(1) Running applications in an Internet server or downloading the software from the Internet each time it is used. The phrase "in the cloud" may refer to a company's own network, but the term "cloud computing" almost always refers to the Internet and the use of Web browser-based or rich client applications. For example, Google Apps and Zoho provide common business applications online that are accessed from a Web browser. The software comes from the Web servers, and the data may be stored on the servers as well (see Google Apps).
Cloud computing is considered by many to be the next great wave in the IT industry and is currently one of its major buzzwords. See SaaS, rich client, Azure, thin client, cloud and Web application.
(2) Performing enormous numbers of scientific calculations in hundreds or thousands of idle machines within an enterprise or in the Internet. See grid computing. See also utility computing.
Cloud computing is considered by many to be the next great wave in the IT industry and is currently one of its major buzzwords. See SaaS, rich client, Azure, thin client, cloud and Web application.
(2) Performing enormous numbers of scientific calculations in hundreds or thousands of idle machines within an enterprise or in the Internet. See grid computing. See also utility computing.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- The cloud computing battleground takes shape. Will it be winner-take-all?
- This year has been one of relatively grand alliances between emerging cloud computing vendors as they fill holes in their capabilities and try to create appealing one-stop enterprise cloud services. We’ve seen major announcements so far from IBM and Juniper, Cisco/EMC/VMware, and most recently BMC and Salesforce....
- Blog posts 2009-11-24
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- Blog posts 2009-11-23
- Who's afraid of the big bad cloud?
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- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Panel: do cloud computing economic advantages break down in enterprises?
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- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Panel: do cloud computing economic advantages break down in enterprises?
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- Blog posts 2009-11-20
- Will Microsoft's Silverlight dampen the appeal of Google's Chrome OS?
- MS is the past Google is the future so NopeGoogle is the old MS, MS is the old IBM. PC_DOS never made it, MS_DOS did. The driving factor was openness and innovation.Today and in the near future, Google has bothToday MS sees profit only and based on thatdrives...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- Chrome OS - The good, the bad and the ugly, and how it fits in with Windows, Mac and Linux
- Chrome OS - The good, the bad and the ugly, and how it fits in with WindowsI gave it some thought too and realized that Chrome OS only has the bad and the ugly. There is nothing good about it. All data stored in the cloud, and on Google's...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-20
- How to add value, not just more tech, with Web 2.0
- Great PresentationI don't know how you find the time to do all the stuff you do and have small new children.We have the Live product here for student e-mailIt's hard to keep up.If building your house on the sand is a bad idea. What about a cloud? Thank goodness the...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Inside the Google Chrome OS security model
- The proof will be in implementationAll of these lofty goals are one thing. Making it happen in code is quite another. It sounds like they are just giving a laundry list of what people want them to say. I'm in the "believe it when I see it" camp. Good intentions...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Google makes Chrome OS open source today
- I like itThe ChromeOS demo looked pretty cool!I'm almost 100% webapp-based already, so I could see myself using a simple, fast & no maintenance OS like that the majority of the time.I like it too, but, for me, I need to compile and run programs locally. I would imagine that...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Chrome OS: Some Early Preview Videos
- google should move away from linuxI suppose they could easily take away all those messes of the current os by doing that. Haha! Crummy-um "Chromium OS and Open Source" video-- the guy is calling it Crummy-um! Sounds about right.RE: Chrome OS: Some Early Preview VideosAnd ZDNet falls hook, line,...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- Live from Googleplex: Chrome OS details revealed
- Ubuntu 9.10 has more immediate potentialMight I suggest trying Ubuntu 9.10? A phenominal OS with much more to offer then even Windows 7.Open source, free and ready to try today...http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=1122http://www.tuxradar.com/content/vista-windows-7-ubuntu-904-and-910-boot-speed-comparisonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYgWE6Svpaghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16-nad9N3pgNot that I have readI'd stick with 904immediate potential to sink in obscurityGoogle was Linux's last fleeting chance to turn...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- ChromeOS says tear down this network regulation wall
- Costs"What is holding back network capacity is politics."What's holding back network capacity is huge costs.Yep, very important to push the ISPs to free up the bits. They would love to continue selling bandwidth through an eyedropper at very high prices. They need a push.Oh, and Microsoft will not like this...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-19
- FCC to review regulatory and legal impacts to cloud services and identity management
- The FCC is embarking on a review of several innovations that have now gained critical mass, among them, cloud computing, identity management and government data transparency. by Doug Hanchard
- Blog posts 2009-11-19
- Reduce Cost and Improve Service Levels with Application Performance Monitoring Simplification
- Organizations are feeling the pressure of economic uncertainty. They strive to closely align IT infrastructure to the business and also face challenges to reduce costs. While virtually every IT organization has multiple management solutions in place, the unfortunate truth is that most companies are struggling to develop a product mix...
- Webcasts 2009-11-19
- Salesforce demos Service Cloud 2
- At Dreamforce Global Gathering 2009 in San Francisco, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Kraig Swensrud, senior vice president of product marketing, show attendees the company's new customer service software, Service Cloud 2. The new tool helps businesses connect their traditional call center technologies with social media applications through a cloud...
- Videos 2009-11-18
- So where's Microsoft's Live Mesh?
- Project name changedIt's Microsoft Live Mess now under Ballmer's leadership.RE: So where's Microsoft's Live Mesh?i hope they don't get rid of or just leave it alone because i really like it. Actually, it works very well.It might be stuck in some pre-release limbo but whats already available to use does...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- What's next for Microsoft's Azure cloud platform?
- So MS is going cloud...Well, well, isn't this interesting. Does MS concede that the era of packaged client software is over? Again, MS is the follower and not the leader, and again, MS is following Google to the clouds. My prediction is that this will be a field day...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
- Ray Ozzie's view from the clouds
- In a lengthy interview, Microsoft's Ray Ozzie talked about clouds, lessons Microsoft learned from the recent Sidekick outage as well as why people are wrong to count Microsoft out of the smartphone race. When Ray Ozzie penned his Internet Services Disruption memo back in 2005, he had a...
- News items 2009-11-18
- Pressure tactics don't always work
- The key words are ..."don't always". Has always and still works for Microsoft.^o^How about an piece on DOA hard drivesIf you truly resist manufacturer pressure then I would love to see a truly objective piece on the quality and failure rates on SATA hard drives being marketed today. ...
- Discussion threads 2009-11-18
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