What is cloud computing? Why is it used and for what purposes?

[AjayGohil]

Hello,

please explain cloud computing in simple terms and real-life example of cloud computing.and what is the purpose cloud computing.

[dev7060]

That's a quite broad term. How about using the interwebs and then discussing the parts you're having difficulty understanding?

[Banfa]

In the simplest of terms cloud computing is just the next step on from virtualisation.

If a company is running a virtualisation stack then basically it has separated the requirement for services and systems from the requirement for hardware so it will have a large hardware virtualisation resource with multiple processors large amounts of ram and disk space. Then as required it creates virtual machines on the hardware stack for specific services or in some cases to provide machines.

The problem here is that if the company runs out of space on its hardware stack for all the services and machines it wishes to stand up it needs to go through the normally long and costly processes of acquiring new hardware.

Cloud computing solves this problem by removing the hardware from the company entirely, a third party (e.g. Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Adobe etc) provides the hardware and the company effectively rents space to stand-up servers and services in the cloud without every owning the hardware. This has a couple of advantages, no hardware maintenance or up-grade costs and you can always get more if you need it. In fact the you can always get more is built into some of the contracts so that if the demand for you service spikes the could service will automatically stand up extra instances of your service to handle the demand and stand them back down when the spike is over, you only get charged for what you are using when you are using it.

This has now come full circle with companies like Microsoft selling their cloud platform so that if you don't like the idea of a cloud on someone else's servers you can set-up your own private cloud on your own hardware.

This is where terms such as Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) come from, in all cases you are not buying any actual hardware by you are buying a service that makes a virtual implementation of hardware available to you.

[Naheedmir]

Cloud computing is where a firm uses someone else computing services instead of running that software on their computers. Like instead of each house using their own full-time car mechanic, dentist, and plumber, we put these people in a centralized location, and people shared their services.

[SwissProgrammer]

I agree, mostly, with Banfa and Naheedmir.

You asked, "please explain cloud computing in simple terms":

1. Mostly it is meant as using someone else's computer.
2. Sometimes it is meant as using one of your own computers which is set aside for things like data storage, etc.
3. Almost always, when using someone else's computer, no matter what the cloud supplier says, it is extremely anti-secure. Meaning that YOU the user must encrypt the data that you are sending to that someone else's computer before you send it to them. The security is totally your responsibility. No amount of advertising by or for the cloud supplier can change that.

You asked: "real-life example of cloud computing":

Macy's department store might use a contracted cloud computer system for an intermediate line-item purchase data exchange. A customer might be purchasing a pair of shoes and thus at the point-of-sale transaction desk the local POS terminal computer scans in the bar code. The bar code is either sent interpreted or directly to a contracted cloud computing system. The contracted cloud computing system then works with inventory control data and updates ordering conditions, etc. The contracted cloud computer then might update other systems, thus allowing Macy's to have access to almost immediate inventory counts.

You asked: "what is the purpose cloud computing":

• If it is a contracted external computing system, then unless it is completely within a non-profit or not-for-profit situation, it is "for profit." Not for your benefit. For profit. Not for your ease of use. For profit. Only and strictly for profit. Some kind of profit, some way, some how, for profit.
• If it is an internal, and only internal, computing system then it can be for various data, etc.

[Riya Bajpai]

Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources(eg. storage, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. cloud Computing is used so that one can utilize computing through network from any device and any location without purchasing sophisticated computing resources. eg. Gmail, Google docs, Google drive etc.

[tmudgal16]

What is cloud computing?

Cloud Computing means storing and accessing the data and programs over the internet instead of your
computer's hardrive.

Why is it used and for what purposes?

• Software as a Service (SaaS) allows users to access and use software applications, such as email, word processing, and customer relationship management, through the internet, without having to install the software on their own computer.

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provides organizations with the ability to rent computing resources, such as servers, storage, and networking, rather than having to buy and maintain their own physical infrastructure. .

• Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides a platform for developers to create, deploy, and manage applications and services, without having to worry about the underlying infrastructure. .

The use of cloud computing has become increasingly popular due to its cost-effectiveness, scalability, and convenience.

[Hemanshu011]

Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the cloud, using the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. By providing users with the flexibility of accessing and storing data and applications remotely, eliminating most or all hardware that would normally be positioned at your local site.

Cloud computing is employed for different reasons—data storage, application development, and running massively parallel processing tasks. Famous for its flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, the cloud has made it easier than ever before to scale resources on demand and leverage advanced technology which would otherwise require a high upfront investment.