What is the “cloud” and where is it taking us?

In computing these days, the term “cloud” turns up quite often. From “cloud” storage, “cloud” servers and “cloud” computing, it seems that the cloud is the place to be. If you haven’t heard of the term, or even if you have, what is the cloud, and what does it mean for the average person? 

The cloud is nothing new. It has been around for quite some time, but it has been given a new name. It mostly has to do with services on the internet. In recent times, your favourite online game or that important website for your business sat on one location, in one physical box. But having all your eggs in one basket can sometimes be risky, or costly to set up. To get around this issue, that same game or website is not put on one machine, but rather strung out across multiple. If one of them happens to break, another one picks up the slack, and it makes little or no difference to you. 

But what impact does it have on you or your business? Think about where you store your email. These days, your email may not necessarily sit on one machine here in Australia. It may be on two or more, and even possibly a few extra in the US. For some, this can be daunting, as their information they consider private, and don’t want it to be travelling around the world and back. For others, this is a great benefit, as you can easily access your information from any computer, anywhere. And it’s not just your information or storage these days. The increased reliability you get from the cloud means you can do other things with it as well. You can also have “cloud” office applications, so you can perform word processing from your phone or laptop, even going to the point of having a “virtual desktop” where the same applications you access on one computer can then be available on others. 

For the average person, you can then share your photos and videos on any device, not just at home. And for most businesses, this means you can better share your documents between people in the office, leading to greater collaboration and productivity. Whether you consider it good or bad, the cloud offers great flexibility, and whether you gain the benefits of it or not depends on how you use it. 

If you need more information, or want to know how you can gain the benefits of the cloud, feel free to call your local IT expert.