Cloud Computing

It seems today that you can’t escape a technology based discussion without cloud computing being suggested. You probably use it without even thinking about it. When it comes to downloading your favourite songs on iTunes or liking random pictures of kittens on Facebook, they all look up to the cloud. It’s the new movement and the only way to go these days, so throw away those files overflowing with gigabytes and learn how to access your unlimited stored data from any location, on the internet.

By the end of this decade, the cloud computing market has been forecast to reach almost a quarter of a trillion US dollars, so how did it get here so fast? First of all, let’s break these clouds apart and see what’s under the silver lining. Amazingly, cloud computing can trace its roots back to the times of the singing heartthrob Frank Sinatra and gunslinger John Wayne. The 1950‘s had organisations using large, bulky and ugly mainframe computers which they couldn’t afford. As a solution, they introduced a method known as ‘Time Sharing’ which allowed multiple users to access a single mainframe using terminals. This changed the face of the technological landscape and the cloud’s basic infrastructure was born. 19 years into the future the American computer scientist J.C.R Licklider had a vision of an “Intergalactic Computer Network”. The American’s perception of the future was for everyone in the world to be connected and using data at any site from anywhere, sounds very familiar don’t you think? Technology giants IBM then burst into the scene in the 70’s releasing a more advanced system of the ‘Time Sharing’ model called ‘Virtual Machines’. When the internet started to gain more popularity, telecommunication companies, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Microsoft and more used this service and Professor Licklider’s vision has now become a reality. So there you have it, large bulky computers to an unlimited amount of data on your mobile phone sitting in the palm of your hand, incredible. Just imagine getting a certificate in cloud computing, you would be the talk of the town, the tech top dog.