How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing has been changing how most people use the web and how they store their files for the better part of a decade, but its only in the past few years that it is becoming the norm for businesses to adopt. It’s the structure that runs sites like Facebook and Twitter and the core that allows us to take advantage of services like Google Docs and Gmail. But how does it work?

 

In the business world, the concept of the cloud has been around for a long time in many different forms. Essentially it means a grid of computers serving as a service-oriented architecture to deliver data and software.

Most websites and server-based applications run on particular computers or servers. What differentiates the cloud from the way those are set up is that the cloud utilizes the resources from the computers as a collective virtual computer, where the applications can run independently from particular computer or server configurations. They are basically floating around in a “cloud of resources,” making the hardware less important to how the applications work.

Because all of the different servers are running together in cloud computing, one application can have the computer power of many servers. This allows something like Facebook to run. Imagine trying to host Faecbook on your laptop. It just wouldn’t work.
Therefore, the cloud brings together a large number of computers to operate a single application.