What is Cloud Computing? Cloud computing is a general term for
anything that involves delivering hosted services over the
Internet. These services are broadly divided into three
categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-
Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The name cloud
computing was inspired by the cloud symbol that's often used to
represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams. A cloud
service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it
from traditional hosting. It is sold on demand - it is elastic
-- a user can have as much or as little of a service as they
want at any given time; and the service is fully managed by the
provider (the consumer needs nothing but a personal computer and
Internet access). Significant innovations in virtualization and
distributed computing, as well as improved access to high-speed
Internet and a weak economy, have accelerated interest in cloud
computing. Cloud Computing revolutionizes the way businesses
work by allowing instant,