Jimmy
The hot topic in information technology is “the cloud.” You may have heard about it online, the office, or have seen it on various TV commercials. According to Wikipedia, cloud computing “refers to the provision of computational resources on demand via a computer network.” The cloud gives organizations, government entities, and even individual users that ability to use highly scalable Internet services and resources for business or personal use. Some core drivers for “cloud technology” include high-speed Internet, grid computing, utility computing, rapid/thin provisioning, clustering, and server virtualization.
Ok, so that sounds nice, but what can an individual or company expect from cloud computing?
Well, the truth is, a lot of companies are taking advantage of “cloud computing” from a service offering and marketing perspective, and companies like Amazon and Google are taking advantage of the hype!
Amazon offers a full “cloud infrastructure” that allows organizations to lease web services and virtual systems for software development and hosting.
Google has taken a different perspective on cloud computing by focusing its attention to the consumer. Google plans to propose a browser-driven operating system and computing platform that would essentially be “cloud-driven.” The Google notebook, which consists of a web-browser operating system (Google Chrome) and some utility software, allows an individual to perform all basic computer functions like browsing the web, using e-mail, or working with documents and spreadsheets.
However, all computer functions are driven by the “cloud” and various web services, so processing and storing (i.e. saved documents) are actually performed on remote systems rather than locally. Aside from having a Google account, the only true requirement to use the Google notebook is being connected to the Internet. To learn more about “cloud computing” and see Google’s vision of the technology, check out the Google Chrome OS website .
Photo Credit: How Stuff Works
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