If you’ve followed the Hall Blog feed over the past few years, you’ve seen a number of posts related to common questions from our clients and friends.
As someone who’s been working professionally in the tech industry for over 15 years, I still get asked a lot of basic questions about marketing, the internet and growing IT technology. While I like to dive into specifics in blogs, sometimes it’s good to get back to basics on how these updated technologies work and how everyday internet users can take advantage of what they offer.
Now that Cloud based server technology is available for all to take advantage of, I still keep hearing the basic question of “What is the cloud?” As with many emerging technologies, The Cloud has become so popular so fast that the basic definition of the technology has become a bit muddled.
What is the Cloud?
“The Cloud” or “Cloud Computing”, by its most basic definition, is a network of remote computers (servers) that are based at an off-site location and store information on the internet.
The Cloud allows sharing of files stored on the cloud servers from multiple devices (Desktop, Laptop, Tablet and Mobile) via an internet connection.
This prevents companies and every day users from having to build and maintain an in-house computing network infrastructure (physical servers) on their own, which can be expensive, time consuming and confusing to those without a solid IT background. Not to mention that it allows access to this information from any location.
Benefits of the Cloud
You most likely have already used cloud computing at some point already. If you use a Gmail or any web-based email account, you’re using the cloud.
Did you take a picture on your smartphone and have it automatically backed up by Google or Apple? Then you’re using the cloud for this as well.
Backup and Disaster recovery are the two of the primary uses of setting up a cloud-based server as having all items in-house can lead do the loss of data if your computer or device is stolen, destroyed or the data is damaged.
The biggest benefit is being able to access and share files from anywhere there is an internet connection, so you don’t have to rely on having your own server system and network to access your personal files.
The cloud offers tons of flexibility, from work collaboration to automated backups, and has most likely made your life easier. It’s really a very simple concept that has been poorly explained to a large number of us.