Cloud Computing- What does it Mean?   by Mark Web

in Internet    (submitted 2011-02-21)

The newest catchphrase that is making its way into our vocabulary is "Cloud Computing". Due to some very clever marketing campaigns most people know the term by now. However many still are not sure what it means to them and how it can be used to improve their computing experience. Although cloud computing means many different things the main parts of cloud computing include:

• A pooling of resources

• Flexibility

• Automation

• Per-usage billing

• Virtualization

Access to Resources, Flexibility and Per Usage Billing

True cloud allows all subscribed users to access the resources available. You simply buy into the use of resources and you have access. Another feature of cloud computing is flexibility; this refers to the ability to dynamically scale the amount of resources you are using instantly, consuming only what you need. Traditionally you built a server with provisions for instances when you reached peak capacity even though you normally would only operate at base capacity. It was also common to build for future uses beyond what your current needs required, this space often went unused. With cloud computing as your requirements grow you can easily scale up in resources without a lengthy amount of time for provisioning or wasting unused resources.

Automation and Per-Use Payment are Advantages of Cloud Computing
Deployment in a cloud environment is typically a pretty automated process. In a true cloud computing scenario you are only billed for the on-line provisioned resources. Offline resources are not billed. All billing in fact is metered on a per-usage basis without the need to have a contract for a set length of service commitment which was the case with managed host solutions in the past. The biggest benefit of cloud computing is the savings over traditional dedicated servers which were leased at a cost that would normally be at least 1000 dollars a month. Typically a business can use a Cloud VPS solution for a savings of 80-90 percent of what they once paid for managed-hosting services.

About the Author

Mark has been writing online for 10 years. He hosts his websites on Cloud VPS. He recommends vps hosting to all his readers.