Table of Contents
What is the Cloud?
About the birth of Cloud Computing
Forms of Cloud Computing Services
1. What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud (or cloud computing) is a form of computer resource utilization based on a network, especially the Internet.
2. About the birth of Cloud Computing
Birth of the word "Cloud"
The concept of cloud computing was proposed by a professor at the University of Southern California in 1997, but at that time it had not yet become popular in general society.
It was in 2006 that cloud computing came into the spotlight in earnest, when Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google, mentioned the concept of cloud computing again.
It is said that it was Eric Schmidt who described the concept of cloud computing with the term "Cloud” as a cloud.
Public views of Cloud Computing
The background of the realization of cloud computing includes the following
・Faster speeds due to the development of network circuits
・Practical application of virtualization technology
→Users are now able to use the processing power provided by data centers consisting of huge numbers of servers.
The following are some of the things that users have become able to do in addition to the above
・Use the data center's capabilities when and as needed at a lower cost
・Quickly respond to server load increases and decreases, procurement of new resources, etc.
3. Forms of Cloud Computing Services
Cloud computing services are classified into "SaaS," "PaaS," and "IaaS.
All in-house | IaaS | PaaS | SaaA |
Applications | Applications | Applications | Applications |
OS | OS | OS | OS |
Hardware | Hardware | Hardware | Hardware |
Red letters indicate services provided.
Examples of each service
SaaS
Salesforce, GoogleApps
PaaS
Google App Engine (Google) Heroku (Heroku) FluxFlex (fluxflex)
IaaS
Amazon EC2(Amazon), Google Compute Engine(Google), Nifty Cloud(Nifty)
The Pervasiveness of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing services are being avoided by some for the following reasons
Reduced system flexibility
Higher risk of system failure
High risk of information management
However, the adoption of cloud computing is spreading because it can speed up system construction and control costs according to processing capacity and data volume.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the percentage of companies using cloud services was found to be about 60% in 2018.
This blog post is translated from a blog post written on our Japanese website