The Cloud explained

You are reading a blog post, so you have heard about the "cloud."  If there is an over-used buzzword that wins the prize for most over-used, "the cloud" is it.  Don't get me wrong, the Cloud is actually an important aspect of business today and is involved in a growing number of solutions and business decisions.  Cloud computing, as a term, is just left as too vague and over-arching to be useful.  If you are curious about how to leverage the Cloud, I think some clarification can help.

The Cloud = A Virtual Computer

It appears that everyone is comfortable with the idea of a network and resources on a network.  This may be your home network or at work where you have a networked printer shared among employees.  The Cloud is, at its most basic, a way to refer to resources built on hardware you don't own or lease via a network (the Internet).  Resources may be in the form of storage space, processing, network connections, or other pieces of a virtual computer.  This is achieved by the cloud provider putting together the pieces from a number of computers and hardware in a way that allows you to "rent" those resources.  For example, Dropbox is a provider of virtual storage space.  They have a huge storage network that they provide users access to and those servers and drives that are owned by Dropbox are an offering of cloud storage to their customers.

Virtual Machines Are Not New

The ability to use hardware you don't own is not new.  Web hosting companies have provided services of this sort for years and high end providers, like Rackspace, even provide data centers full of servers that you can purchase access to (shared or dedicated) or use to place hardware you have purchased.  The term "cloud" may be new and buzz worthy, but the concept of storing data and processing resources off site has been around for a long time.  The personal cloud concept pushed by HP is not much different from the age old concept of a file server.

Security is Security

Security is often a concern/consideration when moving to a cloud solution.  If you need to have complete control over access to your data center and data then you may not be able to move to the cloud.  However, cloud services are often built in data centers that provide as much, or more security than you might in your own data center.  There is a higher level of security such as high end ID verification, employee screening, and other features that become more affordable "in bulk" as a cloud provider would need, but would be a more direct burden for your needs.  In short: Any off site solution is going to have security concerns, even if you own it.  There is physical access security to worry about, but the risks of off-site hackers and breaches are not noticeably different for a cloud solution than those when you are not using a cloud solution.  A cloud provider might also provide tips, tricks, and best practices for security that have been learned from their other customers and save you from learning them yourself (or hiring expensive consultants).

Get others on the hook

You are almost always going to be the one most concerned about the availability and security of your data, but it can't hurt to have someone else worried about it as well.  The nice thing about cloud providers is that they are concerned about security breaches and highly available systems, because that is the core of what they provide.  They do not want their name attached to a security breach or a data outage so they are going to make that one of their top priorities (maybe the number one priority).  By their very nature the cloud providers have "skin in the game" and they not only want to ensure their services are top notch, they also want to make you successful.  A security breach is a breach, the provider will not gain much sympathy from potential customers if they are seen as blaming bad customer practices for the breach.  The concern for your data now becomes a partnership and not just something you alone are concerned with.

I hope this helps shine a little more light on what the cloud is.  If you work in IT then knowing about hot topics like this and being able to see through the hype is critical in your success.  If you like this article and would like to learn more about this or other topics check out our store. We provide training materials that provide insight into technical topics but aimed at a non technical audience.  We will explore the cloud more in the future in articles and a course or two as we have just touched the tip of the iceberg in this article.  If you want to learn more about it4recruiters and peruse our library of articles, please check out our blog site and take advantage of our free membership

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