What is Cloud Computing?

Earlier, we used to store our files in the computer system, but after some time, suppose there are many employees in our company, then in such a case, we will buy an SSD hard drive to store all their data or else. In case we bring a new system, our hardware expenditure will increase, and the electricity bill will also increase. A tech team will have to be appointed to manage all the hardware. If any hardware issue arises, then it will have to be managed on our own. In such a case, if the system which is not used will result in loss to the company, so for such a solution, if we had any such service which stores data for us and the work that we were doing on a local server, local system, gets it done somewhere else on some remote machine in a remote system, someone else is looking after all the money management of its tech team, power, tech team, hardware team. In return for using all this, we pay them a nominal charge, and when we ask for the service, then we use it, and when it stops working, then we stop it. If you use less or more as per your requirement, in such cases, all these cases are provided by cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Azure, Google Cloud, etc. In this, we get on-demand services like the pay-as-you-go model; the less service I use, the less I charge; the more I use, the more I charge; rest all maintenance, security, fast team, power, all these cases are being managed by the cloud provider.

Similarly, if we are coders or from the tech industry, if we code, then we will have to download all the software, and also their speed will depend on the hardware. In such a case, if you are giving an interview for interview placement, then whether your code runs in your system or not depends on our system, but in the same case, if we are doing cloud computing by hiring a server, then for that, we just need to have a good-speed internet. So this kind of model is called cloud computing.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the internet, provided on demand. These services can include:

• Storage (like Google Drive, Amazon S3)

• Servers (like Amazon EC2, Azure VMs)

• Databases (like Amazon RDS, Firebase)

• Networking

• Software (like Gmail, Office 365)

• Analytics, AI/ML tools, and more.

Instead of owning and maintaining physical computers or data centres, you can rent what you need, when you need it, and pay only for what you use — just like electricity or water.

🔑 Characteristics of Cloud Computing:

1. On-Demand Self-Service means users can automatically provision computing resources like storage or servers without requiring human interaction from the service provider.

2. Broad Network Access allows services to be accessed over the internet from anywhere, using devices like laptops, smartphones, or tablets.

3. Resource Pooling refers to the cloud provider’s ability to serve multiple customers using a shared pool of resources (like servers, storage, and networks), dynamically assigned according to demand. This is known as multi-tenancy.

4. Rapid Elasticity allows resources to scale up or down quickly based on demand, which is useful during sudden traffic spikes or scaling back during low usage.

5. Measured Service follows a pay-as-you-go model, where the usage of resources is monitored, controlled, and billed accordingly. You only pay for what you use.

💡 Real-life Example:

Using ubuntu form AWS instead of installing ubuntu locally— you don’t need to install, store, or update anything. Everything works in the browser — that’s cloud computing.

Cloud computing offers a cost-effective, scalable, and efficient solution. It eliminates the need for heavy hardware investment and infrastructure management, allowing businesses and developers to focus on their work. The cloud provider handles everything else, making it the backbone of modern digital transformation.