Do You Find Yourself Wondering What Cloud Computing Is?

If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the world of business technology over the last five years, you’ve no doubt heard about “cloud computing” on multiple occasions. According to the most recent statistics from Forbes, American businesses are expected to spend $13 billion on cloud computing solutions in 2014, a number that’s no doubt spurred on by the 80% of CIOs who outsource at least some of their IT infrastructures to cloud hosting services.

All of this is great if you’re looking for something you know can improve your business; rest assured, the scalability, added security benefits, and cheap prices associated with the best cloud computing options will not disappoint when it comes to improving your business overall. However, what if you don’t feel safe making the switch to cloud-based hosting services until you know exactly how everything works?

How Does the Cloud Differ from a Physical Server?
The first thing you need to know about cloud computing solutions is that they are not physical servers. The “cloud,” as the name implies, is often thought of as an intangible, almost ethereal data processing and storage medium. This virtualized method of computing is estimated to have handled up to 60% of all server workloads in 2013.

So, How Does Cloud Computing Actually Work?
As PC Magazine points out, anything with “cloud computing” as part of the description simply means that you gain access to it from the internet. Instead of storing your company data, website, and other information on your computers’ hard-drives, you store it online.

Of course, that layman’s description does little to illuminate how cloud computing actually works. In a nutshell, the cloud is formed when a number of different computers contribute storage and processing power, granting access to the combined, virtualized server, the cloud, via the internet.

Is Cloud Computing an Improvement Over Traditional Servers?
Because of the unique way cloud-based solutions are set up, they offer huge advantages over local, or physical, computing options. For example:

• The Cloud is Much More Secure

Statistics from Microsoft show that businesses who make the switch to a cloud computing option gain both security and privacy. This, of course, is in sharp contrast to the pervasive idea that switching from local options to the cloud sacrifices security. As the statistics show, 94% and 62% of users, respectively, say cloud services grant better security and improved privacy protection.


• Cloud Computing Means Infinite Scalability

As The E-Commerce Times writes, thanks to the way cloud computing methods split the workload among multiple different systems to create a conveniently virtualized computing option, most cloud-based options are infinitely customizable. Unlike physical hosting options, upgrading your storage and processing functionality doesn’t mean buying expensive hardware upgrades. It just means authorizing more ram, CPU, and hard-drive accessibility across each server that’s building your bit of cloud.

Now that you know how the cloud works and the advantages of switching to cloud-based services for your IT needs, what are you waiting for? If you want a smarter, safer, more customizable IT infrastructure for your business, find a reputable cloud computing company immediately.
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