Welcome to Fluffy Cloud

Presented by TreeLogic Software Engineering

from TreeLogic Software Engineering

Fluffy Cloud is a cloud-based Ubuntu (R) desktop on Amazon.com's EC2 (R) Platform, accessible from a common Web browser anywhere in the world. It's the most powerful computing platform for individuals in business and education.

We call it "Fluffy Cloud", because it's an exemplary use of cloud technology, just like when you see a very bright, fancy cloud in the blue sky.

Lose a laptop? No problem - the entire computer is in the cloud.
"Focus Your Work" - A user's documents, instant messenger program, and lists are kept on a single, well-integrated desktop, instead of being scattered amongst diverse websites and physical devices.
Need to provision a number of customized desktops and software environments for your organization? Pre-configured images can be uploaded to EC2 (R).
Outdated hardware? Never a problem with this approach, as Amazon provides pre-committed machine resources.
Electricity cost concerns? No issue - it's included in the EC2 service.

We offer the following Fluffy Cloud editions:

FluffyLearn - One or more multi-user Ubuntu (R) "cloudtop" desktops, running on Amazon.com's EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), that your students can use - each with their own account - to do their projects and assignments in a pre-configured computing environment.
CloudForest - A number of Ubuntu (R) "cloudtop" desktops imaged on Amazon.com's EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) (R) service to meet your organization's needs.
Desktop in the Sky with Diamonds - An Ubuntu (R) "cloudtop" desktop on Amazon.com's EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) (R) service just for you.

Demo Users

If we've given you a demo URL path, append it to the demo server root URL below to get your complete URL:

Demo Server Root URL

https://ec2-184-72-14-1.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com:8443

If you do not yet have a demo URL path, contact us about a demo (e-mail address at left).

Known Issues

Do Not Reboot: Do not reboot or shutdown Fluffy Cloud machines at this time. Doing so will cause their domain name to change. If you do so inadvertently, contact TreeLogic for the updated domain name of your machine.

Keyboard/Mouse Not Working Well: Just refresh the Web browser page if you have any issues. That will clear up any issues you experience in interacting with your desktop. The system is still young and is improving over time.

Resize or Come Back from a Different Window: Currently, if you resize the Fluffy Cloud Web browser window, or flip to a different window on your client operating system, you will then occasionally need to refresh the whole Web page. This is most easily done by returning to the Fluffy Cloud Web page, placing the cursor in the Web browser location bar and pressing 'enter'. You will be good to go in a moment's time. Future development work will fix this issue.

Software Center: Currently this will only successfully work if it is launched from the command line, like so: 'sudo software-center'.

Usage Tips

Access desktop-to-browser/browser-to-desktop functionality (clipboard, onscreen keyboard) by hovering over the 'bookmarks' bar at the top of your Web browser.

If the keyboard or mouse interactions don't seem right, just put your cursor in the Web browser's location bar and press the 'enter' key. This will quickly reset any issue you are experiencing.

Faster Performance: To get a more responsive session where you will not be typing in any 'sudo' or 'root' passwords or otherwise need a high level of security, use plain 'http' instead of 'https'. To do this, first establish a session on your Web browser by logging in under 'https'. Then change the url to use 'http' and '8080' (e.g., 'http://ec2-184-72-14-1.us-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com:8080) where previously it used 'https' and ':8443'. Leave everything else the same. Press 'enter' in the location bar to change over to the faster 'http', and be sure never to type any sensitive passwords unless you are under 'https'.

Fastest Performance: A way to get a much more responsive session is to use a native vnc client, such as RealVnc. You can log in the same as you do to your regular Fluffy Cloud session, except your password is truncated to eight (8) characters.

More Software: To install more software, use the Software Center or, if more technical control is needed, 'System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager'. To use the Software Center, currently it must be launched from the command line, like this: 'sudo software-center'. The Software Center is the easiest way to get new software.

If you use FTP Software: Fluffy Cloud instances require a public-private key to connect directly to them from a different computer via SSH/SFTP ("FTP") services. Currently, we will provide those upon request. An alternative, powerful, convenient way to move your files between computers is a free account on ZumoDrive (this provides a good measure of file backup as well). Or, you can install a file-upload program (http cgi) on your machine. You also can easily ssh to any other machine from the Fluffy Cloud instance in order to pull down any file you might need.