Today I am going to start my Cloud 101 blog posts. In this section I will cover all the main Cloud questions so, in time, this site should become a repository of all basic Cloud lessons. I will include links to important upcoming events and also show you where free beneficial online training can be found.
So to start at the beginning: What Is Cloud?
Using the term Cloud to refer to computing services really took off in 2006 as Amazon started to sell access to the computing power that they used to manage the Amazon.com market-place. Google followed suit two years later with Google App Engine. It essentially refers to the practice of providing computer resources that are consumed over the internet. Commonly these resources are Compute and Storage resources but can (and will) be expanded to cover almost all IT Technical Services.
A good analogy is electricity. Very few companies today would find it necessary to to generate their own electricity. Rather it is a service that they consume. It is cheaper and easier to let experts handle power generation and deliver it to your door, to be consumed by your company, paid for in units as you use them.
There are some important definitions that we will cover later that will explain some of the differences between different flavours and styles of Cloud Computing such as SaaS, PaaS and IaaS. Also we will cover Hybrid Cloud Public Cloud and Private Cloud to see if we can understand which of these will be most beneficial for you.
Next See “Using Cloud or Embracing Cloud” as this will help you understand some of the reasons why you should ensure that you and your company are properly engaged with the Cloud world.