Cloud Computing

[filsdepac]

Can someone explain to me in Layman's terms (or Lamans) what cloud computing is? I've tried to read about it online but descriptions are either too technical or too long, and my ADD kicks in.

My general understanding is that it is the usage of servers over the internet, but that could be completely wrong. So, what is it, where are these servers? Who are the major players? How is it different from virtual servers, or is it?

TIA

[Tim]

There are a number of definitions, including the skewed one that Microsoft appears to be using in their commercials of late (they appear to be referring to software that encourages collaboration, which isn't really related directly to the concept of "the cloud"). The general, more "enterprise" definition (whatever the hell that means), refers to the use of a pool of resources (infrastructure, hardware, system software, etc.) used to host an application such that the way the hardware and infrastructure is configured is abstracted from the developer and user of the application. The shared pool of resources can then be scaled or virtualized by that cloud provider according to load, availability needs, time of day, time of year, etc., without affecting the way the application is built or used. The cloud provider can spin up additional resources or scale them back based on the needs of the moment, but that's abstract from the developer and user.

Think of this scenario: You run a web site and I run a web site. They're both built in Java EE and both have similar backend databases (let's say MySQL for this example). You host your website through some web host and I also host my website through some web host. Does the host really matter, though? Isn't hosting, storage, system, infrastructure, etc., just a commodity? All I care about the app is that I build it and my customers can use it. I don't care about running servers 24x7, managing databases, clustering, load balancing, etc. Those are just ancillary actions related to the commodity infrastructure need. I just want to build a website and let someone else deal with managing the infrastructure that it runs on.

In a cloud scenario, you and I would potentially host our applications in the same pool of resources (albeit with different URLs, etc.), and how that pool of resources is organized internally is abstracted from you and I. The maintainer of the cloud tells you "This cloud supports Java EE apps running with MySQL databases," and would provide you with a simple means to deploy your application to that cloud. As an application developer, then, you don't have to deal with a single fixed asset related to infrastructure -- that's all handled by the cloud provider however he wants to handle it. You can focus on developing software and servicing your customer, two things that are generally independent of fixed costs.

Who are the major players? That's a bit more of a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of players these days. There are "public clouds" like Amazon EC2/S3, Heroku (recently purchased by SalesForce.com), Rackspace, etc. Any number of up and coming cloud providers. There are also "private clouds" that provide pooled resources but only for individual customers. Enterprise software companies like my employer aim to provide full stacks (operating system, middleware, virtualization, application server, etc.) to companies that want to host public clouds and also companies that want to run private clouds internally. Other companies like VMWare, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, etc. offer their own cloud stacks for public and private cloud use.

[wuapinmon]

[Soccermom]

Cloud computing = server(s) maintained by an organization so users can access apps, storage, and other network resources over the Internet. Basically, it's like a company network(e.g., with apps and storage space available to users), except it is hosted by somebody else and the users do it through a web browser over the Internet.

Tons of players...Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. My favorite is salesforce.com. They are awesome!

[Non Sequitur]

It's mostly marketing. The simple answer is that it's virtualization with an added layer of abstraction. The previous model was that OS images, storage, IP's, etc. were virtualized on larger, more powerful servers. A company would sign an outsourcing deal where they would lease those bigger, more powerful servers and pay a company to manage those servers. The level of abstraction that the cloud removes is the bigger more powerful servers. In the cloud, the virutualized images, storage, applications, etc. are not tied to any particular physical server. They're just out there in the cloud. It's still just virtualization, but the cloud creates a bigger pool from which to virtualize.

[Uncle Ted]

The compartmentalization or virtualization of computer resources including CPU, network I/O, and disk storage. A lot of cloud solutions are built on technology like Xen, VMWare, or OS-level containers (e.g. solaris 'zones', FreeBSD 'jails', Virtuozzo on linsux) at the server level and storage virtualization solutions from vendors such as EMC. Then some service provider packages all of this together, puts it on the internet, and calls it "cloud computing". Really what the customer is getting is a virtualized server with virtualized storage on the backend they are sharing with other customers, one of which may be a porn site that takes a lion's share of the resources and may reduce the response of another web site in the same cluster to a crawl. True compartmentalization is called a dedicated server, IMHO.

[Katy Lied]

Google has cloud printers that I use.

[myboynoah]

[creekster]

Google has cloud printers that I use.

I had no idea there was much demand to print clouds.