by Jordan Cropper

Created on: April 23, 2009

Once upon a time, a computer would have all the data it ever needed, and ever would need, stored on within it. If you needed to put more data on it, you used physical media, such as CDs and Floppy disks. However, this is now being superseded by the Internet. If you need a program, it is now usual to simply download it off the Internet. You never have to deal with a physical disk to install, use and get rid of a program. We now even send data the other way; storing things on the Internet, using services such as Webmail and online applications such as Google Docs and Scribd.

However, you may have heard the phrase 'cloud computing' attached to all this. Cloud computing is, in essence, the next step up from the current scenario. In the ideal of cloud computing, all your data is stored on the Internet. Your computer would only contain perhaps a small Solid State Drive, like a pendrive, to hold an operating system that would be based around a giant Web Browser, allowing you to do practically anything on the Internet. All your applications, all your documents, pictures and other data, would be stored 'in the cloud'; that is, stored somewhere in the Internet, not saved directly to your local hard drive. There are both good and bad points to cloud computing, each of which could take up entire articles of their own right.

Cloud computing is already here in parts. Online services are already offered to do some of the things desktop software does. For example, Google Docs allows you to work on word documents online. They are stored in the cloud, and can be downloaded to your hard drive to be printed. They could even be simple emailed directly from the application. There are many other online applications already, such as one which is a essentially a basic photo-editing application, a little like Microsoft Paint with more features, in your web browser.

Cloud computing works by storing data 'in the cloud', not on your computer. Though that sounds very similar to the definitions I have just given, that is really just how it works. The data is then transferred to your computer through an Internet connection. Your data is stored on massive servers held by the companies that you are using, or by companies that they in turn contact. However, as the data is stored in the cloud, it can then be accessed from anywhere, meaning you will never be faced with forgetting or loosing your files.

Cloud computing services generally require you to sign up for an account on the site for you to use them. Others do not. Some are free to use, but some are paid for. In reality, it all depends.

Some say cloud computing is the future; others say it is a dangerous and impractical route modern computing should avoid taking. But whatever they say, cloud computing, in all it's forms, is simply storing your data on the Internet rather than on your local computer.

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