This magazine was born in the "cloud", it is not bound by physical limitations but rather it is accessible anywhere. A computing cloud consists of thousands or even millions of servers and computers linked together and accessible via the Internet. Cloud computing allows you to access your documents, applications, and programs from any Internet connected location. Cloud computing is much larger than a network; it includes multiple companies, servers, applications & networks. The information served through the cloud is available to large groups of validated users.The ability to access information when and where you want it, has become much more important and in many cases a necessity. Cloud computing gives you accessibility by not limiting users to certain pieces of equipment or geographic locations.
A good starting point for explaining how cloud computing technology is used would be to provide an example of the accessibility it allows to information that you need. Think about all the programs on your personal computer or office network which require you to sit at a certain location in order to access them; document programs, financial programs, contact management systems, and much more. With cloud computing you are not relegated to a certain access point. Traditionally when a file is saved to your computer or network and you do not have a copy of it, in order to access it, you must be located at that computer or have remote access to that specific network. If you have an important piece of information that needs to be accessed, physical location should not limit your access to it. When you save information in the "cloud" it is not relegated to a certain physical space or a single stored location.
Apple has been pushing cloud computing through its newest service called MobileMe. MobileMe, began providing Internet services for Mac OS X, iPhone OS, and Windows. Members of MobileMe can access personal data from any computer connected to the Internet using the web interface at me.com or a number of supported applications, including Microsoft Outlook. Apple's MobileMe maintains a synchronized address book and calendar feature using "Push" functions. If a user makes a change to a contact or event on one device it will be automatically sync'd to the MobileMe servers and, by extension, all the user's other devices.
Google is a leader in cloud computing technology and one service they provide is Google Apps. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. Google Docs is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online which are accessible anywhere the Internet is. Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations can be created within the application itself, imported through the web interface, or sent via email. They can also be saved to the user's computer in a variety of formats. In addition, it allows for real time collaboration with other users. Documents can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time. Google Talk is Google's approach to instant communications. It provides Instant messaging so you can chat with all of your Google Talk and Gmail contacts in real time. It gives you free PC-to-PC voice calls so you can talk to anyone for free who's online and has the Google Talk client. As you can imagine, real time collaboration on documents can be incredibly useful when working with people from remote locations. It allows users to operate as they would if they were in the same office space and it eliminates the time constraints on commuting to these locations. Groups can work on presentations from different locations and even present them to users who are located elsewhere.There are many benefits and uses to cloud computing. For instance, applications used in the cloud are updated and maintained for you. When a new version of the application comes out it is usually updated without notice. Cloud computing is also great for family use, especially scheduling. Family calendars can be accessed anywhere; they even provide updates to the family when notes or events are added. The cloud provides a dramatically increased amount of storage and processing power to run applications as well.
It is really just a matter of time before enterprise solutions for cloud computing are widely used. As the public starts to become aware of the many cloud based services they can use the growth potential for this area of technology is tremendous.
A good starting point for explaining how cloud computing technology is used would be to provide an example of the accessibility it allows to information that you need. Think about all the programs on your personal computer or office network which require you to sit at a certain location in order to access them; document programs, financial programs, contact management systems, and much more. With cloud computing you are not relegated to a certain access point. Traditionally when a file is saved to your computer or network and you do not have a copy of it, in order to access it, you must be located at that computer or have remote access to that specific network. If you have an important piece of information that needs to be accessed, physical location should not limit your access to it. When you save information in the "cloud" it is not relegated to a certain physical space or a single stored location.
Apple has been pushing cloud computing through its newest service called MobileMe. MobileMe, began providing Internet services for Mac OS X, iPhone OS, and Windows. Members of MobileMe can access personal data from any computer connected to the Internet using the web interface at me.com or a number of supported applications, including Microsoft Outlook. Apple's MobileMe maintains a synchronized address book and calendar feature using "Push" functions. If a user makes a change to a contact or event on one device it will be automatically sync'd to the MobileMe servers and, by extension, all the user's other devices.
Google is a leader in cloud computing technology and one service they provide is Google Apps. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. Google Docs is a free, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and form application offered by Google. It allows users to create and edit documents online which are accessible anywhere the Internet is. Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations can be created within the application itself, imported through the web interface, or sent via email. They can also be saved to the user's computer in a variety of formats. In addition, it allows for real time collaboration with other users. Documents can be shared, opened, and edited by multiple users at the same time. Google Talk is Google's approach to instant communications. It provides Instant messaging so you can chat with all of your Google Talk and Gmail contacts in real time. It gives you free PC-to-PC voice calls so you can talk to anyone for free who's online and has the Google Talk client. As you can imagine, real time collaboration on documents can be incredibly useful when working with people from remote locations. It allows users to operate as they would if they were in the same office space and it eliminates the time constraints on commuting to these locations. Groups can work on presentations from different locations and even present them to users who are located elsewhere.There are many benefits and uses to cloud computing. For instance, applications used in the cloud are updated and maintained for you. When a new version of the application comes out it is usually updated without notice. Cloud computing is also great for family use, especially scheduling. Family calendars can be accessed anywhere; they even provide updates to the family when notes or events are added. The cloud provides a dramatically increased amount of storage and processing power to run applications as well.
It is really just a matter of time before enterprise solutions for cloud computing are widely used. As the public starts to become aware of the many cloud based services they can use the growth potential for this area of technology is tremendous.
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