Anand Mokashi – 
Cloud computing is one of the fastest changing technology paradigm to affect the daily computer user both in their personal as well as professional computer use.
In technical terms, a ‘cloud’ refers to a distinct IT environment that is designed for remotely provisioning scalable IT resources.
The term, which originated as a metaphor for the Internet and was coined the 1960s, has now expanded in both concept and applicability.
Image Source: PC Magazine
In simple terms, a Cloud is either a platform or software service or both, which is available and used by a computer user remotely from their local computer.
It can be defined as “The practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or one’s own personal computer.”
Data storage services like Google Drive or our very own Mega (Kim Dot com fame) are examples of using the cloud to store data and or other files remotely.
Both offer a generous amount of free storage to all who sign up and beyond that additional storage can be bought for a fee.
The Uses
Reasons for storing important electronic material on the cloud can be many and varied. A home computer user, for example, may store family photo on a remote cloud to protect them from accidental deletion, corruption of files, theft of home computer etc.
On the other end of the scale, a growing business may prefer to ‘rent’ out storage space on a cloud rather than invest upfront in own storage devices
The Types
Based on the type of service offered, loud computing services can be classified into three types:
IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)
PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)
SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)
Computer users have been employing some form of cloud computing for decades.
Search engines, Email services, Social Media platforms such as Facebook, You Tube, LinkedIn all involve the implementation and usage of the cloud.
Though consumer-centric, these services popularised and validated core concepts that form the basis of modern-day cloud computing.
Amazon leads
Around 2006, Cloud Computing emerged in the commercial world when Amazon launched its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) services that enabled organizations to lease computing capacity and processing power to run their enterprise applications.
Around the same time, Google Apps also began providing browser-based enterprise applications in the same year.
Three years later, the Google App Engine became another historic milestone.
The Benefits
The benefits of Cloud Computing for Businesses are many. They revolve around:
- Simplicity of capacity planning.
- Reduction in Infrastructure costs.
- Increased agility within the organisation.
Cloud Computing is a term that doesn’t describe a single thing – rather it is a general term that sits over a variety of services.
Image source: simplilearn.com
Anand Mokashi is an IT Lecturer, Consultant and Digital Media Specialist with a passion for all things online. He runs the Facebook group of Amateur astronomy lovers (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ilavip/) and the website www.astronomyhuble.com. Email: anand_mokashi@consultant.com
