What is cloud computing?

[The_Big_K]

I can't believe STILL don't have a single thread on cloud computing! Everyone is talking about it! Where else would we get the best technical minds to talk about cloud computing than this place?

So, post all that you have to say about Cloud Computing in this thread!

[prakash.athani]

Cloud computing-the term refers to buying or purchasing of computing capacity from a third party provider who owns a Data Center( with server and services )to get your job done using his computer resources.That's what I think what's cloud computing is.If i am wrong, please correct me.

[koli]

Lot more info here Cloud computing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Typical example is google which usases cloud computing.

In short bunch of servers, rented or owned, distributed in multiple datacenter, and virtualized to form virtual servers serving single application.

[ash]

Hey, isnt this like grid computing?

[The_Big_K]

Originally Posted by ash

Hey, isnt this like grid computing?

Yeah, that's what I want to know. I heard someone saying 'Cloud Computing' is the latest thing. But looks like Google's been doing it for quite some time.

So what's the difference between grid computing and cloud computing?

[xheavenlyx]

Wiki:

Cloud computing refers to computing resources being accessed which are typically owned and operated by a third-party provider on a consolidated basis in Data Center locations. Consumers of cloud computing services purchase computing capacity on-demand and are not concerned with the underlying technologies used to achieve the increase in server capability.
The applications of cloud/utility computing models are expanding rapidly as connectivity costs fall, and as computing hardware becomes more efficient at operating at scale. The economic incentives to share hardware among multiple users are increasing; the drawbacks in performance and interactive response that used to discourage remote and distributed computing solutions are being greatly reduced.

Grid computing is a term for either of two broad subcategories of distributed computing:

• Online computation or storage offered as a service supported by a pool of distributed computing resources, also known as utility computing, on-demand computing, or cloud computing. Data grids provide controlled sharing and management of large amounts of distributed data, often used in combination with computational grids.

• The creation of a "virtual supercomputer" composed of a network of loosely-coupled computers, acting in concert to perform very large tasks. This technology has been applied to computationally-intensive scientific, mathematical, and academic problems through volunteer computing, and it is used in commercial enterprises for such diverse applications as drug discovery, economic forecasting, seismic analysis, and back-office data processing in support of e-commerce and web services.

A server farm or server cluster is a collection of computer servers usually maintained by an enterprise to accomplish server needs far beyond the capability of one machine. Often, server farms will have both a primary and a backup server allocated to a single task, so that in the event of the failure of the primary server, a backup server will take over the primary server's function.
Server farms are typically co-located with the network switches and/or routers which enable communication between the different parts of the cluster and the users of the cluster.
Server farms are commonly used for cluster computing. Many modern supercomputers comprise giant server farms of high-speed processors connected by either Gigabit Ethernet or custom interconnects such as Infiniband or Myrinet.

So there it is. Grid computing can have both of these. And yea, grid computing formation and study has a LOT of mathematics and theories involved, complicated stuff!

[xheavenlyx]

All are clickable links. Taken from wikipedia.
Additional Cloud Topics

• Actor model
• Cluster manager
• Communication as a service
• Grid computing
• Online Office
• Parallel computing
• Parallel processing
• Redundant Array of Inexpensive Servers
• Software as a service
• Utility computing
• Virtual Private Cloud
• Web operating system
• Web Services

Grid Computing Concepts and related technology

• Distributed computing
• List of distributed computing projects
• High-performance computing
• Network Agility
• Render farm
• Semantic grid
• Supercomputer
• Computer cluster
• Computon
• Grid FileSystem
• Edge computing
• Metacomputing
• Cloud Computing
• Space based architecture (SBA)

Farm Computing:

• Link farm
• Blade server
• Data center
• Render farm
• Comparison of wiki farms
• Server room

[moksh]

umm it was an interesting topic here's few notes i picked up

Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.


1. SaaS
This type of cloud computing delivers a single application through the browser to thousands of customers using a multitenant architecture.

2. Utility computing
The idea is not new, but this form of cloud computing is getting new life from Amazon.com, Sun, IBM, and others who now offer storage and virtual servers that IT can access on demand. Early enterprise adopters mainly use utility computing for supplemental, non-mission-critical needs, but one day, they may replace parts of the datacenter.

[KINETIC_JOULES]

Can someone clarify what cloud computing is/does?

[gohm]

Wow, I learned a lot from this thread! thanks