to provide single sign-on and easy management of users and their access to the services you turn on and off.
This identity management solution allows you the flexibility to tightly control user creation, or open it up to registration for services you may want to offer to the public. It provides the necessary starting point to be able to offer an experience that makes it easy for you to turn services on and off and then control who has access to those services.
Finally, the coolest part. The Stapel Platform is like a management wrapper for all the underlying components. Its job is to provide an easy to use management interface where you can control users, turn services on and off, monitor the underlying services and infrastructure, and scale your services across the internet.
We borrow quite a few concepts from technologies that have been around for some time. The main differentiator is that we thought of putting the components together in a way that wasn’t focused on the technical crowd. We wanted to create a solution that the average person, with a little bit of training, could actually use and benefit from without requiring a tech overlord.
Under the hood there are aspects of complexity, and if you are the technical type there are plenty of nerd knobs for you to play with. But at the end of the day, technology is a tool and should be usable not just by the technical folks among us, but by the common person. That’s the vision of the Stapel Platform. An easy to install, easy to use tool to free yourself from public cloud and offer true decentralized technology again. Call us old fashioned, but we think big tech no longer respects we the people. It’s time to take back the internet from them.
We believe these benefits of the Cloud and the advantage of maintaining privacy and control are NOT mutually exclusive. It just takes the right mix of technology, vision, and principle to put together a solution that gives you the best of both worlds. Let us tell you about it!
Some final notes...
Thanks for your interest in the Stapel Platform, we can't wait to get this project out to the world.
Best Regards,
Nate
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