In The Ink With Mark Alstott—What is the Cloud?

A general definition of “The Cloud”:

Cloud computing: internet-based computing in which large groups of remote servers are networked to allow the centralized data storage, and online access to computer services or resources.

That probably didn’t clear much up… Let’s break it down. The cloud allows local computers to no longer have to do the “heavy lifing” when it comes to running applications. The network of computers and servers that make up the cloud handles them instead. The only thing you need to run a cloud computing system is interface software, which can be as simple as a web browser.

Still confused? You may not know this but there is a pretty good chance you are already using some form of cloud computing. If you have an email account with a web-based email service like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! or Comcast you are experiencing cloud computing. You log into an email account remotely through a web browser. The email software and the 2,000 unread emails (also known as storage) for your account do not exist on your computer—it’s on the service’s computer cloud. There is not just one cloud that every file sits on. In this case each service, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! and Comcast, have their own cloud computing systems.

In this month’s In the Ink Vlog, Mark Alstott gives us a quick tour of Mossberg & Company’s main data center, and some insight into our clients Cloud related services.