Essay about Cloud Computing

Submitted By indigoz
Words: 1784
Pages: 8

Cloud Computing
June 3, 2013

Table of Contents

What is cloud computing?
History of Cloud Computing
3 Forms of Cloud Computing
Types of Cloud Computing
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
References

Cloud computing is a hot topic in the field of information technology. Starting as early as the 1990s, cloud computing has made its way onto the techno-grid and has expanded into a vision that has captured the attention of both large and small businesses alike. Cloud computing gives access to applications with great speed and innovation, with a hefty reduction to cost, while allowing businesses to see continuum of sales growth. Not everyone is familiar with cloud computing and not everyone can understand it, but it’s here, and it’s only going to get bigger and better.

What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud is the latest hype in the IT market, but, in contrary to other hyped initiatives, the cloud is actually happening. (BCS, 2012. p.15). Many people really don’t understand what cloud computing really is. The first you think about is a cloud in the sky, but then where does the computing come in? Well, it’s the ability to use computerized resources, which are provided through the internet. In short you get to do business right from your home, or wherever you are http://synergy.gs/Solutions/CloudServices and at any time. You can make travel arrangements, purchase movie tickets, download music, watch videos, or even check you bank balance. All this can be done wherever you have access to the internet. “The cloud is simply a metaphor for the internet, based on the symbol (a Cloud) used to represent the worldwide network in computer network diagrams.” (Infraserv, 2011).

History of Cloud Computing
Before there was the cloud, suppliers provided services to customers via internet-enabled computers. That was known as Application Service Provision (ASP) and was originally the platform of IT service. The ASP configuration failed, due to the difficulty of installation and configuration. It also only provided software on a one-on-one basis, rather than the one-on-many, which is the basis of cloud computing. The ASP also lacked the greatest asset of all, the capability to adjust per the consumer’s needs. (BCT, 2012.)
In the early 1990s, telecommunication companies only offered what is known as “point-to-point data circuits” to customers. After a few years, they began to offer “virtual private network services. This allowed the telcom companies to provide the same quality of service at a fraction of the cost, as they were able to optimize resource utilization in order to improve the efficiency of their overall bandwidth.” By the late 1990s, some businesses gained “better understanding of cloud computing and its usefulness”, and how it could help them improve, providing service to customers. The learned just how customers could access applications through the internet’s access to their company; this was by purchasing “service on a cost-effective on-demand basis”. In the early years of the 21st Century, “Salesforce.com brought a new concept to the world’s attention, and Amazon.com proved it could outlast the dot-com bubble burst with the introduction of its web-based retail services in 2002. Amazon realized that the new cloud computing infrastructure model could allow them to use their existing capacity with much greater efficiency.” By 2006, Google had joined the cloud world, and launched the application of Google Docs services, this offered “document sharing” to all their users, while on the cloud. (Castle, 2012).
3 Forms of Cloud Computing
Being on the cloud allows three types of sharing: public, private, and hybrid. In the public formation, resources are available through “off-site third-part providers”. Customers will usually be billed based on their usage of the offered resources. On the private cloud formation, “also referred to as ‘corporate’ or ‘internal’ Cloud, is a term used to denote a