The Internet has become entrenched in our lives. Many users can no longer imagine their life without a computer. Naturally, technologists are improving every year. And for active users of the global network such a useful technology as a cloud server has appeared. What it is? What is it for?

Cloud technology is ...

Today, it is very common to hear about such a function as cloud computing. The name of such servers comes from the graphic image that is used to denote technologies.

Cloud technology is the ability to access data without installing special applications on the device. Servers provide all the necessary support for users. But whether or not you have to pay for this remote access to data directly depends on the requests.

How are cloud technologies different from conventional ones?

To better explain the difference between conventional technology and cloud storage, consider email as an example. The case when an e-mail client, such as Outlook, is already installed on the user's computer, and all data received by e-mail is saved to the hard drive, is considered a common IT technology. That is, the user himself can dispose of the received files and decide what to do with them. And the mail client will work exactly as long as the computer is running.

But e-mail, which is opened using a browser, is already a cloud technology. That is, the user, without installing anything on the device, can access his email address. Moreover, if something happens to the server that stores all the data, then access to e-mail will be lost.

What do you have to pay for when using the cloud?

Cloud server is not completely free technology. There are times when a user will have to pay to provide a cloud storage service. All servers are divided into three types, which charge fees for different functions.

• IaaS is a cloud model that requires a fee to provide remote storage access. That is, the user only pays for access to the server.
• When using the PaaS cloud, you will have to pay not only for available resources, but also for access to special software for processing data.
• SaaS is a storage that provides access to a whole range of software, for which, of course, you will have to pay a considerable monthly fee.

Positive sides

The use of cloud technologies has a number of advantages, which are quite significant.

It is very beneficial for young businesses to use cloud servers. They will not have to worry about buying their own server equipment, spending money on building a local network, or hiring sysadmins. All you have to do is choose one of the cloud servers that is ideal in terms of memory size, number of clients and other characteristics, and pay a monthly subscription fee.

Cloud technologies are the ability to access the necessary information using a regular browser from anywhere in the world. Operability will no longer concern the client, since it is monitored by those who are paid by the user for cloud storage. Such systems are in demand among corporate users who need to establish document flow in the enterprise network.

For ordinary users who simply do not want to clog their computer with unnecessary information, there are free cloud servers, which will be quite enough.

Negative moments

Of course, new cloud technologies also have a number of disadvantages.

First, confidential data that is transmitted using cloud storage can be intercepted by hackers. The quality of the internet connection must be very high. If there is an interruption to the Internet, access to data on the "clouds" will be impossible. At the same time, large enterprises still need a system administrator to establish data transmission.

If the client wants to save money and gives preference to a cheaper server, then he will have to face performance problems. Low-cost cloud storage has a poor hardware infrastructure that regularly breaks down and takes a lot of time to fix.

If the use of cloud technologies is planned for the long term, then this can be much more expensive than setting up your own local server. Especially if a cloud technology with a wide range of possibilities is chosen for work, such as SaaS.

Cloud storage overview

Cloud technologies are storage facilities that can be divided into three types of service:

• Creation of infrastructure.
• Platform services.
• Software services.

This unit will help you with choosing a cloud storage server.

Windows Live SkyDrive is perfect for those who need a lot of data. It allows you to store information up to 25 GB in size. At the same time, there are no restrictions on the file format. However, there are a number of advantages for some types. So, for example, when storing Office documents, you can edit them directly in the browser.

Dropbox is more widespread than Windows Live SkyDrive, although it has much less information at just 2GB. It is enough to install one application per device to have remote access.

There is even a dedicated server for storing music. This is Grooveshark, which is considered one of the most popular cloud storage for music files.

How fast progress is marching, just by leaps and bounds, not otherwise. The technologies that will be discussed have already entered our lives. " Clouds"Call them in the common people, and the AI-TISNIK say cloud technologies. I propose to deal with this interesting and promising technology.

• What is the concept of cloud computing?
• What can be cited as examples of cloud technologies?

Of course, our solution level is ordinary users. Let's touch on the theory at an accessible level and practice. In a word, I will try to systematize the basic information on the topic and, if possible, sort it out on the shelves.

The use of cloud technologies

The topic is quite popular on the Internet. There are many solutions on the market. However, not everyone understands this know-how and why we need it. If we touch upon the above-mentioned theory of cloud computing, then its essence is in distributed data processing.

You can put it differently. Cloud technology is when the user is provided with Internet services, various hardware and software tools, methodologies and tools to realize his goals, objectives, projects. An example is. It is a completely cloud-based service.

The structure of cloud technology can be represented as follows. These are servers, hard drives and other hardware. On this structure, as on a platform, various services are created and offered. And only then the software that users get access to.

Changing the summer wheels (disks with rubber) of my car for the winter ones, I left them right in the service storage. This service reminded me of a trend in IT as well. All my photos from my Android phone are automatically posted on Picasa (now the same as in G +), the same happens with photos taken with a Canon camera. Files in the Google Drive folder of my computer are automatically synchronized with the folders of the Google Drive service.

Currently, the concept of cloud systems can offer many types of services. Services are provided as a service, this is the essence of the concept. Storing your data as a service. Those. set yourself Google drive for example, and abandon old storage technologies on disks and flash drives.

This is also working with a DBMS, i.e. database as a service. The concept allows you to save on "computer hardware" and even competently use the DBMS in your organization. It is also possible to provide software with Internet access. For example Google docs, Google calendar like cloud technology google.

As a service from the cloud, security as a service is already being offered. Those. cloud security technologies that enable users to save money on maintaining their own security system.

Cloud applications

Cloud computing is also plentiful. This is access from any computer, work with your information from other devices such as tablets and phones. It is also not important in what operating system you work and how many people work simultaneously with the same information. It's easy to share, and it's easy to integrate yours with information from people around the world.

Your information is not stored on your devices and is thus protected from loss. Not only have many paid programs been replaced by free web applications, but the latest version is always at your service.

Cloud technologies examples:

Let's review the solutions, services, application software already available on the market. Google Cloud Technologies recently released the Google Play service. The corporation allows us to host our movies, music, books and various applications.

Apple has provided its iCloud service. This service stores all your content and delivers it to any device using Push technology. Gaming services OnLive and Xbox Live offer games as a service.

But the situation is more interesting with the software. Instead of boxed programs, Google Corporation (Microsoft did the same) provided an opportunity to work with Google Drive documents. It is about storing, editing and sharing files.

Pure storage services Dropbox and Windows Live SkyDrive. Dropbox lets you store up to 2GB of data for free. Up to 7GB allows you to store the SkyDrive service.

And so, the cloud is a guaranteed and secure access to your information. The ability to synchronize your computers, not to burden yourself with flash drives, disks and wires. Technologies are in great demand and new items in the IT field will of course be associated with them.

Lecture Cloud technologies

Cloud computing (computing) is a distributed data processing technology in which computer resources and capacities are provided to the user as an Internet service.

The main types of cloud technologies include:

" Infrastructurehowservice" ("Infrastructure as a Service" or "IaaS")

" Platformhowservice" ("Platform as a Service", " PaaS")

"Software as a Service"("Software as a Service" or "SaaS").

Let's consider each of these technologies in more detail.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is the provision of computing infrastructure as a service based on the concept of cloud computing.

IaaS has three main components:

Hardware (servers, storage systems, client systems, networking equipment)

Operating systems and system software (virtualization, automation, basic resource management)

Middleware (e.g. for systems management)

IaaS is based on virtualization technology that allows the user to divide the equipment into pieces that meet the current needs of the business, thereby increasing the efficiency of using the available computing power. The user (company or software developer) will have to pay only for the server time, disk space, network bandwidth and other resources that he really needs to work. In addition, IaaS provides the customer with a complete set of management functions in one integrated platform.

IaaS eliminates the need for enterprises to maintain complex data center, customer and network infrastructures, while also helping to reduce the associated capital and operating costs. In addition, additional savings can be realized by providing the service as part of a shared infrastructure.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is the provision of an integrated platform for developing, testing, deploying and supporting web applications as a service.

To deploy web applications, the developer does not need to purchase hardware and software, and there is no need to organize their support. Client access can be arranged on a rental basis.

This approach has the following advantages:

scalability;

fault tolerance;

virtualization;

security.

Scalability PaaS assumes automatic allocation and release of the necessary resources depending on the number of users served by the application.

PaaS as an integrated platform for developing, testing, deploying and supporting web applications, it will allow the entire list of operations for developing, testing and deploying web applications in one integrated environment, thereby eliminating the cost of maintaining separate environments for separate stages.

The ability to create source code and share it within the development team significantly improves the productivity of building applications based on PaaS.

Software as a Service (SaaS).

SaaS- an application deployment model, which implies the provision of an application to the end user as an on demand service. Such an application is accessed over the network, and most often through an Internet browser. In this case, the main advantage of the SaaS model for the client is that there are no costs associated with installing, updating and maintaining the equipment and software running on it. The target audience is end consumers.

In the SaaS model:

the application is adapted for remote use;

one application can be used by several clients;

payment for the service is charged either as a monthly subscription fee, or based on the total volume of transactions;

application support is already included in the payment;

application upgrades can be done by service personnel smoothly and transparently for customers.

From the point of view of software developers, the SaaS model allows you to effectively combat unlicensed use of software, due to the fact that the client cannot store, copy and install software.

In fact, SaaS software can be viewed as a more convenient and cost-effective alternative to internal information systems.

An evolution of the SaaS logic is the concept WaaS (Workplace as a Service - Workplace as a Service). That is, the client receives at his disposal a virtual workplace fully equipped with everything necessary for the operation of the software.

Communications (VoIP)

Antispam and antivirus

Project management

Distance learning

Data storage and backup

All three types of cloud services are interconnected and represent a nested structure.

In addition to various methods of providing services, there are several options for deploying cloud systems:

Private cloud- is used to provide services within one company, which is both a customer and a service provider. This is a variant of the implementation of the "cloud concept", when the company creates it for itself, within the organization. First of all, implementation private cloud removes one of the important questions that customers certainly have when familiarizing themselves with this concept - the question of data protection from the point of view of information security. Since the "cloud" is limited by the framework of the company itself, this issue is resolved by standard existing methods. For private cloud the cost of equipment is reduced due to the use of idle or inefficiently used resources. And also, reducing the cost of purchasing equipment by reducing logistics (we don’t think about which servers to buy, in what configurations, what productive capacities, how much space to reserve each time, etc.)

In essence, the power increases in proportion to the overall load growing, not depending on each arising task - but, so to speak, on average. And it becomes easier to plan and buy and sell - to launch new tasks into production.

Public cloud- used by cloud providers to provide services to external customers.

Mixed (hybrid) cloud- joint use of the above two deployment models

The answer to the question why cloud technologies in Russia have not yet reached the global scale is quite simple: misunderstanding and a completely normal feeling of extreme caution in relation to all innovations concerning such a serious issue as a business enterprise. We can also say that this technology is viewed by many leaders as exotic, of little use in our economic situation.

What is cloud technology

The definition of cloud computing is at first glance very confusing: it is a model for providing ubiquitous and convenient network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (for example, servers, applications, networks, storage systems, and services) that can be quickly provisioned and released with minimal management effort. and the need to interact with the provider.

In order to better imagine what cloud computing is, a simple example can be given: previously, a user used to access certain software (messengers and programs) installed on his PC to access e-mail, but now he simply goes to the website of the company whose services he likes e-mail, directly through the browser, without the use of intermediaries.

But this example is more suitable for private clouds. We are interested in these technologies in business. The modern implementation began in 2006. Amazon then unveiled its web services infrastructure, which not only provides hosting, but also provides the client with remote computing power.

Three models of "clouds"

Recall that there are three cloud computing service models:

1. Software as a service (SaaS, Software as a Servise). The consumer is provided with software - provider applications running on the cloud infrastructure.
2. Platform as a Service (PaaS, Platform as a Service). The consumer is provided with the tools to deploy consumer-generated or purchased applications on the cloud infrastructure that are developed using the provider-supported tools and programming languages.
3. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The consumer is provided with data processing, storage, networking and other basic computing resources on which the consumer can deploy and execute arbitrary software, including operating systems and applications.

Benefits of cloud services

Last year, the total volume of the global market in the field of cloud technologies amounted to about $ 40 billion. Some experts predict that by 2020 this figure will reach $ 240 billion. Russia ranks 34th in the introduction of cloud computing into business with an indicator of $ 250 million.

There are several advantages associated with the use of cloud technologies.

Availability

Anyone who has a computer, tablet, or any mobile device connected to the Internet can access information stored in the cloud. This leads to the following advantage.

Mobility

The user does not have a permanent attachment to one workplace. Managers can receive reports from anywhere in the world, and managers can monitor production.

Profitability

Reduced cost is one of the important benefits. The user does not need to buy expensive computers and software that are large in terms of computing power, and he is also freed from the need to hire a specialist to maintain local IT technologies.

Rental

The user receives the necessary package of services only at the moment when he needs it, and pays, in fact, only for the number of purchased functions.

Flexibility

All necessary resources are provided by the provider automatically.

High manufacturability

Large computing power that is available to the user, which can be used for storing, analyzing and processing data.

Reliability

Some experts argue that the reliability that modern cloud computing provides is much higher than the reliability of local resources, arguing that few enterprises can afford to purchase and maintain a full-fledged data center.

Google Apps for Business highlights these same benefits, adding that the company is protecting the environment by using their cloud computing, explaining that Apps services are powered by Google's ultra-low power data centers, so they will be carbon-intensive and energy-intensive. much lower when using local servers.

How much does it all cost?

The cost of Google Apps for business, according to the company, is $ 5 per user per month, with free space on a cloud drive of 5 GB (if you wish, you can buy another 20 GB to 16 TB at a price of $ 4 to $ 1430 per month, respectively).

Also, the user can purchase Google Apps with a safe for $ 10 per month, which includes a standard package of services plus archiving important business data, collecting data for legal purposes, searching and exporting any corporate data. Providing domains - for a separate cost. It is worth noting that one email account is considered a user.

Try it - new customers 3 months without a monthly fee. Current account in Kontur.Bank with built-in accounting and reporting. Corporate card and electronic signature - free of charge. Up to 5% on the balance.

Microsoft is also fighting for its share of cloud computing. They are based on Office 365. It focuses on an end-to-end CRM solution, claiming that Microsoft Dinamics CRM includes marketing, sales, and customer service management blocks. That is, using this function, it is possible to solve a range of relationship management tasks, from attracting customers to cross-selling.

Also highlighted are "smart" analysis, role-based interface and high mobility.

The purchase of Office 365 offers several options: Office Professional Plus 2010 plan - 555 rubles. per month per user. Subsequent tariffs cost 250, 300, 525 and 750 rubles. per month for each user, respectively. By the way, Office 365 is free to try.

Despite all the positive reviews, there is also some criticism of cloud technology.

The main criticism is that when using virtual software, information automatically falls into the hands of the developer of this software. So says Richard Stallman, founder of the free software movement.

The problem of data integration with both internal corporate and cloud services of other providers is highlighted.

Experts point to the problem of uncontrolled data: information left by the user will be stored for years without his knowledge, or he will not be able to change some part of it. For example, on Google services, the user is not able to delete the services he has not used and even individual groups of data.

Despite this, most experts are of the opinion that the advantages of this technology outweigh its disadvantages.

Hello again, dear readers! :) Let's talk about cloud technologies.

Tobish, today another post will be entirely devoted to a very entertaining and promising technology (so to speak, the "goldmine" of the IT industry), hiding under a pseudonym - cloud technologies or in common people - "cloud".

Let's talk about the very concept of cloud computing, give a variety of examples of its implementation (at the level of solutions for ordinary users), namely, we will talk about the theory, then we will smoothly move on to practice and a little .. we will live in the clouds :-)

Thus, the purpose of our note, as always good (it cannot be otherwise) is to systematize the basic information related to this topic and put everything on the shelves.

So, Earthlings, get ready, now we will tell you about the cloud technologies cjsc, which, every day, are getting closer and closer to us.

We flew ..

Cloud technologies. About everything, little by little

In recent years, this topic has become one of the most popular in the IT sphere, many articles have been written about it, an even larger number of conferences have been held, and how many solutions already exist on the market (and are used by us in all our daily life, sometimes even unconsciously) , and never count.

However, as always, there is one "but", namely, most of the users, as before, do not even know what kind of "know-how" cloud technologies are and why they have given up. Well, we will correct the current situation and we will start, as expected, with a theory.

Cloud computing is a distributed data processing technology in which computer resources and power are provided to the user as an Internet service. If we explain it in an accessible language, then this is yours, in a sense, a working platform on the Internet, or rather on a remote server.

Let's look at an example to make sure that almost all of us, in one way or another, have already encountered this solution.

Do you have an e-mail? Of course have. So, if you work with mail on some service site (for example,) that allows you to use this mail, then this is nothing more than a cloud service, which is part of such a thing as cloud technologies. Or, for example, image processing.

If you reduce the size, flip your photo in Photoshop or another special program, then you have nothing to do with cloud technology - everything happens and is processed locally on your computer. But if, after uploading an image, for example, through, you process it on the other side, you are in the browser, then this is the very "cloud".

More details about cloud technologies

Actually, the whole difference lies solely in the method of storing and processing data. If all operations take place on your computer (using its power), then this is not a "cloud", but if the process takes place on a server in the network, then this is exactly the trendy thing that is commonly called "cloud technology".

In other words, cloud technologies are various hardware, software, methodologies and tools that are provided to the user as Internet services to achieve their goals, objectives, projects.

As practice shows, the terms "cloud technologies" / "cloud services", with their generally accepted graphical representation, in the form of "clouds", only confuses users, in fact, their structure can be easily understood if presented in the form of the following pyramid.

The base of the pyramid "infrastructure" is a set of physical devices (servers, etc.), a "platform" is built above it - a set of services and the top - software available at the request of users.

Also, you should be aware that cloud computing is a kind of basis vector obtained as a result of the synthesis of a number of technologies and approaches (tricky! :-)). To make it clear what I mean, I will give the following diagram:

I think that now it has become a little clearer, since the scheme is quite simple. However, generally speaking, cloud technologies are such a mess that performs calculations with servers and other things without directly attracting the resources of your computer.

It may so happen that we will all return to computers that are close in power to, so to speak, the first and, in fact, will be only one screen with a microprocessor, and all calculations and capacities will be located and performed remotely, i.e. in somewhere there living servers, namely, in the cloud mentioned more than once.

Services provided by cloud systems

Everything related to cloud computing (hereinafter referred to as CC) is usually called aaS. It stands for it simply - "as a Service", that is, "as a service", or "in the form of a service".

Currently, cloud technologies and, in fact, their concept, involves the provision of the following types of services to its users:

• Storage-as-a-Service
  This is perhaps the simplest of the CC services, offering disk space on demand. Each of us has ever faced a situation when an ominous warning appeared on the monitor: " The logical disk is full to free up space, remove unnecessary programs or data". The Storage-as-a-Service service makes it possible to save data in external storage, in the" cloud. "For you, it will look like an additional logical drive or folder. Other similar services can serve as an example.
• Database-as-a-Service
  Here it is more likely more for admins, because this piece provides an opportunity to work with databases, as if the DBMS were installed on a local resource. Moreover, in this case, it is much easier to "share" projects between different executors, not to mention how much money can be saved on and required for the competent use of a DBMS in a large or even medium-sized organization.
• Information-as-a-Service
  It makes it possible to remotely use any kind of information that can change every minute or even every second.
• Process-as-a-Service
  It is a remote resource that can tie together multiple resources (such as services or data contained within the same cloud or other available clouds) to create a single business process.
• Application-as-a-Service
  Also, maybe called, Software-as-a-Service ("software as a service"). It is positioned as "software on demand" that is deployed on remote servers and each user can access it via the Internet, and all issues of updates and licenses for this software are regulated by the provider of this service. Payment, in this case, is made for the actual use of the latter. Examples include Google Docs, Google Calendar, etc. online programs.
• Platform-as-a-Service
  The user is provided with a computer platform with an installed operating system and some software.
• Integration-as-a-Service
  This is an opportunity to receive a complete integration package from the "cloud", including programming interfaces between applications and managing their algorithms. This includes the well-known Enterprise Application Centralization, Optimization, and Integration (EAI) suite services and features, but delivered as a "cloud" service.
• Security-as-a-Service
  This type of service allows users to quickly deploy products that allow secure use of web technologies, e-mails, local networks, which allows users of this service to save on deploying and maintaining their own.
• Management / Governace-as-a-Service("administration and management as a service")
  Allows you to manage and set the parameters of one or many "cloud" services. These are mainly parameters such as topology, resource use, virtualization.
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service
  The user is provided with a computer infrastructure, usually virtual platforms (computers) connected to a network, which he independently configures for his own purposes.
• Testing-as-a-Service
  Provides the ability to test local or "cloud" systems using test software from the "cloud" (no hardware or software is required at the enterprise).

For clarity, let's summarize all these services of the "cloud" architecture, in one diagram behind which cloud technologies are hidden (sorry, in English):

Which shows the classification of services by type of service.

Now let's look at what cloud technologies are, so to speak, according to the form of ownership. Here, there are three categories of them:

• Public
• Private
• Hybrid.

Briefly about each:

• Public cloud is an IT infrastructure used simultaneously by many companies and services. Users do not have the ability to manage and maintain this "cloud", and all responsibility for these issues rests with the owner of the resource. Any company and individual user can become a subscriber of the offered services.
  Examples include online services: Amazon EC2, Google Apps / Docs, Microsoft Office Web.
• A private cloud is a secure IT infrastructure controlled and operated for the benefit of a single organization. The organization can manage the private cloud on its own or outsource the task. The infrastructure can be located either at the customer's premises or at an external operator (or partially at the customer and partially at the operator).
• Hybrid cloud is an IT infrastructure that uses the best qualities of a public and private cloud to solve a given problem. Often this type is used when an organization has seasonal periods of activity, in other words, as soon as the internal IT infrastructure cannot cope with the current tasks, part of the capacity is transferred to the public "cloud" (for example, large amounts of statistical information), as well as to provide access to users to the resources of the enterprise through the public "cloud".

Confused? Nothing, we'll analyze examples soon and everything will fall into place;)

Cloud computing capabilities

Now let's look at the possibilities of cloud computing:

• Access to personal information from any computer connected to the Internet
• You can work with information from different devices (PCs, tablets, phones, etc.)
• It does not matter which operating system you prefer to work with - web services work in the browser of any OS
• The same information, both you and others, can view and edit simultaneously from different devices
• Many paid programs have become free (or cheaper) web applications
• If something happens to your device (PC, tablet, phone), then you will not lose important information, since it is no longer stored in the device memory
• Fresh and updated information is always at hand
• You always use the most recent version of the programs and you do not need to monitor the release of updates.
• You can combine your information with other users
• You can easily share information with loved ones or with people from anywhere in the world.

There are quite a few opportunities, however, there are also disadvantages (where can we go without them), which should also be mentioned.

"Fly in the ointment" - disadvantages:

• The need for a permanent connection.
  To access cloud services, you need a permanent Internet connection
• Software and its "customization".
  There are restrictions on software that can be deployed on the "clouds" and provided to the user. The user has limitations in the software used and sometimes does not have the ability to customize it for his own purposes
• Confidentiality.
  The confidentiality of data stored in public "clouds" is currently causing a lot of controversy, but in most cases experts agree that it is not recommended to store the documents most valuable for the company on the public "cloud", since there is currently no technology. which would guarantee 100% data confidentiality
• Security.
  The "cloud" itself is a fairly reliable system, but when penetrating into it, an attacker gains access to a huge data store. exploit viruses and system vulnerabilities
• Expensive equipment.
  To build your own cloud, you need to allocate significant material resources, which is not beneficial for newly created and small companies
• Further monetization of the resource.
  It is possible that companies in the future will decide to charge users for the services they provide.

As you can see, there are two sides to the coin. However, this does not harm the development of technology, and may even spur it on.

Cloud technologies - a user's perspective. Solution overview

We have come to, perhaps, the most interesting (and so beloved by many readers) part of the article - examples and, so to speak, practice. Here we will consider what solutions, services, programs already exist on the market and what should be paid attention to. Let's start with services:

• iCloud
  Apple's iCloud cloud service (which replaced MobileMe) is completely automatic and free (albeit with minor functional restrictions). It stores your all kinds of content (mail, calendar, contacts, documents, music, videos and pictures, etc.) on servers, and then delivers it to all devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC) wirelessly Push technology.
• Google play
  A fresh cloud service called Google Play from the "corporation of good", which is designed for users to place movies, music, applications and books on servers specially designed for storing digital information. Access to the service is provided directly from the browser, regardless of the OS, and therefore can be carried out both from a PC and from mobile devices based on Android. Each user has the opportunity to place and store up to 20 thousand music records for free, as well as directly download to the server purchased in stores (Android Market, Google Music and Google eBookstore) digital goods - movies, e-books, programs, music tracks, both purchased and rented.
• OnLive
  I think that everyone is familiar with the service, since I have already written about it. Provides the ability to play modern games even on the simplest and weakest computer. Technically, it looks like this: the game itself is located on a remote server and graphics are processed there, which is sent to the computer to the user already in a "finished" form. Simply put, those calculations that are performed during a normal game on a computer, etc., are already performed on the server, and your computer is used only as a monitor that receives the final image. If you do not understand, then all this means that all problems with the performance of the computer and the amount of free space on the hard disk are automatically removed, because even installation is not required. In addition, there is no need to pay quite a lot of money right away for a product (game, etc.) that you do not necessarily like. Moreover, it is no secret that most games do not want to be played again, so it turns out that the cost of several hours (or even several days) of pleasure is unreasonably high. Much more convenient would be the option in which you would pay only for the time you play. Or - you would pay a certain small fixed amount on a monthly basis, which would allow you to play without restrictions in any of the available games. This is exactly what OnLive offers.
• Xbox live
  Another, well-known, gaming service that also provides rich Internet functionality and is related to cloud technologies. The essence of the service is that owners of Xbox 360 consoles and PDAs based on Windows Phone 7 can play computer games and communicate with each other, as well as buy add-ons and various multimedia content in the online store. It turns out that the service creates a kind of virtual universe for gamers, the components of which are located not on the consoles of end users, but in the cloud.

Thus, the last two services offer games as a service. Now let's imagine that we are not talking about games, but about software. That is, you pay not for the product as such (for the box with the disc), but for the specific functions / capabilities that it provides to you. Interesting? Here it is for me :)

A small note

And since we, as users, are most interested in software (and not all platforms as a service), now we will consider the “software landscape” (SaaS) of clouds. In other words, let's cite the most popular software solutions that, in terms of cloud technologies, actually exist on the market right now.

Actually, according to the SaaS concept, as mentioned above, you do not pay in a lump sum when buying a product, but as if you rent it. Moreover, you use exactly those functions that you need (and, accordingly, pay for them). For example, once a year you need some kind of programmer and you are not going to use it more often. So why buy a product that will sit idle?

And why waste space on it (in the apartment, if it's a box with a disk, or on a hard drive, if it's a file)? That's right, not why, because there is an alternative option - a free online service (providing the full functionality of this program).

Working with documents in cloud technologies

It was along this path that the two headliners of the IT industry (and also competitors) - Google and Microsoft - went. Both companies have released sets of services that allow you to work with documents.

On the Google side, these are their Google Docs (now Google Drive):

Free online office, which includes a word processor, spreadsheet processor and "pribluda" for creating presentations, as well as an Internet service cloud file storage with file sharing functions.

This is a web-oriented software, that is, a program that works within a web browser without installing it on the user's computer, that is, a sort of alternative version of all kinds of Word, Excel, etc. without the need to purchase and all that. User-generated documents and spreadsheets are saved on a dedicated Google server or can be exported to a file.

This is one of the key advantages of the program, since the entered data can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet (while the access is password protected).

From Microsoft's side, these are their Microsoft Office Web Apps:

Microsoft Office Web Apps allow you to use the capabilities of Microsoft Office through a web browser and work with documents (and not only view them, but also edit) directly on the website where they are stored.

Thus, documents look exactly the same in the browser as they do in Office programs; complete, so to speak, unification.

It is also worth noting that both services are closely interconnected with mail (Gmail in the first case and Hotmail in the second) and file storages, so in order to use Google Docs, you just need to create a free Google account and you will receive a set of programs for working with texts, spreadsheets and TP, right in the browser. For many, Google Docs has completely replaced, as mentioned above, the paid MS O ffice.

To summarize (for these two services), we can say that the user is transferred from his usual offline environment to online.
Let's go further.

Cloud technologies and data storage

Cloud file storage is no less popular. The most famous repository is ..

• Dropbox.
  You can have several computers, but with the help of this cloud storage you can make a shared folder with files for all your PCs and even smartphones. The most interesting thing is that you don't have to do any special actions here, because the operating system itself will perceive the shared folder, like all other folders on the hard drive, and the dropbox will just synchronize. The service allows you to store up to 2 GB of data for free. It focuses on synchronization and information exchange. Dropbox keeps a history of downloads so that after deleting files from the server, it is possible to restore data, plus a history of file changes is kept, which is available for the last 30 days.
• Windows Live SkyDrive.
  The SkyDrive service allows you to save up to 7 GB (and you can exchange files up to 100 MB) of information organized using standard folders. For images there is a preview mode, as well as the ability to show them in the form of slides. In addition to the fact that the service is integrated with Microsoft Office, it also supports the new operating system (more precisely, the SkyDrive client is built into Metro applications and allows you to upload documents and photos to the cloud in one click, open files from a remote storage).
• And of course Google Drive. There will be a separate article about him.

By the way, not only all sorts of offices and file storages use cloud technologies. For example, in the camp of the fight against digital "evil" they also relied on cloud computing. And here's the result - the free Panda Cloud Antivirus.

It is based on innovative "collective intelligence" technology (which automatically detects new threats in a minimal period of time) and allows you to minimize the impact of protection on computer system resources, using the computing power of cloud technologies for most operations: analysis, blocking and attempts to remove malware.

Antivirus servers use information from millions of users of Panda's antivirus products around the world to automatically detect and classify new types of malware that appear every day.

In a nutshell, something like this, although there are still a bunch of services that could be talked about, but then you will have to write a volume of War and Peace :)
So let's get to the bottom line on the sly.

Cloud technologies. Cloudy or clear?

Quite simply, the cloud is the ability to always have guaranteed and secure access to all your personal information, as well as avoiding the need to keep a lot of unnecessary things in your pocket (all sorts of flash drives, disks, wires, and so on) or buy a new computer / components / programs / games, etc. There is no doubt that at the moment, cloud technologies are one of the most popular and interesting topics in the IT-sphere, and more and more interesting solutions that appear in the world are associated with them.

Of course, it is still difficult for an ordinary user to fully assess (and reveal) their full potential, but what he is can be seen with the naked eye.

Thus, without a doubt, the future of cloud technologies seems to be very bright, because such giants (Microsoft, Apple and Google) just certainly do nothing and it is quite clear that if they have already entered this uncharted territory, they are clearly not going to to leave it, because two years ago the concept of "cloud" seemed like just a beautiful idea and a bold experiment, and today the advantages of cloud technologies can be felt even by those people who are not related to software development, web technologies and other highly specialized things (the aforementioned Xbox Live, Windows Live, OnLive, Google Docs are vivid examples of this).

Afterword

Something like that. I hope that the information was interesting, useful and exciting for you. Stay with the project - here you are always welcome;)

As usual, if you have questions, additions, and other differences, then comments are at your service.

PS: Thanks to team member 25 FRAME for the existence of this article