What is the Cloud?
There is an increasing amount of talk
about cloud computing. If you have thought about buying any new
computer device in the past year or two, you can't avoid the term
cloud computing. There is a great deal of talk about the convenience
and utility of the cloud, and how it will save you time, money, and
data. But still there is no answer to the basic question : just what
is the cloud, and how do I use it?
What is the Cloud?
The answer to the question “what is
the cloud?” depends upon what you mean, and how you are using it.
Simply put, the “cloud” is a simplified name for network (usually
internet) based computing. In other words, the cloud is the remote
servers and computers that are storing your data, or running your
remote applications, or your webpage, or are providing you with a
service.
For example, take online radio network
Pandora. You install Pandora on your phone, or your computer, tell it
the type of music you like, and it magically streams you a bunch of
similar music to
your device. You don't have any of that
music actually stored on your computer. It's out there in the
“cloud”. Pandora offers a Software As A Service (SaaS cloud
computing). SaaS computing is what most comsumers will be familiar
with, as several popular consumer application use this business
model, including Netflix, and Spotify.
Another type
of cloud computing is when a business or provider offers users a
platform (like an Operating System, for example) or solution stack as
a service. This is called Platform as a Service. PaaS offerings make
it easy to roll out applications without the issues associated with
purchasing and maintaining the specialized hardware, software and
hosting cost. PaaS give gives users all the necessary tools to build,
run and support the creation of web apps and services completely from
the internet. Google App Engine is an example of PaaS. PaaS is
something that is mostly used by developers of software and
applications.
The most basic type of cloud computing
is the use of the simple use of computers for storage space, network
service or virtual machines. Typically with this type of
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) the user is responsible for the
maintenance of the software and the use of the infrastructure on
their end. The provider bills the user for resources used, sort of
like a utility.
What is the cloud? It's harnessing the
internet to be what you need when you need it!
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Tags:
cloud based services,
Cloud Computing,
consumer help,
What is the cloud
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