Cloud Computing - What can it do for you?You may have heard of Cloud Computing, you may be consciously using it or you may be using it and not even know it. So what it is? Cloud Computing is a set of hardware, storage, services and interfaces that enable the delivery of computing as a service. In simple terms, Cloud computing is using the internet to access everything you need such as applications, operating systems, and data which are housed on an outside server instead of using your computer’s storage with applications, operating systems, and the like installed/housed on your computer directly. Remember the “Cloud” is not the Internet, as some would believe. The Internet is utilized as a vehicle but it is not the cloud. Google, Amazon, eBay, etc utilize cloud technologies to provide services via the Internet. The cloud technologies are an operating technology built on a vast number of computers that provide a service.
PersonalThere's a good chance you've already used some form of cloud computing. If you have an e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail service like Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or Gmail, then you've had some experience with cloud computing. Instead of running an e-mail program on your computer, you log in to a Web e-mail account remotely. The software and storage for your account doesn't exist on your computer -- it's on the service's computer cloud. The cloud can be used to store photos, music, movies, documents and practically anything else you can think of. This means you can access them from anywhere that has an internet connection. Imagine being able to browse your music collection from any device without having to sync a device. Recently, Apple introduced iCloud which allows users to sync data from their Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad automatically, depending on the services they select. This makes going from one device to the other seamless and saves countless hours that used to be spent syncing data from one device to the other. See more personal Cloud services on the Providers page.
BusinessFor business, the benefits of using cloud are many and varied. It's often a cheaper way to operate, you don’t have to house your own servers, but the largest benefit is flexibility. A business with cloud hosted operations can adapt to changes faster than a traditionally hosted one. Scaling computing/hosting resources to fit fluctuations in demand, instant growth to support the development of new ideas, and quick data transfers (to a different portion of the cloud if a server acts up, instead of buying new servers) are all possible, headache-free, with cloud computing. Additionally, Cloud hosting is also a greener way to run a business. |