What Is Cloud Computing? Learn The Definition And Choose An Ideal Usage Model For Your Business

What is Cloud Computing? It is defined as a web-based computing environment in which applications are hosted remotely via the Internet. A Cloud is comprised of many different components like servers, network, storage, software, control networks, public IPs, virtualization and application service providers (ASP's). In a Cloud the infrastructure is managed through an active administrator who manages what is called the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Cloud computing is also known as an "augmented" or "unified" service. Cloud computing provides access to virtual computer resources, usually based on the users' own computing devices, with the aid of the internet. This reduces IT costs as there is no need to upgrade server hardware, software, or storage media. Cloud computing is an on-demand availability of server hardware resources, usually shared by multiple users. Large cloud-based data centers often have many other purposes besides serving requests from clients. They can serve as a data center, a place to do business, or even a content site.

A Cloud is a large collection of internet resources. The word cloud was derived from the German word conga which means a "notched curve." A Cloud may be loosely defined as any collection of internet resources such as servers, storage, bandwidth, software, networks and even data storage. An application can be hosted in a Cloud or it may be the infrastructure that hosts a service. In addition, Cloud-based services may provide application service provider (ASP) capabilities which are not available in stand-alone computing environments.

With what is cloud computing you get the benefit of cost efficiency and convenience. You can get your applications hosted on the internet at very low cost and use it for business purposes. The cost savings is due to centralizing data storage, server, bandwidth, and software. You have the control over your private services and can choose to pay for them as needed or through a subscription model.

In order to understand how is cloud computing, you need to have some computer science and IT knowledge. To this end, there are two schools of thought on how to go about learning it. One school of thought is using a tutorial style course at an online institution like Harvard University's Data Archive. The other approach is to learn it through more hands on techniques like those taught by Robert J. Goldstone, PhD, an IT professional and computer science professor at the University of California - Santa Barbara. In his most recent book, Computer Science Education: A Modern Approach, Dr. Goldstone teaches the reader to use both software and hardware to create and store their own virtual computers.

There is a lot of talk these days about the cloud and how information technology is moving closer to it. For those who want to be more active users, remote data storage is the way to go. The remote storage system allows a user to access their information technology infrastructure (think desktop, laptops, storage arrays) from any location in the world. This capability takes the IT workload and overhead off the company and allows IT to focus on its other core business components such as improving customer service. However, companies must still have the skill set in place to use this type of cloud computing because only a trained IT professional can ensure that a company's servers, workstations, and storage arrays are not compromised.

One lesson that I would like to share with the readers in the lesson is that what is cloud computing is also what is on-demand and virtualized on the other hand. This lesson will provide you with a simple definition so that you can be taught the correct definitions as well. On-demand means that the functionality is offered as a service whereas virtualized means that the functionality is provided as if the application was actually running on the company's own network. A company may purchase physical hardware for a server, but they may also rent virtual servers from a cloud hosting provider.

The next lesson is about hybrid clouds and why companies should choose on-demand or hybrid clouds depending on their needs. As an employee, you should be taught the different deployment models available in the cloud computing services and what functionality each model provides. This will help you better understand what is cloud computing and how companies are using these services to enhance their business operations.