What Is Cloud Computing

After hearing "cloud computing" and "the cloud" touted over and over as the next big thing, you may be wondering, "What is cloud computing?" The truth is, the term cloud computing has no one set meaning, and is interpreted differently by different people. In its most basic form, "cloud computing" refers to networking many computers to expand your system's capacity without having to buy bigger or faster machines. Here are a few other set-ups that are described as cloud computing:

Software as a Service. Instead of opening up, say, a word processing program locally on your computer you go to your Google Docs account and use the word processing program there. Files are kept on their servers, so you can access them wherever you go and they don't take up space on your hard drive. There are also image editors and games that are offered as a service with no downloads required.

Cloud storage. Netbooks are great for their portability, but are lacking in the storage department. Cloud storage allows people to access files remotely, which saves the user from having to store items on their own computer or on an external hard drive.

Cloud antivirus. Antivirus software is necessary, but a lot of people get frustrated by the way that it slows their systems down. Cloud antivirus programs utilize off-site resources so that the antivirus can run its checks without bogging down your computer. Plus, there is no need to depend on the end-user to update the antivirus program with cloud computing. The antivirus is always up to date, and thus protects better against new threats.