©Mark Ollig
Compaq
Computer lays claim for having first coined the term “cloud computing,” by
using a cloud as a visual computing network reference in a 1996 technical
manual.
I
first wrote my thoughts about cloud computing nearly nine years ago, in a
column prophetically titled, “Is the future of computing in the clouds?”
I’ve
come to realize it is.
Cloud
computing from a remote computing data server operates to network people,
machinery, and electronic mechanisms with numerous interfaces, including the
Internet of Things, augmented and virtual reality, autonomous devices, smart
devices, and, coming soon to a cloud platform near you, artificial
intelligence.
Many
organizations and everyday computing users have their software applications and
stored files accessible from a remote computing data server (cloud), which is
maintained by cloud computing providers such as IBM Cloud, Google Cloud
Platform, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, and Amazon Web Services.
These
and other cloud providers deliver software application resources to our
computing devices via an encrypted, virtual private network connection over the
internet.
Software
as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud computing service enabling computer users to
access their daily software application resources over an internet connection,
instead of having them stored on their local hard drives, smart devices, or
in-house business computer servers.
An
example of SaaS is when we use our Google Mail or Gmail. Our Gmail account is
accessing a software application in a remotely-located data center.
Infrastructure
as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud service providing a computing networking
arrangement for multiple locations, allocated data resource distribution,
security, backing up of data, and more.
IaaS
is the virtual data center in the cloud, versus having the physical data
equipment, file storage, software operating system, site networking, and
program applications located at the end user’s location.
Synergy
Research Group reported the cloud market grew by more than 40 percent in 2017.
Who
are the top cloud service providers?
Amazon
Web Services has captured a significant portion of the global cloud computing
market, over Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, and Alibaba Cloud.
Alibaba
Cloud is China’s largest cloud computing company. It has six data center clouds
within China.
They
also provide cloud computing services in India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Germany,
Dubai, Singapore, and Tokyo.
Alibaba
Cloud is the official cloud services provider for the Winter Olympics in South
Korea.
Microsoft
was the top overall revenue-generating cloud provider for 2017, with $20
billion; followed by IBM, which generated $17 billion, per a recent report by
Evans Strategic Communications in Forbes magazine.
Amazon’s
2017 fourth quarter information is not yet available, but their reported cloud
revenues for the first three quarters of 2017 were $12.34 billion.
There
is talk within the cloud computing industry of Amazon’s fast growth, and some
feel Amazon will overtake Microsoft in 2018.
Cloud
computing has become a substantial revenue-generating business, and is growing
each year.
I
use my cellular provider (Verizon) to store my phone’s photos, music, Adobe
PDF, MS Word documents, and text files; along with my phone contacts, and saved
text messages using their physical data storage servers inside what I learned
are 29 clouds (data centers).
Last
May, Equinix, based in California, purchased Verizon’s clouds for $3.6 billion,
and now controls 179 data center clouds around the world.
I
currently store 12,132 photos and videos, along with 141 documents; most of
which are Bits & Bytes columns I worked on while away from my laptop.
As
for “cloud-backup redundancy,” Google and Amazon clouds also store my data.
The
internet we use at home or from the coffee house is considered a public cloud;
we access our Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and AOL email from it, and of course,
visit websites.
A
private cloud’s computing resources are managed privately within an organization,
yet it offers many of the same benefits as a public cloud.
The
private cloud provides an organization internal control, firewalled security,
and flexibility over the software and hardware within the computing data center
(cloud) used by personnel within the organization.
Hybrid
clouds are a combination of public and private clouds. They are used for backup
purposes and as a safety measure; utilizing the public cloud whenever an outage
occurs within the private cloud.
Many
clouds hover above us in the computing sky, and one can’t forecast which will
grow in size, drop some rain, cause a storm, dissipate into nothingness, or
gently drift by unnoticed.
You
may be wondering what my favorite cloud is?
Well,
I do enjoy seeing the occasional white, puffy cumulus cloud gently floating
high above me against a deep-blue sky.
I
am surprised none of the computing cloud providers obtained the rights to use
the Rolling Stones’ famous 1965 song, “Get Off of My Cloud” in their
advertisements.
After
thinking it over, they probably want everyone on their cloud, instead of off of
it.
It’s
still a good song, though.
(Above image is from Clipart Of LLC. Royalty
user-fee paid for by Mark Ollig)
user-fee paid for by Mark Ollig)
