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CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud computing is a way of storing, assessing, and saving your work online, instead of saving it on
your computer or your smartphone. You can think of it as a hard disk over the Internet. The users can
access files and applications anytime and from any device with an active Internet connection. Cloud
service includes databases, networking, software, storage, and servers over the Internet in a seamless
way. Individuals and companies can rent or buy cloud storage from a Cloud service provider instead of
owning and maintaining the complete computing infrastructure. This saves them from the operating
costs and problems associated with maintaining their infrastructure.

The idea of cloud computing was introduced by the scientist John McCarthy. He introduced the term
timesharing, which would enable the organisations to share a mainframe computer. But the term
Cloud Computing was coined by Prof. Ramnath Chellapa in the year 1997. In 1999, the first cloud

computing services websites launched were Salesforce.com and Google.
All the social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, X, Netflix, and WhatsApp use cloud
computing. In fact, all your personal data, photographs, and other details that you share on these
websites are saved on the Cloud! OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon

Web Service, etc., are some examples of cloud backup services where you
can save and keep your data secure. Alexa and Google Assistant are natural
language cloud-based bots. A bot is a software program that can do repetitive
tasks over the internet. Examples are chatbots, social bots, Googlebot, etc.

Benefits of Using Cloud Computing

Some benefits of cloud computing are:

Cost Effective: It eliminates the capital cost of maintaining computing infrastructure.
Speed and Flexibility: It allows faster access of resources from anywhere across the globe.

Ease of Storage: It offers unlimited storage space relieving the user from the worries of running out
of data storage space. Users do not have to worry about backups. It allows co-workers to easily share
files and communicate with each other.
Data Security: It offers advanced security and reliability features to the user for their data. There
are many authentication, access control and encryption measures which do not allow unauthorised

access to sensitive data.
Risks of Using Cloud Computing Just as roots connect trees in a
forest, email connects people
Some risks of using cloud computing are: across diverse networks.
Your sensitive data might be at risk from hackers.

Some people might face issues like data loss.

The user is always dependent on the Internet. So, if the user is unable to connect to the Internet,
he/she cannot access their files and data.

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