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What is CLOUD computing?

What exactly is CLOUD computing? or CLOUD hosting?

Maybe you overheard  someone mention CLOUD computing or CLOUD hosting and now you are curious?
Maybe somebody you know uses a CLOUD and now you want to know more about CLOUD Computing or CLOUD hosting? Whatever the reason may be you want to know more about this hot topic and we are going to discuss the facts and the myths about CLOUD computing – CLOUD hosting.

So what exactly is CLOUD computing? and how does it work?
Are there any benefits to CLOUD computing? or is it just a bunch of hype?
These are all good questions so lets get started.

The name  ‘CLOUD” is just a nickname or slang for the internet.

CLOUD computing is another word for Virtual Server or Virtual Hosting or Virtual Private Server or Server Consolidation. As you can see this one technology has many different nick names.
Ok so what is a virtual server or virtual web hosting anyways?

First lets make sure you know what a server or web server / web hosting is.
A server is a special computer used to control a network, access control, store data – files, host email, host websites and many other services or roles. A web server or web hosting is a special computer usually stored in a data center which stores your website and must remain connected to the internet 24-7 in order for your website to be visible 24-7.
Most small businesses rent or lease web hosting and pay a monthly fee to host their website.

Years ago before CLOUD computing aka server virtualization came along one physical server would host 1 single website. So if you had 3 websites you would need to have 3 physical servers. Renting 3 web servers is not cheap especially for the small business owner.

Now if you have or had lets pretend and say 3 servers in your office for your business network.
And assuming each of your servers is doing something different such as server #1 is your office file server or primary domain controller and server #2 hosts your companies database and server #3 hosts something else for you.

So now you have a vague understanding of what a server does.
Remember this is a simple explanation of CLOUD computing and is not a technical how to guide.
Detailed information on how to design, configure, manage, etc virtual servers is a long and complex topic in itself.

Server virtualization allows you to combine several servers into one physical server.
So instead of having the 3 physical servers in your office you can have everything combined on 1 physical server using server virtualization technology. Imagine 1 physical server that has several operating systems running at the same time just as if they were  different physical servers. You can reboot one virtual server without rebooting all the virtual servers running on the same physical server. This can also describes as server consolidation.

What are the benefits of CLOUD computing, CLOUD hosting, Virtual servers, server consolidation?
You get the idea there are many names for this.

Some of the many benefits are.

Cost savings
One physical server costs less then several physical servers.
It costs less to share a physical server with others……vs paying to rent an entire web server just for yourself.

Physical foot print – physical space
One physical server uses less physical space then several physical servers.

One server uses less electricity then several servers.
One server does not generate as much heat as several servers.

What are the cons? are there any? One that comes to mind is hardware failure.
If the server physically shuts off whether it be a blown power supply of physical hard drive failure you can count on all the virtual servers shutting down because remember the virtual servers are running on the one physical server.

Before you choose whether or not CLOUD computing is right for you, your website or your office – environment consult with a professional network administrator – computer and network expert that has extensive real world experience with virtual servers AKA CLOUDS. A CLOUD or virtual server may or may not be beneficial to you. There are many technical and financial factors that go into deciding whether or not a virtual server will be beneficial to your business or organization.

We know of one local company located in Orlando Florida that has been specializing in CLOUD computing – virtual hosting since 2004.

Infinitum Technologies, Inc which offers turn key virtual web servers and custom designed CLOUD hosting systems, dedicated servers, server clusters and all kinds of custom server systems and configurations to suite a wide variety of needs from hosting websites, email, databases , remote backup solutions and much more.  Infintium Technologies is really a pioneer in virtual hosting technology and custom virtualized server systems. There are a gazillion hosting companies out there that re-sell or market CLOUD hosting as the new hot technology to have when in fact this technology isn’t new and the only thing new about this technology is the name CLOUD computing.

We have provided professional support to Infintium Technologies when they expanded and setup another network in Orlando Florida. We were there day and night with owners Sean Faircloth and Richard Blundell and know first hand these guys specialize in CLOUD computing, know what they are doing and are serious about CLOUD computing.

So there you have it.
Now you know what CLOUD computing is.

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