Wednesday, September 4, 2013


What is Cloud Computing?
By: Ryan Shoaf

Cloud computing is defined by Google 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 a personal computer.” Through research, and exploration of this topic I found that I personally do not think cloud computing has a technical definition. I feel this way because, the term “Cloud Computing” is more of an expression that can be used for various types of computing concepts.

In cloud computing the term “cloud” is derived from the combination of networks, storage, hardware, interfaces, and services that come together to form a computing service. What attracts many individuals, and companies to cloud computing are its flexibility, and elasticity, which allows the resource allocation to get bigger, or smaller depending on demand. Along with flexibility, cloud computing allows self-service provisioning, standardized interfaces, and service usage metering. These key characteristics allow users to eliminate many complex constraints such as, space, power, cost, and time.

While cloud computing is used for various things, the main categories of cloud services include, Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a service (Paas), and Infrastructure as a service (Iaas). In cloud computing there are three types of clouds: A public cloud which are owned by companies, private clouds controlled by a single company, and a hybrid cloud which uses characteristics of a public cloud to create a private clouds that allows it to work with IT resources.

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4 comments:

  1. I look forward to following this blog and seeing this presentation, as I have heard this term 'cloud computing' in almost all of my classes, business and otherwise, and still have no earthly idea what it's all about. Please let this class be the light bulb I so desperately need!

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    1. I didn't realize how often I use the cloud on a daily basis until I started researching for my blog posts! It runs almost everything we do on our phones, including social media, GPS, dropbox, etc...

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  2. Cloud Computing seems to be something that not a lot of people are familiar with but is present in our everyday lives. I look forward to learning more on this topic. I also really liked your image!

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  3. I think cloud computing is a fantastic tool to manage and store information anytime and anywhere. As long as you have internet access, you can get work done without having to carry a computer or a storage device all the time. I use cloud computing every day at work and for my personal use and I can honestly say that it has made my life much easier.

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