The term "cloud technology" is now on everyone’s lips. An active discussion of the possible nuances of working with such technologies is conducted both on the forums of large Internet companies and among novice users. And there really is something to discuss.
Every day in search engines, computer owners are increasingly asking the question "what is cloud technology." This is not surprising, because more and more users will learn about this innovation. A prime example is antivirus software. New versions of Norton Internet Security, Kaspersky and many others in the settings offer to activate the protection option from the cloud. Since curiosity is inherent in human nature itself, it is only logical that people become interested in what cloud technologies are.
Alas, something revolutionary should not be expected. In part, these technologies have long existed on the Web, they just lacked an accurate and comprehensive definition, systematization and understanding of potential opportunities. Cloud computing is a way of processing digital data outside the host computer environment. Since many people get to know the term thanks to anti-virus applications, we will consider the work of “clouds” using the example of this group of programs.
Imagine that an anti-virus application is faced with suspicious program code, a description of which is not in the virus databases. If the user does not know what cloud technologies are and has not allowed their use (checkmark in the settings), then the antivirus will try to localize the suspicious file until the databases are updated. Everything is completely different if cloud technologies are activated. In this case, information about a strange code is automatically transmitted to the server of the developer of the anti-virus program, where it is quickly checked by specialists for potential danger. In case of confirmation of the threat, all computers connected to this resource are sent instructions on how to neutralize the danger. The result is an unprecedented response rate to the emergence of new viruses. What is cloud technology in this example? The answer lies in the processing of suspicious code on the capacities of the developer's servers, outside the computers of ordinary users. This is a key feature.
Cloud computing gives a second life to low-power computing devices. Suppose we have a calculator with Internet access and connected to a specialized “cloud” consisting of clusters of high-performance computers. We can perform elementary operations on our own, but what if complex calculations are necessary? In this case, the calculator sends the task data to the cloud service, and in response receives a ready-made solution. For the user, the actions performed between the set of commands and the receipt of the response went unnoticed. After all, the main thing is the result, and it has been achieved. Of course, a calculator is an extreme, but, on the other hand, it’s easier to understand the principle of action.
In addition to such non-obvious clouds, there are special services that largely replace full-fledged applications on the local computer. For example, a user needs to edit a text file in Word. To do this, you need to purchase the program itself (and the licensed version is not cheap), allocate free disk space on the media, and connect the necessary modules. Of course, all this is solvable, but what if there are a lot of computers (enterprise)? Spend money on the purchase of license keys? It is much easier to use a cloud service that provides access to certain programs hosted on its sites. The user needs to go to the desired site through the browser, remotely launch Word and open his file for editing. By the way, convenient interfaces are usually implemented this way.
The benefits of cloud computing can be long listed. Less cons, but they are significant: reduced privacy and dependence on the work of a third-party resource.