Cloud Computing is the next big thing in the Computer Industry since the web. Cloud Computing would allow users to accesss applications installed on another machine and work on it. So instead of installing,say a Microsoft Visual Studio on your local machine, You could actually log on to a web based service and use the software installed in some other machines. The advantage of this would be a great reduction in operational costs. In today’s scenario, you would need the application to be installed in your machine, which would mean that you will have to get a license for this.So if 10 people are going to work on the same software, most probably, you will have to get 10 licenses for it. By using the Cloud Computing architecture, all you will need to buy is one license and allow the same application to be used by multiple clients. Hardware and Software demands will decrease on the user’s side. Probably all you will need is an interface to connect to the server on which the application resides.We could say that Cloud Computing is an extention of the many web based applications we currenly use-like Emails and even web based games, where we are not really installing the application in or local machine,instead just using the applications available online.
The Cloud Computing architecture consists of a client side(front end) and a cloud(the network or backend). The client side here would be the user’s machine and the interface to connect to the Cloud Computing network. The interface for the web based applications we use today would be the web browser.The back end would consist of a network of computers ,servers and data storage mechanisms. Based on the demand for the applications, mostly there will be one dedicated server for each application. Data Storage mechanisms are also important part of the architecture. Usually backup storage will also be available.
The applications that could run on a Cloud Computing network would be limitless. Privacy and Security could be potential concerns for the use of the architecture. But with the huge economic advantages the architecture provides, Cloud Computing is becoming more and more popular.

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