What is Cloud Computing Useful for?
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is running programs on internet servers like Google Docs, Gmail, webmail, Facebook and other websites instead of running them on your home computer. Your files like photos, videos, documents, and other file types are also stored on a web server. YouTube, Facebook, and Google Docs are a great example of cloud computing in action. You use YouTube, Facebook, and Google Docs to store your files to keep private, share with select users, or share with everyone on the web based on your privacy settings. You do not have to worry about how much space your files used up on their website, the reliability of the server, and other settings since YouTube, Facebook, and Google Docs does a great job at keeping its website secure, fast, and reliable, so the average user does not have to care about the technicalities, and just use the website for its intended purpose which can include creating and sharing files, video, documents, music, and other file types. You can also access your files from any computer with an internet connection and a web browser since your files are safely stored on the web, and in most cases you can export and download your files for safe keeping on your own computer, so you have one copy on your account like YouTube, and another copy on your computer.
Cloud computing is free for consumers in many cases when you use Google Docs, DropBox, Microsoft Office 365, ZoHo Office, and other free cloud services. For companies, Cloud computing can be more inexpensive to maintain, and run since companies only pay for the resources they need, or want instead of buying expensive licenses, servers, desktops, and storage devices to run and store all their files, programs, and work. The staff at the cloud provider the company is subscribe to provides all the technical support. Software as a Service or SaaS is another name for cloud computer. Cloud computing programs are services instead of programs installed on a web server at your cloud program provider. All you need is a web browser and a internet connection to go to a website like Google Docs to run an application to type a document. When you are done, you can export or download it back to your computer for safe keeping. The programs on your cloud provider also do not cause problems with your programs on your actual computer since they are isolated from your computer via the web. You can even customize your cloud programs to suit your needs in some case instead of developing your own tweaks, and mods for your own programs which can be very costly if you were to hire a programmer. You also do not have to worry about computer hardware incompatibility, or upgrades making your applications unusable like traditional desktop software since cloud programs like Google Docs work on web browsers, so you do not have to constantly update your computer to use the latest version of a cloud program.
What is Cloud Computing Useful for?
Cloud Computing is useful for office work, home work, entertainment, and inexpensive computer gaming. There are a lot of popular cloud based office suites like Google Docs, Microsoft Office 365, and Zoho office which let you easily type out documents, presentations, spreadsheets, charts, and other document types for homework, or the office. All these cloud office suites I listed work very similar to traditional office suites which you install on a computer hard drive, but they all work for any operating system like Windows, Mac, and Linux based operating system like Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSuse, etc. All you need is a web browser like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, or Opera to use them. Webmail like Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail are also popular cloud applications. They all have web based spam filters to help you filter out spam messages, and you do not need to download and install a program to your computer to access your e-mail, and write e-mail. Facebook, YouTube, UStream, BlogTV, Ustream, and Google Voice are cloud based applications which help people chat with each other via the web by using Websites. Cloud Computing is now becoming a entertainment streaming provider with services like NetFlix, Hulu, YouTube, Spotify, Amazon and other streaming sites which stream video to your home computer, game consoles, smart cell phones, and devices when you subscribe to these services, or for free if you are using Netflix. Onlive is a cloud based game streaming company which stream games to your home computer, and let slower computers play newer games because the game processing is done on their server, and streamed to you to play. You also do not have to worry about lack of disk storage, too slow computer hardware, and other problems when you stream games to your computer. Cloud computing makes it possible for companies like NetFlix, Hulu, Spotify, Onlive, and other companies to provide a huge amount of movies, music, and games to be streamed to the user for a small price, or for free in some cases because it is ad supported like YouTube.