Cloud Computing is a term that is often bandied about the web these days and often attributed to different things that — on the surface — don’t seem to have that much in common. So just what is Cloud Computing? I’ve heard it called a service, a platform, and even an operating system. Some even link it to such concepts as grid computing — which is a way of taking many different computers and linking them together to form one very big computer.

A basic definition of cloud computing is the use of the Internet for the tasks you perform on your computer. The “cloud” represents the Internet.

Cloud Computing is a Service

The simplest thing that a computer does is allow us to store and retrieve information. We can store our family photographs, our favorite songs, or even save movies on it. This is also the most basic service offered by cloud computing.

Flickr is a great example of cloud computing as a service. While Flickr started with an emphasis on sharing photos and images, it has emerged as a great place to store those images. In many ways, it is superior to storing the images on your computer.

First, Flickr allows you to easily access your images no matter where you are or what type of device you are using. While you might upload the photos of your vacation to Greece from your home computer, you can easily access them from your laptop while on the road or even from your iPhone while sitting in your local coffee house.

Second, Flickr lets you share the images. There’s no need to burn them to a compact disc or save them on a flash drive. You can just send someone your Flickr address.  Read more...

When you think of remote control you likely think of a television or a remote control car. Although definitely not the same, remote control software is similar to these items in the fact that the user has complete control of another device at hand. Simply put, this software allows for an internet-based device or computer to be accessed through a virtual connection. This means that you could connect to your friend’s computer down the road as long as both computers consent to the connection. As another example, an iPhone can be used to access your computer back at home. Once the connection is established, the host computer has complete access to the remote computer, and can interact with the computer as if they are physically in front of the computer.

The great thing about remote control software is that it completely bypasses one of the most common problems in staying connected in the digital age: distance. With this type of software, you can access a computer or device from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world. You can connect to a computer in the next room, or you can connect to one that is thousands of miles away. This is an amazing benefit of using this type of software.

While this software is generally reserved for computer technicians and everyday users who need to have access to other network computers, because of its abilities, remote control software has become widely used as a technology utilized in training and teaching employees and students. Long-distance learning is very common in today’s world, and there are tremendous implications of using this technology in a classroom and/or learning setting.  Read more...

Computers come in all sizes, from large to small. There are two divided categories; the first is computers for individuals and the second is computers for organization.

Computers for Individuals

Professional Workstation – provides powerful tools for engineers, architects, circuit designers, financial analysts, and other professionals who need exceptionally powerful processing and output capabilities. They are the most expensive type of computers made for individuals.

Desktop Computers – are personal computers designed for an individual’s use. They run programs designed to help individuals accomplish their work more productively. Increasingly, they’re also used to gain access to the resources of computer networks, such as the Internet.

Network Computers (NCs) – provide much of a PC’s functionality at a lower price. Because they get their software from a computer network, they don’t need disk drives. In the consumer market, NCs such as WebTV enable consumers to use their televisions to connect to the Internet.

Notebook computers – are small enough to fit in a briefcase. Many of them are as powerful as desktop PCs and include nearly all of a PC’s components, such as stereo sound, CD-ROM drive, and a modem. People also speak of laptop computers, which are portable computers that are bit too large to fit into a briefcase, but few are being made now that notebooks have become so powerful.

Sub notebooks – are notebook computers that omit some components (such as a CD-ROM drive) to cut down on weight and size. Some of them weigh less than three pounds.

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) – also called handhelds, pack much of a notebooks’ power into a much lighter package. Most include built-in software for appointments, scheduling, and electronic mail, and pen computers accept handwritten input.

Computers for Organization  Read more...

Hardware examples are from the keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer, scanner, speaker to the components that consists your system unit. Hardware actually means hard and visible. On the other hand, software which you visible see but virtually, like your Operating System (Windows XP, Vista, 7….. LinuxOS, MacOS, etc.), Word processor, spreadsheets, etc.

The hardware components and software are essential to your computer, the two are interdependent to each other, and it means that if one area will be defective then both will not function properly. That is, the hardware and your processor don’t each other, so software will be mediate between so that the processor can give understandable command where the hardware follow, so hardware will be useless if there is no software that can communicate to it. Likewise software will depend on hardware availability and functionality, that is software will be use if there is no hardware that it should communicate, and after all software will not be around without the hardware. This is a kind of egg and chicken who did come first thing.

Regardless of any argument, both are created to make the life of the user easier and convenient, and we can rest assure that there will be an evolution that will innovate existing software and hardware such as voice operated computer which currently we see from other gadgets and stuffs around the globe. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow, just watch the news….

Protecting both hardware and software are very advisable, obviously. In the hardware part, you should know troubleshooting techniques to locate the problem of your computer hardware by the use of either software or other methods. While in the software part, you should be watching about viruses, malware, or even incorrect installation.  Read more...

Cloud computing is a new buzz in the Information Technology world. As the name implies, cloud computing includes anything that involves applications and services that run and hosted on the internet.

Actually, in spite of the fact that the term of “cloud computing” is somehow new, the concept itself is not so new. We have already used cloud computing for long ago. Anytime we use an application that is not hosted on our own computer, we make use of the cloud computing services available on the internet. We are all familiar with email services provided by Gmail, or Yahoo. This is actually a services we get from the so called “cloud computing”. So the first basic concept of cloud computing is simple: the use of services hosted somewhere in the internet, per demand, rather than hosting the services permanently on our computer.

But what’s new about cloud computing? Why is it perceived as a new technology?

The buzz has built lately due to the increasing use of internet by the world’s population, either for personal purposes or for firms and large companies. The increase of demand for services and applications that are located somewhere in the internet cloud, rather in our computer, paved the way for new technologies, well suited for distributed computing power and distributed services, with high availability to everyone, at any time.

The service itself is maintained by the service provider. The cloud computing service provider needs to manage the service efficiently in order to enable access to service by many users at a given time. He needs to use new technologies of high speed interfaces such as Infiniband, Fiberchannel, and GigaBit Ethernet, as well as computer technologies such as virtualization and compression. Special software platforms need to be used too. Keeping scalability of the hosted cloud is also one of provider’s main concerns. Security aspect should be resolved. Payment models were developed too.  Read more...