What The Heck Is CLOUD COMPUTING..?
I was listening to a podcast on my iPOD when the presenter method “Cloud Computing”. Then I said to myself, hey wait a minute, isn’t this the same as “Client Server Computing”? Well isn’t it?. Ok so its probably another posh name for “Client Server Computing”.
So the definition of “Cloud Computing” is this:
Cloud computing is a computing paradigm in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. This network of servers and connections is collectively known as “the cloud.” Computing at the scale of the cloud allows users to access supercomputer-level power. Using a thin client or other access point, like an iPhone, BlackBerry or laptop, users can reach into the cloud for resources as they need them. For this reason, cloud computing has also been described as “on-demand computing.”
You can get some good reading on the subject at SLATE
Cloud Computing is not the same as Client Server Computing. It may appear to be to the “client”, but definitely not to the “server”. This same mistake is made in saying that the ASP model is the same as Cloud Computing. The idea of the cloud is that I have on demand, pay as you go, computing power. I do not need to mess with a single server, or even virtual instances that I can put on a box that I own. It has everything to do with the ability to request computing power, and it is delivered. No contracts to muddle through, or sales person to call… just “Put it on my tab”.