My Head is in the Clouds

Cloud Computing is the new buzzword on the Internet but what is it? I'm just starting to really appreciate the beauty of it myself. It simply means that no matter where you are in the world and no matter what time it is, if you want to access your stuff, you can and from any compatible device. All of the business processes,  computing infrastructure, computing power, applications and personal collaboration can be delivered to you as a service wherever and whenever you need. Your stuff is always floating above you in a cloud. This is the wave of the future as indicated by the biggest companies and corporations adapting to this technology.

Cloud Computing takes the burden off of the end-user and runs everything on the back-end from a server. As the Internet has grown so has the need to process and handle the large amounts of data and information being accessed. Mobile computing and Telecommuting have benefited too as a result of the technology that is available now through the cloud platform.
With Cloud computing a Smart phone is now a PC. A Tablet is a Workstation because the applications can run independently of the device in cloud computing. The process resembles the office setup that has a main server running all applications and processes and all of the employees just have monitors and keyboards. If one employees monitor or keyboard breaks, the data and applications are still accessible through another device, its always there waiting to be accessed. 

If your daughter is working on a homework project on the home computer, you can still access your work files and applications through the "cloud".
The power and versatility of this new method of running and storing everything in a central location and accessing it from anywhere, anytime has opened up the Internet to even deeper possibilities and inspired innovation in a number of areas including application development. The benefits of cloud computing are many but here are a few.

• Cloud Computing uses the ISP model by providing everything the user needs in the way of software, storage, memory, processes, etc through the service provider on demand.
• Expandable and customizable to user demand. For the developer Cloud Computing allows for the adjustment of resource allocation based on user demand.
• For companies faced with the challenge of increasing IT productivity and effectiveness with saving money, the scalable design of the custom cloud infrastructure for a particular company can minimize overspending and wasted technology.
• The power of running an application that is not on your device is nothing new but the success of Cloud Computing technologies being so well integrated into the mainstream user experience is. You have the same power through the cloud that you would sitting at your computer
• The system can be built on several platforms such as public or private or both providing customizable access for specific networks within a company or IT department, or allowing access by the general public as a service or through an ISP. IBM would be a "private" cloud infrastructure, Amazon and Google would be "public" cloud infrastructures and Sprint would be a combination of both public and private cloud infrastructure providing both internal processes for company operations and external services to their mobile subscribers

I just love the fact that the Internet has been reborn again with all that is taking place with Cloud Computing, HTML5, WebM and OGG formatting. To me the Internet was getting stagnant. Not in terms of research which it will always be awesome for, but for general use. I think the timing of Smart Phone and Tablet technology and Cloud Computing have contributed to the overhaul of the web. 

I don't believe they planned it this way but I'm sure they are happy about the direction the web is going. So many resources have been freed up because of cloud technology that it is allowing for a better use of resources by service providers and that means better services and capability for the end user.

Written by
Allan Whitney
Owner/Administrator
MindVisionMedia.net