Cloud buster – Glossary of cloud-computing jargon

23 Mar 2011

Slightly baffled by the terminology surrounding the cloud? We demystify cloud computing terms.

Broadband:
You’ll need this to access the cloud in the first place. As cloud applications get more complex, broadband quality will need to be increased.

Cloud app:
A software application that sits on the internet, not on a local PC.

Cloud broker:
An entity that creates and maintains relationships with multiple cloud service providers.

Cloud:
A metaphor for a global network, first used in reference to the telephone network and now commonly used to represent the internet.

Cloud centre:
A large internet company, such as Amazon.com or Google, that provides firms with infrastructure via the web.

Cloud computing:
A networking solution in which everything from computing power to infrastructure, applications, business processes and collaboration are delivered as a service anytime, anywhere.

Cloud service:
The delivery of software, infrastructure or storage that has been packaged, automated and delivered online.

Cloud sourcing:
Replacing traditional IT services with cloud services.

Cloudstorming:
Connecting multiple cloud computing environments.

Private cloud:
An internal cloud that sits behind an organisation’s firewall. The cloud can then be managed by that company’s IT department, which can then offer cloud services to workers.

Public cloud:
A cloud-computing environment that is open for use by the general public. For example, Gmail, Hotmail, even Facebook.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS): Software services that are available over the internet to organisations’ workers such as CRM databases via Salesforce. com

Storage-as-a-service:
The ability to host and retrieve private data securely online, for example Amazon.com’s S3.

Software plus services:
Combining hosted services with capabilities best achieved with locally running software, for example Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS).

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com