Computer Applications Unit B The Computing “Cloud”

What is the “Cloud?” Cloud Computing or the cloud, is an expression used to describe a variety of computing concepts that involve large numbers of computers connected in real-time over the internet. Often the phrase commonly refers to network services that appear to be provided by real hardware, but are actually virtual. The term comes from the ability to scale up or down on the fly the need for hardware without affecting the end user-much as clouds easily go up and down without much affect on us daily.

Origins of the “Cloud” The “cloud” concept started back in the 1950s, when mainframe computers couldn’t be accessed directly. In order to optimize cost, they developed a practice that allowed multiple users to share terminals in a concept called timesharing. The name of the “Cloud” itself actually seemed to appear with the internet, as a cloud was usually used to depict the early internet.

Cloud Benefits and Characteristics The Cloud is considered to exhibit the following traits: Agility Application programming interface Cost Device and Location independence Virtualization Reliability Scalability Security Maintenance

Cloud Dangers However, the Cloud has it’s detractors to the model as well… Some of the traits are: Privacy Compliance Legal (Who Owns) Security Sustainability (for the environment) Abuse

Notable Example Google Drive is perhaps one of the best known examples of cloud storage. Allowing users to create, share, and store files, Google Drive is a free Web- based suite.