Cloun Coumputing

                                      AN INTRODUCTION TO CLOUD COMPUTING


The most happenin topic these days is CLOUD COMPUTING.Google’s chief executive Eric
Schmidt publicly uttered the term‘cloud computing’in
2006. Since then the term has taken technology by a storm.Cloud computing is all the rage now.“It’s become thephrase du jour,” says Gartner’s senior analyst Ben Pring,echoing many others.

To different people there seems to be a different definition of cloud computing. An appropriate definition ,how ever, i s“ Internet-based computing where shared resources,software and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like the electricity grid.”

example

Cloud  computing is a harmonised  technology with scalable business policies.It is a versatile and flexible application of the Internet that promises to offer services like that of cloud or sky: anytime, anywhere, by using the Internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications.Consumers and businesses can use applications without installing any server or software.
Consider examples of hotmail.com, yahoo.com or gmail.com where no installation of server or software is
required. all you need to access them is an Internet connection.:)  The alongside figure shows a good example of cloud computing.


               Benefits of cloud computing

One of the strongest appeals of cloud computing is its ability to contract with an Internet provider for accessing the huge amount of unused or underused computational resources to deliver an amazing ‘bang for the buck’ computing platform with very little capital expenditure but a high-bandwidth link or having to manage information and
communication technology (ICT) infrastructure



A Web definition best suited to the objective of cloud computing is that “It refers to a computing system
in which tasks are assigned through a combination of connections, service and software over a network. This collection of connections is known as ‘the cloud.’ Computing at this level allows users to sort through a vast amount of data. For example, Google is currently the forerunner of cloud computing due to its need to produce accurate and instant results for millions of search queries it receives every day."


Components of cloud

Cloud computing is broken down into three segments:  applications, platforms and infrastructure. Each

EXAMPLE OF COMPONENTS

segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world. Software as a Service (SaaS) optimises cost and resources, Platform as a Service (PaaS) creates, deploys and secures applications and services, and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) selects and commissions a computing infrastructure as a fully outsourced service.Refer the the example shown in image



Way forward
Whether cloud computing is a hype or hope, that’s yet to be ascertained. The challenge is to provide services quickly and cost-effectively.  also in the race are technologies like cluster and grid computing. The three technologies, however, are not fairly distinguishable and which one will emerge as
the winner is not clear. Cloud computing is not immune to risks and ethical objections, but the
fact is that it promises big changes.Leonard Kleinrock, one of the chief scientists at Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) that paved the way for today’s Internet, said in 1969, “as of now, computer networks are still in their infancy, but as they grow up and become sophisticated, we will probably see the spread of ‘computer utilities’ which, like present electric and telephone utilities, will service individual homes and offices across the country.” This vision of the computing utility is taking shape with cloud computing. If the recent market research is any indication, cloud computing may become a billion dollar market by 2012. So we can say that the Internet industry is on the Cloud!



Referencs

http://www.electronicsforu.com/EFYLinux/efyhome/cover/April2011/Cloud-Computing_Apr%2711.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
http://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Cloud_Computing