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What exactly is cloud computing?

February 21, 2017

Nowadays we don’t only deal with notions that in fact we do not grasp, but we managed to be proficient in these technologies. One of the most frequent modern tech we interact with daily is cloud computing. Have you ever wondered what the digital cloud really is? Who coined its name and what it all has to do with nature’s clouds?

Let’s imagine a hypothetical answer to the simple, yet intricate demand: “Tell me what cloud is”.

How did cloud computing begin?

Cloud computing apparently began with Ethernet. In 1982 IBM launched the Ethernet adapter card. It made faster and inexpensive connections possible, and it laid down the foundations for cloud operations. If we are to refine this landmark, Xerox developed the Ethernet in the mid to late 70s, as a new family of computer networking technologies. What IBM released was the necessary PC adapter card. This evolved over time into what we have embedded in our computers today. Previously, the RJE (Remote Job Entry) concept was lay with IBM and other large vendors. This provided the opportunity to design and test better hardware that would enable remote operations.

In the 90s such systems continuously perfected, with the help of military R&D. Cloud as a term entered the scene. The common feature was not the fact that clouds dominate the skies or that rain pours out of them. It all has more to do with the fact that clouds form around a certain core-point. In a similar way, Ethernet services gravitate around physical hardware centers. Cloud computing covered both servers and the network infrastructure.

From here on, cloud computing steadily progressed into becoming the commodity service we all are familiar with today. In 1999 Salesforce appeared, in 2007 it was the time for Dropbox. Government agencies and military developers played an important and constant role in expanding the related computer capabilities.

Who named it cloud computing, after all?

In what the credit for the term is concerned, George Favaloro of Compaq first consecrated it in 1996. An equally credited author is professor Ramnath Chellappa, professor at th University of Texas. He employed the term in a computer-related talk in 1997.

From here on, cloud computing steadily progressed into becoming the commodity service we all are familiar with today.

Besides the actual data storage, cloud computing also includes all accessibility-related technological developments.

What is cloud computing?

In what users are concerned, cloud computing represents the “practice of storing programs or data in a distributed fashion on a network, rather than on a single PC”.

The related storage system evolved into enhancing its rapidity capacities. Data is broken into small pieces, distributed in a variety of servers, in view of fast retrieval upon request. In fact, the customer does not now where his/her data physically is, nor does he/she need to know. Users are associated with virtual accounts, and they can access them from wherever they are, as long as they log in. Thus data becomes portable. More accurately, the data remains stored in an indeterminate server, while its owners are able to access it from wherever they want.

Going back to the clouds’ quality of floating above something or surrounding a certain central point, cloud computing enables companies to easily provide services outside their geographical location.

Is cloud as simple as breaking down this notion makes it seem?

When taking a look at the simplified description of cloud computing, it seems we have to do with an improved storage system. Deconstructing data into pieces, hosting the pieces in various servers and reconstructing it upon customer request, cloud computing may look like a next-gen storage technology. However, it evolved into more than this by developing internal structures that allow complex operations.

Developers are able to use cloud as a space for deploying their sometimes vast operations. The used space thus expands and retracts upon need. There is also the question of cloud data, which apparently is extremely hard (if not impossible) to delete from the point of view of any standard client. As an user, one may command data deletion. Data is no longer available for the person who issued the command, yet is is still present in the cloud – somewhere.

Cloud operators also refined the notion into various sub-categories, in relation with the services provided. We have PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service) as main categories. We have Public Cloud, Private Cloud and Hybrid Cloud. And these various sub-notions in turn interact, establishing overlapping areas.

In conclusion, cloud is far from simple, and its future looks even more complex, with the perspective of IoT counting on even more data. All this data will travel through and be lodged into the cloud, as a flexible and dynamic emanation of servers and data centers.

And for a last nugget of wisdom – “Storage virtualization is also known as cloud storage”.