Q: I hear the phrase “cloud computing” more and more. Can you explain what this is in simple terms? I’m going to a computer club meeting and don’t want to feel dumb.
A: In simple terms, anyone who is using a program or service that is on the Internet is participating in cloud computing. If I can paraphrase “Cloud Computing for Dummies,” the “cloud” in cloud computing can be defined as the set of hardware, networks, file storage, and services that combine to deliver computing as a service through the Internet on demand to any device. In this case a device can be a PC, iPad or smartphone among others
Here are several simple examples:
Gmail – when using this service, I can access my email from any device with a Web browser since it is in the “cloud.”
File Backup – using a service such as SugarSync, if I modify a Word document on my iPad, copies on my desktop PC and laptop are updated immediately through the Internet.
Applications – If I chose to give up Microsoft Word and use Google Docs, my Word documents would be available to me whenever I wanted them and from wherever I went provided I had cloud access (Internet access).
Some of the obvious benefits of the applications described above include cost (no need to buy software), data availability (you don’t need to be at work) and reliability (easy to recover from a hard disk crash).
Some disadvantages include slow access to data, constant Internet availability required, limited features and potential data loss if the company providing the service fails.
Many of us are already practicing some level of cloud computing. For example, if you use Yahoo Mail and your PC crashes or is stolen, you have access to your email and address list. In my case, I use an online email service and back up my important data on the cloud. I could have just as easily said that I back up my data to the Internet but cloud sounds sexier.
I don’t depend on the Internet entirely for backup; I keep several local copies as well. There are more sophisticated terms and definitions associated with cloud computing including scalability, elasticity, self-service provisioning and so on. You can pursue these topics on your own, if interested by using any of you favorite search resources up in the cloud.
Ed Schwartz is a member of the North Orange County Computer Club. To send in a question, go to edwardns.com and click the Contact Me menu. Archives of previous columns are also on the website.
