No technology is perfect. Everything in the world has its pros and cons. Being one of the cutting edge technologies of today's world, cloud computing also brings both good and bad. Let's take a look at the advantages of cloud computing. Below is a summary of the advantages of cloud computing:
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| Advantages of Cloud Computing (click the image to enlarge) |
One of the major advantages of cloud computing is that it lowers costs. All cloud services, applications or softwares are web-based, which means they all run on the "cloud". Thus, users do not need to have high end computers to run the applications. Users can simply run the web-based applications smoothly even though the computer has less memory, low processing power, small hard disk and other limited resources. Users also do not need to purchase expensive software applications because most of the applications are available for free through cloud computing. For example, one of Google's cloud services Google Docs suite is for free and the premium edition for businesses also costs a lot cheaper than Microsoft Office suite. Maintenance costs are also lowered because there is no hardware required and the softwares are all available from the "cloud". Therefore, Cloud Computing can lower the costs for hardwares and also softwares.
Other than that, it also improves the computer's performance. It doesn't improve the computer performance directly, but indirectly. This is because when all files and software-based applications are stored and run in the 'cloud', there are less heavy programs utilizing the computer's resources. Computers can then boot up and run faster because there are less processes to be loaded. At the same time, the probability of computer hang to occur will also decrease.
Having unlimited storage capacity is also one of the advantages of cloud computing. This is also one of the major advantages of cloud computing that is very commonly used by users nowadays. All the data are stored in a virtual storage space which can store up to hundreds of petabytes, whereby one petabyte is approximately one million gigabyte. Users do not have to worry about the limited storage space to store their important files. Besides being able to store a massive amount of data, cloud computing storage is also relatively reliable. In normal situations, there is a huge risk of important data loss if all the data is stored in one computer without any external backup. However, if the data is stored in the "cloud", even if the computer crashes, the data still remains in the "cloud" and is accessible from any device anywhere and anytime. In short, cloud computing also allows the files to be accessed universally. That is why it is encouraged that users store an extra backup with cloud computing.
These are just a few examples of what cloud computing can do. There are still many more advantages of cloud computing like improved document format compatibility, device independence, easier group discussion or group collaboration and others. Here is a short video explaining on what is cloud computing in simple terms and also the advantage of cloud computing for having reliable data storage with the help of simple drawings:
What other advantages of cloud computing can you think of? Do you have any objections upon the above stated advantages?
What other advantages of cloud computing can you think of? Do you have any objections upon the above stated advantages?
Reference:
Printed Reference:
Michael Miller. 2009. Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online. Que Publishing, United States.
Internet Reference:
WebHostingReport: The Advantages of Cloud Computing
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