What is this “Cloud” thing anyways?
The “cloud” has become a bit of a mystical computer buzzword lately. Commercials extolling the virtues of the “cloud” are in vogue, and the catchphrase “To the cloud!” seems to be gaining in popularity. Yet, there is still quite a bit of confusion about what the cloud actually is and how, exactly, it got there. The Online Alarm Clock uses this cutting-edge technology for the benefit of our users, yet many of our users are not fully aware of the benefits the cloud provides and why it is such an incredibly useful tool.
While it is common knowledge that the “cloud” refers to something somewhere out there on the internet, there is much more to the cloud than the mystical impression of data residing on fluffy white clouds in the sky that this idea tends to create. While the cloud does not reside in a single physical location, there is a lot of physical technology involved in its development and usage, and it is not floating about mystically on servers in the physical clouds above.
The nomenclature of “cloud computing” is actually derived from the way the architecture of the internet is usually depicted in technical documentation. Traditionally, network engineers would document internal networks in fairly great detail. Servers, routers, pcs and other pieces of the internal network are meticulously labeled and documented to ensure all pieces of the network will fit together and actually function. When it came to documenting the internet connectivity between two sites, this level of documentation and detail simply wasn’t needed by the engineers involved.
The engineers really didn’t need to worry about what happened between sites, they were just concerned with how the sites were set up internally for that communication, and they often were not privy to the intricate details of those outside networks to begin with. Thus, the internet connection in this documentation would often be depicted by the shape of a fluffy cloud. This cloud shape became a universally recognized symbol for a network that the engineer did not have direct responsibility for. Why a cloud? Well, it’s partially a play on words. The details of the networks that the engineers had no control over were “cloudy.” The cloud symbol eventually became a standard symbol for the internet, and then became the namesake of cloud computing.
Cloud computing is also known as “software as a service,” or SaaS, and it has evolved as a way to help increase access to data and technology while overcoming obstacles due to physical limitations or infrastructure access and costs. The cloud provides a solution to being limited to a specific location or having to acquire expensive technology to make data or technology available for remote users. Basically, the cloud makes it so that applications and data are accessible via the internet, no matter where a person may roam.
Before the cloud, if an important document was saved on a computer, a person would need access to that computer in order to use the document. If the computer was inaccessible due to physical limitations or even more dire circumstances, like the computer crashing, then that document would be unavailable. When looking to access that document, there was a single point of failure – the computer that it resided on. As technology advanced, people began storing data on beefy computers which were designed as giant storage containers. These “servers” would then provide users with the data or documents they desired. However, there were still limitations and a single point of failure. The access to that data was limited by the availability of the server and the accessibility of the network that the server resided on. If the network or server went down or was not available remotely, users could no longer access that document and the network or server became a single point of failure.
As the internet grew and evolved the value of being able to store data, and even applications, where it could be reached by users without requiring access to a specific server or network became more apparent. A simple example of successful early cloud computing would be photo sharing sites. A user could put a photo online from any pc by logging into the sharing website and uploading the photo to the sites server. Then, the photo could be accessed by any other computer, and access to the pc that originally stored the photo was not needed in order to view the picture. The photo now resided in the “cloud.”
This concept had great value for users and quickly caught the attention of businesses. Users who stored data on the cloud did not have to invest in servers and other IT infrastructure, yet they could still access their files from anywhere they chose to. From a business perspective, this could yield incredible cost savings while increasing the mobility of employees. The cloud began then began to gain traction as a way for businesses to “outsource” the cost of having to buy expensive servers and the many other components of IT infrastructure which are needed to support basic remote accessibility functions. By storing data in the cloud, employees could access files and documents without needing physical or VPN access to the company’s internal network.
Cloud Computing Rocks !!!
As the success of this concept became more widespread, the idea of using the cloud for more than just data storage arose. It has become possible to not only store documents in the cloud, but to also use software that resides solely in the cloud to create those documents as well. With traditional software, an application would need to be installed on a specific pc to be used. If a user wanted to use that application from another computer, they would either have to install the software there as well or wait until they could access the original computer again before using the software. By using cloud-based software, or Software as a Service, people no longer needed to download and install applications on the hard drive of their pc in order to utilize it.
For example, OnlineClock.net can be used by anyone who opens the webpage, and nothing needs to be installed locally on a pc to use the application. It appears as a website to the end-user while still retaining the full functionality of an application. By residing in the cloud, Online Alarm Clock is accessible by people no matter where they are physically located, or which PC they are using.
While this convenience is usually enough to get end-users onboard, the benefits of cloud computing extend far beyond increased accessibility. As applications have been able to move to the cloud, many companies have been able to migrate from software based solutions, which often also required expensive hardware, to solutions that they do not need to physically “touch.” The servers which host cloud applications and data are typically hosted by large companies which specialize in cloud-based hosting (such as the cloud-based hosting used by OnlineClock.net). This provides many valuable benefits in many different aspects.
First, there is the direct equipment based costs, which span in a few different directions. One of the obvious savings methods come in the form of needing fewer servers and lower costs related to maintaining the servers and providing user access to them. The other direction that often gets overlooked is the savings it allows on pcs. With traditional software based applications, there was a constant battle to keep systems above the bare minimum requirements needed to run that software. Computers had to be upgraded continuously to meet the expanding hard drive, memory and CPU requirements of the software programs.
With cloud computing, the brunt of this battle has lost its immediate urgency. The software doesn’t need to be installed locally, so hard drives don’t fill as quickly. Additionally, cloud based applications are designed to be lightweight and function over the internet. For end users, this translates into software that doesn’t require computer hardware that is cutting-edge and continuously being upgraded.
The benefits don’t stop at the equipment savings; they extend even into the realm of staffing and support needs. With the cloud, the applications are hosted offsite. This means companies no longer need to hire IT staff to be onsite 24/7. The cloud-hosting company has trained staff who monitor the equipment and can react to emergency situations with confidence and competency. For the end-user, this translates into higher uptime for cloud based applications and data. Obviously, having near-perfect uptime is incredibly important to us at OnlineClock.net, and that’s why we use a cloud hoster! While outages may still happen on occasion, cloud based applications and data are usually redundantly available and downtime is extremely brief due to the 24/7 nature of the hosting sites.
Overall, these aspects combine to make cloud-based applications incredibly accessible without taxing user pcs needlessly.
The cloud creates an exciting venue for developers and users alike, making it possible to access both data and applications from anywhere, at any time. By using cloud computing, OnlineClock.net is able to offer an application that is always available without imposing limitations on its users. It does not matter which computer you access our online alarm clock from or even where you are physically accessing it from.
OnlineClock.net is able to remain accessible and ready for use without limitations, for we truly are…the Clock in the Cloud!
The Alarm Clock in The Cloud is a post from: Alarm Clock Blog, the official blog of the original Online Alarm Clock.
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