The Fundamentals of Cloud computing
The Fundamentals of Cloud computing
Cloud computing is a phenomenon that is changing the way we use web applications and store files. The cloud describes the architecture of the internet taking the form of a cloud which is accessible to users anywhere in the world. In this paper I will explore the structure, benefits, disadvantages, examples, and the future of cloud computing.
Cloud computing is a term used to refer to internet based development and services. It is common to access content across the internet independently without reference to the underlying hosting infrastructure. The infrastructure consists of data centers that are monitored and maintained around the clock by content providers. A cloud computing platform configures, reconfigures, and provisions servers as needed. Servers in the cloud can be physical machines or virtual machines. Advanced clouds typically include other computing resources such as storage area networks (SANs), network equipment, firewall and other security devices. Cloud computing also describes applications that are extended to be accessible through the internet. Cloud computing environments support grid computing by quickly providing physical and virtual servers on which the grid applications can run. Cloud computing is different from grid computing because Grid Computing involves dividing a large task into many smaller tasks that run in parallel on separate servers. Clouds also support non grid environments, such as a three-tier Web architecture running standard or Web 2.0 applications. A cloud is more than a collection of computer resources because a cloud provides a mechanism to manage those resources. Management includes provisioning, change requests, reimaging, workload rebalancing, and monitoring cloud applications.
Cloud computing has a variety of characteristics which include shared infrastructure, dynamic provisions, network access, and managed usage. Shared...