Cloud Computing: What Is It, And Why Use It?

Reference | in ,, | by Adrian Gates

You’ve heard the words, but have no clue what they mean. “Cloud Computing” might sound like something that would be used by meteorologists to predict rain, but it is really used to describe where computing technology is headed.nIn cloud computing, scalable resources are offered as a service over the Internet. These resources can take the form of software, a computing platform or an entire infrastructure, where all the computing power and software you need are provided as a single service.nSaaS, or Software as a Service, is the most common type of cloud computing in use today. This is where a piece of software is licensed to an end user on a subscription basis. Upon subscribing, the user would have access to a given application for as long as the subscription was renewed.nNext, we have Platform as a Service, or PaaS. Like all other cloud computing services, it is subscription based. PaaS gives an end user access to computing power on demand and the ability to reconfigure the service, adding or removing resources as needs change. As resources are added or removed, the subscription price would adjust according, allowing users to pay only for what they need, when they need it.nLast, but not least, is IaaS, or Infrastructure as a Service. This is where the future of computing is headed. IaaS provides everything in one bundle as a single, billable service. All software licensing and platform needs are wrapped into a single subscription, without need for the end user to have training, expertise or control over the actual resources that make up the “cloud”. This will reduce IT costs for many businesses by hosting their entire infrastructure, including all applications, servers, websites and security, thereby removing the need to hire internal support, as well as reduce maintenance costs.nCloud Computing is already here, and already in use. Apps4Rent, for instance, offers cloud computing components through our hosted Exchange and hosted SharePoint services. Through best cheap hosted Exchange and lowest hosted SharePoint, your employees can run individual blogs, wikis, share documents, collaborate on a project, check their emails and more, all on one secure system dedicated to your business. This is the beauty of cloud computing.

No related posts.

OLDER:

NEWER:

Leave a Comment

Most Recent Posts

Read Back Issues of WHIR Magazine

  • Thumbnail image for The Social Media Issue

    May 2012 - The Social Media Issue

    Read the Digital Edition – It seems rather serendipitous that, as we began preparing to launch this social media focused issue of WHIR magazine, the WHIR organization, and other iNET Interactive editorial properties began working in earnest to measure and track engagement as a metric on our websites and on the content we publish. Simply …Read More

    Read The Digital Edition
  • Thumbnail image for 2012 Hottest Hosts Directory

    February 2012 - 2012 Hottest Hosts Directory

    Read the Digital Edition – This edition of our Hottest Hosts buyer’s guide and directory issue is the fifth instance of the annual publication, a milestone that kind of snuck up on me, personally, but which I think provides an intriguing validation of the format, and of the principle behind it. The hosted services industry …Read More

    Read The Digital Edition
  • Thumbnail image for The Killer Business Model

    October 2011 - The Killer Business Model

    Read the Digital Edition – In pursuit of some inspiration for your killer business model, we sought out some of the really cool things being done in the hosting space by providers trying to stand out from the crowd. They’re not all huge companies yet, but they’ve all got some really interesting ideas, and more importantly, they’re looking at innovating in a way that could inspire some really original thinking from you.

    Read The Digital Edition