Understanding the concept of Cloud computing has been compared to electricity – you don’t have to see it or understand it, you just use it and it works!
“The Cloud” has a real definition, too. It provides a service that you can access from your computer or mobile device and is delivered over the internet in real time.
Ok, so perhaps The Cloud is a fluffy marketing term and metaphor for the Internet, but it does handle new technology in new ways. And how is using the cloud different from how you are using technology right now?
Well, most of the time, if you want to do word processing or send emails, you have to open a program on your computer like Microsoft Word or Outlook. Also, if you want to save something, you store it on your hard drive. Most of what you do on a computer is operated by the computer using the installed software. Make sense so far?
Good. If you switch to using Cloud computing, a lot of your “stuff” – documents, emails, pictures– is no longer stored on your computer (or other devices) but is kept on remote servers probably operated by familiar names such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon. In addition, you no longer open a program on your computer, you open your browser or app and work off “the net”.
For business owners, cloud computing is especially good news. Businesses no longer need an infrastructure of networked computers in the office and an IT department running it. For individuals, cloud computing frees them from having to buy special software to run on their computers and other tech devices.
The cloud can provide apps, software, data access, storage and backups, all from web-based tools.
I have read that The Cloud was made possible by the development of high speed internet connections and the technology of vast information sharing and handling that came from search engines like Google and Yahoo. Those combined advances led to the cloud computing we are getting to know today.