Cloud Computing Simplified

The term cloud computing has been increasingly used in computer and Web-related ta
lk, but what exactly does it mean? The ideas behind cloud computing likely origi
nated in the 1960s when figures, such as John McCarthy, expressed the opinion th
at computer use may someday be used in a fashion similar to that of public utili
ties. In the standard Web services schema, if you wanted to rent file storage sp
ace for example, you would have to come up with an estimation of how much storag
e space you actually need so that you dont a) end up paying for more space than y
ou use, or b) end up exceeding your space needs and having to go through the has
sle of upgrading to a more expensive plan. This standard schema is applied to ma
ny services that can be rendered over the Web, from hosting for a website to you
r phones data plan, and is still in use today. Cloud computing seeks to make this
an obsolete business model by providing users with plans under which they pay f
or exactly what they use, no more and no less. This is very similar to the way i
n which we pay for public utilities. In essence, cloud computing is the use of t
echnology that offers resources and services over the Web in a manner in which a
clients use can be tracked, thus allowing the client to pay for exactly what the
y use without having to worry about different plans, scalability, etc.
What Cloud Hosting Brings to the Table
Besides providing the obvious benefit of not causing a client to examine differe
nt hosting plans and upgrading or downgrading at the appropriate time, companies
that offer cloud hosting really bring something magical to the table when it co
mes to scalability. Imagine youre starting a business on the Web. Not only will y
ou need hosting for your site, but you may also need storage space for your file
s, dedicated servers, and to have the ability for your business to scale upwards
if it is a success. The last thing you want is for your business site to be dow
n because it was so successful that the data limits of your current hosting plan
were exceeded. With cloud hosting, scalability is never an issue; as your busin
ess expands and necessitates the use of more resources from your hosting company
, you will automatically be given these resources and charged for exactly what y
ou use without having to worry about your data usage. Likewise, if your business
is not as successful as you may have hoped, you will not be over-charged by any
expensive plans you may have over-optimistically purchased.
To learn more about some of the top cloud hosting services available, or to sign
up for cloud hosting today, please visit the following links:
http://www.rackspace.com/
http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/
http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/trends/cloud/index.html