The world of information technology is ever growing and improving. The latest introduction is the use of cloud computing to store information that can be shared easily. The use of cloud computing has eliminated the need for local servers that can easily be hacked.
Cloud computing is defined as a type of computing that relies on onsharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. Cloud computing is comparable to grid computing, a type of computing where unused processing cycles of all computers in a network are harnessed to solve problems too intensive for any stand-alone machine.
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Cloud computing is similar to grid computing where any unused processing cycles are put together to solve a severe problem that cannot utilize a standard machine. Cloud computing uses a non-hard drive technology to store information.
It goes back to the days of flowcharts and presentations that would represent the gigantic server-farm infrastructure of the Internet as nothing but a puffy, white cumulonimbus cloud, accepting connections and doling out information as it floats. What cloud computing is not about is your hard drive. When you store data on or run programs from the hard drive that is called local storage and computing. Everything you need is physically close to you, which means accessing your data is fast and easy, for that one computer, or others on the local network. Working off your hard drive is how the computer industry functioned for decades; some would argue it is still superior to cloud computing, for reasons I will explain shortly.
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Cloud computing allows the user to access their information at any location, which makes data access easy and convenient. The only requirement is that cloud computing needs to utilize or, at least, be synchronized via the internet.
For it to be considered “cloud computing,” you need to access your data or your programs over the Internet, or at the very least, have that data synchronized with other information over the Web. In a big business, you may know all there is to know about what is on the other side of the connection; as an individual user, you may never have any idea what kind of massive data processing is happening on the other end. The result is the same: with an online connection; cloud computing can be done anywhere, anytime.
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Cloud computing allows the user to have convenience, increased storage, and quick data processing. The basic working of the system is as follows;
The goal of cloud computing is to apply traditional supercomputing, or high-performance computing power, normally used by military and research facilities, to perform tens of trillions of computations per second, in consumer-oriented applications such as financial portfolios, to deliver personalized information, to provide data storage or to power large, immersive online computer games. To do this, cloud computing uses networks of large groups of servers typically
running low-cost consumer PC technology with specialized connections to spread data-processing chores across them. This shared IT infrastructure contains large pools of systems that are linked together. Often, virtualization techniques are used to maximize the power of cloud computing.
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Cloud computing utilizes supercomputing or high maintenance computing power that was initially only utilized by the military and research organizations. The following are some of the benefits each user enjoys when they utilize cloud computing;
1.Self-service provisioning: End users can spin up computing resources for almost any type of workload on-demand.
2.Elasticity: Companies can scale up as computing needs increase and then scale down again as demands decrease.
3.Pay per use: Computing resources are measured at a granular level, allowing users to pay only for the resources and workloads they use.
4.Cloud computing services can be private, public or hybrid.
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5.It’s virtual
Imagine racks of servers, humming along in a data center. Together, these servers become a massive pool of resources. Divide this “pool” into multiple virtual servers, and you create a “cloud.”
6.It can be secure
For the utmost security, create a private cloud on dedicated hardware. However, always remember to put appropriate security measures in place, no matter which cloud you choose.
7.It’s flexible and scalable
Since virtual servers are not physical, they are super flexible, giving you what you need at the moment. Spin up a server in minutes, and take it down just as easily.
8.It can be affordable
You will get the greatest cost savings in the public cloud, where your virtual servers run on physical servers that you share with other customers.
9.It’s open (or closed)
In the open cloud, you can easily move your cloud around—without being locked into one provider or a closed, proprietary technology.
10.It can be secure and affordable
A hybrid cloud gives you the benefits of both public and private clouds. For example, you can put public-facing components in a public cloud while storing customer-sensitive data in a private cloud.
Sourced from: http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/what_is_cloud_computing
