Cloud technologies are one of the benefits of civilization. Every second Internet user uses them to store and exchange data, but in practice, only a few understand how and how securely it works. Today, active users are not limited to one gadget - everyone has a smartphone plus a laptop, stationary computer or tablet. At any time, you may need access to a file, but you don't want to carry flash memory and other drives.
The same situation occurs when you need to synchronize information on your work and home PCs, make edits to documents, edit files. Cloud technologies are distributed data processing in which the user gets access to computer programs, computing and other capacities as an online service - in real time. It also means access to virtual storage from anywhere in the world. This requires any device with an Internet connection and a web browser. If the mail client is installed on a computer, the data is stored in the PC memory. If the user uses mail through a browser, then this is a cloud service. In case of technical and other problems with the service, access to the data will be lost forever. This is one of the main disadvantages of online solutions. The second disadvantage is the ability to use it if you have access to the Internet. Services have many times more advantages.
Advantages of cloud computing:
1. Virtual services relieve the need to work with flash drives and solve the problem of hard disk space limitations - the user is given several gigabytes for free, and if necessary, they can be purchased.
2. No need to buy licensed software.
3. The service allows several employees or a creative group to work with one file at the same time.
4. The user can store information in any format and freely access it from any device - there is no binding to the memory of a specific computer.
5. The use of such virtual storages frees up hard disk space, increasing the speed of your computer.
6. The solutions allow eliminate the staff of administrators involved in maintaining computers and peripherals. Virtual offices significantly simplify work, reduce costs, and allow you to solve complex technical problems in an automatic mode.
7. They can be used on different platforms and scaled if necessary. The elastic and flexible structure makes it easy to do.
Originally from the last century:
The history of cloud technologies (computing) begins in 1970 - from the moment when the American scientist Joseph Licklider voiced his idea. It consisted in the ability to provide Internet users with access not only to data, but also to programs. A similar idea was proposed by John McCarthy, proposing to use computing power as an Internet service. Soon, work in this area was suspended for almost 20 years. In the 90s, Internet bandwidth increased, but no breakthrough occurred due to the unavailability of specialized companies. Around the turn of the century, a firm appeared that provided visitors with access to the application through a website. She was the first to offer access to software as a service. In 2002, Amazon took advantage of new opportunities. His web service provided information storage and allowed computations. Four years later, Amazon invited users to launch their own apps. The next stage of development was the launch of the Google Apps platform and the launch of a full-fledged operating system in the cloud, announced by Microsoft. Technical progress the emergence of open source software have largely contributed to the modernization and expansion of the functionality of technological solutions. Cloud technologies appeared in Russia in 2010. At the start, the annual volume of their market was: 15 million dollars from the public cloud; 5 million dollars - from a private. Already after 4 years, these figures increased to 125 and 33 million dollars, respectively. The upward trend continued in subsequent years, which by itself indicates the interest in cloud solutions.
The use of cloud computing:
Today, the concept of cloud systems covering the different types of services and has been successfully used in education, medicine, logistics, banking, business. The simplest example of application for private purposes- google cloud technologies. After installing Google Drive, the user receives storage for their data, which allows him to abandon the old ways of storing information on disks and flash memory. Google Doc and Word Online on Yandex Disk - full editor designed to work with documents in different formats.
Education:
Computers and high speed internet access through improvements to the education system, simplified the flow of material, possible to solve other important problems. Here are just a few of them: Organization of distance learning using cloud technologies in education. The work of students on a common project, where each member of the group and the teacher can add comments, edits, comments, add information. Electronic diaries. Homework assignment and verification for homeschooled children.
The medicine:
Accurate and fast diagnostics, selection of the correct treatment tactics, exchange of views with colleagues in real time, systematization of medical documentation - this is not a complete list of the application of new solutions. In the future, cloud technologies can become breakthroughs in healthcare, providing access to patient information and the results of laboratory and instrumental diagnostics. Simply put, patients will not have to enter cards in all hospitals - the necessary data on diseases, test results will be stored in one place.
Logistics:
The cloud in logistics unites the sender, the recipient, the carrier company, the operator into a single chain. The service allows you to track the route of shipments, communicate with each other, regardless of location, promptly solve problems related to cargo delays. Online services are also used as a platform for organizing tenders and selecting contractors, analyzing stock balances and replenishing them in a timely manner, storing transportation data and determining the profitability of routes.
Banks:
Competition in the banking sector is fierce, forcing financial institutions to innovate in order to improve the quality and quantity of services offered and reduce their own operating costs. The use of cloud technologies allows you to automate financial processes and solve all of the above tasks with minimal costs.
Business :
Business is open to innovations and actively implements them to create contact centers and virtual offices. Employees of virtual offices are not tied to a specific computer and place, which provides savings on office space rental and utility bills. All discs, folders, economic planning software and other intranet data are played in the cloud.
Security:
Security of cloud technologies is a direction to which each provider pays special attention. Otherwise, he will lose clients, because the IT infrastructure is used to store confidential and strategic data, and therefore must be reliably protected. Security depends on the type of server: virtual or dedicated. Virtual servers involve placing client information in a single environment. There is a possibility that if you make an error in the code, the owners of other accounts will see someone else's data. Dedicated servers allow you to create a more secure and functional environment, provide freedom of action when choosing and installing an operating system, software for normal operation. Service providers always encrypt the information stored on their servers using special cryptographic software. Access to data is possible only with a password set by an authorized user. The manager can always keep track of who and at what time viewed the information, what his employees were doing and what happens on their desktop at a specific time interval. The guarantee of data safety is their daily copying. Transmission channels from servers to PCs and back are protected by several reliable programs so that the code cannot be cracked. The trust in online solutions is growing every year. Today there are already proposals with an integrated data self-protection algorithm. The system will grant access if the environment is identified by it as secure. Otherwise, the data cannot be used