Introduction of Cloud Computing

Question

Explain the term Cloud Computing?

Answer 1

We currently live in what truly can be termed as the “Age of Technology”. We are living in the world where technology is surrounding us from everywhere. Whatever we see, whatever we use, everything is the creation of technology. Technology has always been intertwined with society’s development but never before in history has technology been so visibly linked to improvements in standards of living. The human aspiration for a better and ease in living conditions as well as better facilities in work places increasingly depends upon the technology and its effects. Only because of technology, our world is developing at a phenomenal rate. Technology’s pace and scope of change are having profound effects on every human institution.

Information Technology (IT) has brought about a major breakthrough in the technological luxuries being used. We are experiencing a revolutionary change in the IT industry.  With the advancement in Information Technology, wide range of possibilities has made their presence felt within the working conditions. It has helped in the economic prosperity for countries, industries and business. The wealth that it has created is worth mentioning.  Clearly, the application of latest IT solutions is a key to success in the competitive global economy. The advancement of IT has expanded the amount of information available in the world. This has created an explosion of knowledge and brought about further dramatic progress in technology. (Mustafee, 2010, 675) The capacity of information processing has been continuously increasing. According to Gordon Moore, one of the co-founders of Intel Corporation has forecasted that microchips will double in power and halve in price every 18 months. The prediction has not been proved wrong till date.

With the advancement in Internet technologies, the revolutionary effect of IT has tripled its pace. Internet has transformed the entire globe into a colony where anybody can reach anyone or anything with only one click. Processing and Sharing of data within the organization, within different organizations have been so easy now. It also acts as a gigantic library which can provide any information within fraction of seconds.

Effective utilization of internet facilities and rapid development in the field of information technology has made people able to work from clouds (place with internet facility). The era of personal computer is fading with the advancement in work environment around clouds. (Wessels, 2005, pp. 101) No more tension of carrying a laptop everywhere we go either to deliver a presentation or for a meeting, the cloud will take care of it. This has introduced a new advancement in technology called Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing refers to the bringing of computing as a service and not as a product where all the information and data, software, shared resources etc. are delivered to the computers present at different locations as utility over a network (internet). (Thomas, 2011, 218) The friendly user interface and its reach is the key to its increasing popularity all over the world. It can be accessed from anywhere just with the help of a browser or even through a mobile application. It is very light in weight and provides uninterrupted connection with the shared data. The shared resources are stored at remote servers.