What the Cloud Means for You
Lately we have often been hearing the terms “Cloud Computing”, “the cloud”, and “virtualization”.. What do these mean and what do they have in store for the future of the internet?
Generally speaking, there is the all encompassing term “the cloud”. The cloud is comprised of 3 services:
- Software as a service (cloud application): Consumer oriented applications where data is delivered to the end user without the user’s single machine having to do the heavy lifting, and the server’s workload is not distributed. Examples of this are Gmail, salesforce.com and Google Docs.
- Infrastructure as a service: Computer operating systems, applications and databases delivered right over the internet without having to install. They give you optimal tech support, because the Infrastructure you are handling is out in the open and ready to receive help by an IT hand.
- Platform as a service: This is for the developers. It gives them access to web based tools that aid in the development of websites. An example of this is Google’s App Engine.
Together these 3 systems work to revolutionize the way consumers, developers and business owners operates their niche.
