Cloud Computing

1250 Words3 Pages

The Information Technology (IT) industry has always been structured in a manner that enhances improvement on its services and computing powers with minimal infrastructural acquisition, personnel training, or licensing new software (Knorr and Gruman, 2011). One technology that has been employed in the achievement of this endeavor is the use and creation of cloud computing. Cloud computing is a term that was coined as a metaphor representing the infrastructural network being used by myriads of computers and servers. This term has also been described differently based on its user application, infrastructure using it and supplying the services (Vaquero, Rodero-Merino, Caceres, & Lindner, 2009). This paper explores the definition of cloud computing, its myriads of application in the IT industry, its advantages, histories, development, its future, and issues affecting it. Definition Based on the payment system, cloud computing is defined as a pay-per-user or subscription based service that broadens its current capabilities and structures. In the networking field, cloud computing is comparable to grid computing, where computers in a network with idle processing cycles are harnessed to work out problems or issues that are too exhaustive for accomplishment by a single machine (Knorr and Gruman, 2011). In cloud computing, the shared IT infrastructure involves a network of servers that operate through virtualization to perform high quality and highly intensive computing processes and tasks. Using web terminology, cloud computing is the storage and data processing via the use of a web browser, rather than the direct use of the personal computer or office server. Therefore, it can be described as the provision and acquisition of information, ... ... middle of paper ... ...d to the 1950s during the use of large mainframe computers by schools and corporations. The hardware infrastructure for the gargantuan mainframe would be stored in a single space where multiple users could access it via ‘dumb or static terminals’. This central mainframe was structured in a manner that ensured maximum use through sharing physical access and CPU time during periods of inactivity. In the 1970s, IBM introduced the VM operating software that facilitated administrator with multiple virtual systems in one physical mode. This allowed multiple individual computer environments to be sustainable in the same physical environment, which is considered as the cradle for most virtualization software. The shared resources in the VM operating systems allowed for custom or guest operating systems with their own keyboards, memory, hard drives, CD-ROMs, and networking.

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