Cloud Computing

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Cloud Computing is a style of distributed computing where clusters of networked computers work together in a grid to perform massive tasks. They often provide services for end users in a dynamically scalable and seamless fashion. They allow organizations to avoid costly capital expenditures of software and hardware while providing the benefits of both.

Contents

Services

Cloud computing offers the services of large infrastructure to the variable needs of end users. There are two main categories of service.

Software as a Service

Hardware as a Service

Tradeoffs

As with any organizational decision, there are tradeoffs that must be considered when adopting a new technology.

Advantages

As stated above, cloud computing offers organizations to forego costly capital expenditures of hardware and software.

Disadvantages

No new technology comes without its disadvantages. With cloud computing companies put their data and applications in the hands of others. As one can imagine, this is a significant risk that must be considered. Thus organizations that invest in such services must be able to trust that their intellectual property is handled in a secure manner.

Companies Offering Cloud Computing

References

  1. Cloud Computing: An Introduction
  2. What Cloud Computing Really Means

See Also

External Links

Wikipedia's entry on Cloud Computing

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