I've been seeing the buzz about cloud computing all over the net. But I still don't have a clue just what it is all about.

I don't think I'm completely stupid, but I just haven't been able to get a handle on what this term refers to.

Would one or more of you genius' on this forum be willing, and able to lay it out here in laymans terms so I can understand what it really is?

Don't try to thrill me with technical terms, cause I wouldn't know any more after reading it than I do now, just be plain with your explanation as if your writing for a neophite.

Thanks for your genius.

Webintel

I think they are referring to a trends where people have become more interested in their ideas and online presence rather than the software or hardware which runs it.

Web property has always been "virtual"... perhaps cloud computing is a return to that concept?

Essentially... bare bones hosting accounts can now allow a user to transfer gigabytes where once they could only transfer megabytes.

Storage and Hardware costs continue to come down.

With the advent of open source software, piracy, ect... Software is basically worth nothing.

It is your presence, service and ideas which matter... Is this what you mean?

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James Weisbrod - programmer

I have looked into this... It appears to be development platforms based on SAAS models...

Compare website design software to Sitemasher's website cms builder.

Let me be the first to say that a client will ask you for any number of things which this particular "Cloud Computing" platform simply does not offer...

Unless you're programming... You will hit brick walls with what you can and cannot do...

SaaS is a good model for people wanting to run a business without worrying about hosting, development, design ect...

However... This particular Cloud Computing platform I have referenced appears to be another re-invention of the wheel.

Certainly notable since they have moved dreamweaver from the desktop to the web... But it is nothing more. It does have an easy form wizard... Now try and make that form "Do" anything...

Cloud Computing is the next buzz word... I believe the last one which came along was MashUps...


To be fair... it is Content Management Hosting...

Based on the pricing model...

1 to 5 users: $39/mo per user Additional users after first 5: $35/mo per user

It appears to be a web design educational institute too...


Either that... or they are microsoft resellers...

"ASP.NET and extensibility. Flexibility to create and use custom applications or widgets with ASP.NET user controls for your site."



It's probably a good choice for alot of people... A little more expensive if it's Microsoft based...

This is a more philosophical/practical argument over .Net and Open Source software...

LAMP or .NET

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James Weisbrod - programmer

Cloud computing is Internet (cloud) based development and use of computer technology (computing), whereby dynamically scalable virtualised resources are provided as a service over the internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure (the cloud) that supports them.

Thats the simplified definition from Wikipedia.

In traditional computing, you have a computer or server that hosts your data and applications. Your access to and use of that data and software is limited to the capabilities of the host system. When you switch to cloud computing, your data and applications are spread out across multiple systems. Let me give a practical example.

Right now, you probably work on a Windows XP or Windows Vista computer. These operating systems follow the traditional computing model. Imagine you have two such computers networked together. Lets say you load a memory and processor intensive application on your computer. As the computer's resources are maxed out, your application slows down, while the other computer sits idle. It might have files stored on it that your computer may access, but thats it. The other computer can't assist you in completing whatever tasks you are working on.

Now, lets say both computers are running Windows 7, which is a cloud computing operating system, and you load that same intensive application. Assuming that application is able to be run in a cloud environment, once the host computer is maxed, the application will go out on the cloud and start using the available, unused resources of other computers on the cloud.

Basically, what you get is the ability to share not only data, but resources such as processor cycles and memory, over the network. You are essentially combining the components of your network into one computing entity, the cloud. At this point, as far as the applications and data are concerned, they no longer exist on "computer1" or "fileserver2" - the cloud is a single computing entity.

Some examples of cloud networks are SETI@home, BitTorrent, Skype, Google Apps, Google Search Engine(?), Microsoft Office Live, Facebook

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Related thread:

Computing::: Grid and cloud.

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When you see a picture of 2 networks connected through the Internet the customary illustration of the Internet was a cloud. so, any computing done on the Internet is cloud computing. Google apps, Facebook, WebPro World.

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In dumbed down terms (dumbed down for me not you) I understand Cloud computing to be simply: Sticking the information and everything else online...

so like google apps is a great example of cloud computing, you create the doc online collegues can be invited to collaborate etc.... it doesn't exist in the real world. Also using online bookmark sites instead of my favourites is keeping it in the cloud. keeping your photos on picasaweb or flickr instead of on your hard drive is another example.

Anyway that's how I've kinda got my head around the concept.. I know it reaches far further than that... live office etc. but I think that's kinda what it's about.

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Ron Boyd
website consulting (design, optimization, marketing) :: Follow Me: @orionsweb

I might be obvious but... If what ever your placing "into the cloud" is not behind your domain name when it's published...

It's a wasted effort. You still need a domain name otherwise your virtual property is worthless towards your long and short term brand name recognition, presence and marketing efforts.

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James Weisbrod - programmer

Perfect, Down to Earth Explaination.
You are da man

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Hi,
Some good examples here, but from a business perspective there's also lots of opportunities in cloud computing. Some of them are free, they're scalable, no new licenses for updates, easy and flexible to test/integrate to your daily work flow. So i'd say the buzz has gone inte real opportunities.

The sentiment is shared by Richard Stallman - Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder | Technology | guardian.co.uk.

In the broadest way, cloud computing may be defined all the computing processes carried out outside the firewall - and it's really a good question whether it can be considered good or bad.

This one's just for fun: Office OFFline Comic Strip : Reader-submitted comic #34.

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