Going To The Cloud

It seems that all the time now you hear about cloud computing and how it is revolutionizing the way people do tasks on their computers. But what is cloud computing anyway? There is actually much dispute about what the actual definition is, but mostly it means that people can use virtual servers through the internet. What this means is that people and companies can use the "cloud" in order to run programs, store information, increase data capacity etc. all without having to build new data infrastructures.

There are many types of cloud computing out there and I will just briefly discuss some of the major application for these. Some of these types of computing we don't necessarily think of them being a part of the "cloud" , but they are out there.

1.SaaS
This is one of the most popular forms of cloud computing. What this does is that it allows people to deliver a single application through a browser so that many people can download or use it. The benefit to this is that the costs are low for  the creator. This also benefits  the customer because there are no upfront costs or investments in servers or software that has to be bought. This is potentially an easy way for businesses to display some of there products to see if there is any interest in them before they put them onto the market.

2.Utility Computing
Utility computing is becoming more popular in recent years. Utility computing is used as extra storage for data and computing resources that can be used later as a service rather than purchasing the programs. An example used in an article from infoworld.com states that utility computing is just like using a service we are familiar with, such as water, electricity and gas. This idea makes sense because with utility computing people are only using the programs as a service rather than having to buy programs and expensive software.

Cloud computing is starting to become one of the major ways that people and businesses are becoming more productive with their works. Not only does cloud computing increase efficiency, it help reduce costs for both the business and the consumer. Hopefully in the next few years there will be much further development into this promising technology.

Sources: 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031

http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/hosted_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208700713