What is the Cloud?
We all use the cloud every day - in fact, you're using it right now as you read this About.com entry. The cloud consists of the collective power of many computers across the world that is designed to offer you safe, secure, easy-to-use, always-on services.
Imagine if you had to carry around a small box each day that generated all of the electricity you used. If you wanted to watch TV, make waffles, or use your computer, you'd have to plug your equipment into your small electricity generator.
That’s kind of a pain, right? You would have to worry about your electricity generator having enough fuel, needing maintenance and whether it could generate enough electricity to run not only your waffle maker but also your washing machine.
Fortunately, we have electric companies that generate and distribute electricity so that you can plug in your TV, your waffle maker, your computer and anything else you need without having to worry about the underlying details of electricity.
When you use a device such as a smartphone, your tablet, your laptop, or any other computer, you are typically connected to a set of services that you access over the Internet. These sets of services range from music and movie stores, to online shopping and social media, even to backing up the unique characteristics of your device, and so on. Taken in total, these services form the cloud. Just as you don't think about how electricity is generated, the cloud makes it possible for you to use a set of computing services without worrying about how those services are actually delivered to you.
Using the metaphor of electricity generation only goes so far, of course. The businesses that provide the services that make up the cloud worry about not only providing their users with enough service during times of high demand (this is often called scalability of service), but also about ease of use, security, and a host of other issues.
Examples of Cloud Service Providers
Examples that illustrate the various types of services that are available today include:
The Benefits of the Cloud
The benefits of the cloud are enormous and are the reason that there has been such explosive growth in the services offered from the cloud. Just a few of these benefits include: searching the web, e-mail, photo and video sharing, music sharing, and online shopping.
The Downsides of the Cloud
While the cloud is designed to offer you safe, secure, easy to use, always-on services, the reality is that each service you use carries risk. The more personal information you provide to a cloud service provider, the more risk that you have in terms of the safety and security of that personal information. There are times that you may grow frustrated with the difficulty of using a cloud service - and there are times that the services aren't available due to planned and unplanned events.
About the Author
Mark is the chief strategy / technology officer of Unitrends and has been a member of the Board of Directors since September 2009.
Prior to joining Unitrends, Mark co-founded mindAmp Corporation which provided high-technology business and software development consulting. Previously, he worked as the Senior Vice President of the Systems Management Business at Legent Corporation and thus led over one thousand marketing, product managers, project managers, and engineers in the United States and Europe. Mark left Legent after successfully helping steer the company in its acquisition by Computer Associates. Before joining Legent, Mark was a vice president at NCR Corporation where he had profit and loss responsibility for its $1.5B+ server business. In this capacity he was responsible for over fifteen hundred marketing, product management, and engineers in the United States, Europe, India, and China.
Mark earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of South Carolina and a degree in international business from INSEAD.
Imagine if you had to carry around a small box each day that generated all of the electricity you used. If you wanted to watch TV, make waffles, or use your computer, you'd have to plug your equipment into your small electricity generator.
That’s kind of a pain, right? You would have to worry about your electricity generator having enough fuel, needing maintenance and whether it could generate enough electricity to run not only your waffle maker but also your washing machine.
Fortunately, we have electric companies that generate and distribute electricity so that you can plug in your TV, your waffle maker, your computer and anything else you need without having to worry about the underlying details of electricity.
When you use a device such as a smartphone, your tablet, your laptop, or any other computer, you are typically connected to a set of services that you access over the Internet. These sets of services range from music and movie stores, to online shopping and social media, even to backing up the unique characteristics of your device, and so on. Taken in total, these services form the cloud. Just as you don't think about how electricity is generated, the cloud makes it possible for you to use a set of computing services without worrying about how those services are actually delivered to you.
Using the metaphor of electricity generation only goes so far, of course. The businesses that provide the services that make up the cloud worry about not only providing their users with enough service during times of high demand (this is often called scalability of service), but also about ease of use, security, and a host of other issues.
Examples of Cloud Service Providers
Examples that illustrate the various types of services that are available today include:
- Facebook: Facebook provides a service that allows you to connect to your friends.
- YouTube: YouTube provides a service that allows you to view videos and upload videos for others to view.
- Pandora: Pandora provides a service that allows you to listen to music tailored to your taste.
- Amazon: Amazon provides a service that allows you to shop for both digital and physical goods and services.
The Benefits of the Cloud
The benefits of the cloud are enormous and are the reason that there has been such explosive growth in the services offered from the cloud. Just a few of these benefits include: searching the web, e-mail, photo and video sharing, music sharing, and online shopping.
The Downsides of the Cloud
While the cloud is designed to offer you safe, secure, easy to use, always-on services, the reality is that each service you use carries risk. The more personal information you provide to a cloud service provider, the more risk that you have in terms of the safety and security of that personal information. There are times that you may grow frustrated with the difficulty of using a cloud service - and there are times that the services aren't available due to planned and unplanned events.
About the Author
Mark is the chief strategy / technology officer of Unitrends and has been a member of the Board of Directors since September 2009.
Prior to joining Unitrends, Mark co-founded mindAmp Corporation which provided high-technology business and software development consulting. Previously, he worked as the Senior Vice President of the Systems Management Business at Legent Corporation and thus led over one thousand marketing, product managers, project managers, and engineers in the United States and Europe. Mark left Legent after successfully helping steer the company in its acquisition by Computer Associates. Before joining Legent, Mark was a vice president at NCR Corporation where he had profit and loss responsibility for its $1.5B+ server business. In this capacity he was responsible for over fifteen hundred marketing, product management, and engineers in the United States, Europe, India, and China.
Mark earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of South Carolina and a degree in international business from INSEAD.