What is "The Cloud?" Our Napa Tech Guy Explains

I’m going to try and answer these questions and more with this brief article.

The word “Cloud” gets bandied about a lot nowadays. It seems like every company has a “cloud” of some kind. So what is it really?  Here’s a technical explanation that I’ve come up with:

“An off-site, Internet-based, redundant system not reliant on any particular piece of hardware or location.” 

So what does that mean? Here’s a plain English translation for you:

“Keep your stuff safely backed up, and accessible from whatever device you have, wherever you are.” 

There is not really a single Cloud. There are many companies out there utilizing the same basic concept: there’s Apple, with iCloud, Microsoft with Office 365, Amazon with AWS, and Google, with pretty much everything they do, to name a few.

The basic idea is this: instead of relying on a specific server or computer to store your data, with the security and stability issues that come with it, Cloud technology uses specialized pieces of software running on a bunch of computers (think thousands) each with a tiny, encrypted, bit of your data. Even if one of these computers is destroyed or stolen, your data is perfectly safe.

For businesses, using cloud services can be a real time and money saver. In the “olden” days, if you were starting or growing a business, you’d have to put some big money down on server hardware and software, and the requisite backup hardware and software, power and disk redundancy, software licenses, etc.

 Now, you can essentially rent whatever you need. Need a more powerful server? Push of a button. Need more storage capacity or additional email accounts? Just as easy. Business slowing? No problem: scale back on what you need.

It’s a pretty big change from the way things were, and a big advantage to businesses that take advantage of it. In business terms, IT becomes an operating expense, rather than a capital expense.

For home users, it can be a great way to make sure your important pictures and other irreplaceable data is safe -- either with a cloud-based backup solution (think Carbonite, Mozy, etc...), or directly, with cloud-based data (think Google Drive, Dropbox, GMail, etc...).

Popular services also use cloud technology to store and distribute their data, like Netflix, Pandora, Hulu, Amazon instant, and many more. So you may be using the cloud without even knowing it!

Is it safe? Well, the way I look at it, most all of us don’t backup like we should, and don’t keep our software updated like we should, so in reality, we’re probably much more likely to have a problem than a company who’s major function it is to keep your data safe.

I’ve visited any number of businesses who have all of their backup tapes sitting on top of the server, itself sitting in a closet without a door.

Of course, with the recent news disclosures, it may be easier for the government to have a look without your knowledge, so there’s that too.

Personally, on balance, I’m comfortable with most cloud services taking better care of my data than I likely will.

Oh, and I’m writing this on a “Cloud.”  Sitting in my bedroom, working on my laptop, using Google Drive as my word processor.

I started working on it on my desktop in the office, and finished it here, all through my web browser.

Cool, huh?

David Mercer is the principal of Napa-based David Mercer Consulting Inc. He is available for technology consulting as well as speaking engagements on technology in our daily lives. He can be reached at 707-226-6526.