What is cloud computing? Many of us use it every day. Platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Apple iCloud have become the norm in business. It has made file-sharing and life in general, so much easier, people are using it for personal use as well. Here’s how it works!

Cloud Computing Explained

Technically, cloud computing is the use of computing resources (hardware and software) that are delivered as a service over a network, typically the Internet. The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts remote services with a user’s data, software, and computation.

In layman’s terms, cloud computing is like a hard drive located on a network (like your home network) on the internet that you can use.

Apple iCloud Example

If you have an iPhone and an IPad and want to make sure you can recover lost data, simply back up your devices to iCloud. You can even sync your IPad with your iPhone! This makes them the same, allows you to share pictures and other information. Apple provides you the ability to store up to 5 Gb of information free on their servers. Don’t have an IPad, iPhone, or other Apple device? There are many other options.

Why Cloud Computing Makes Life Easier?

Cloud storage options are available to make life easier. I personally use one for business and one for pleasure. Here’s one good example of why I use it in my personal life. My daughter lives in Ireland and we use the cloud to keep in touch. Taking photos with my iPhone, or camera and trying to send them via email was a daunting task. I could barely attach 1 photo to an email. This is because most high-resolution photos are over 1Mb in size and too large to email. Sending multiple photos is usually rejected by the ISP or webmail platforms like Yahoo.

Let’s say I wanted to share some pictures with someone or access files no matter where I was. I would simply create an account with any of these companies, and start adding files, photos, books, music, or videos to the folders I created. If I wanted to share some of these items, I simply would create a shared folder and invite someone to share it with.

My Personal Cloud Favourites

A cloud platform fave for personal use is SugarSync. My daughter opened a SugarSync account and I created a folder that we share. This folder resides on my desktop (or whatever device you are using) and I upload pictures there pretty quickly. She can then open her desktop folder and view the photos I shared with her and has the ability to share with me as well. We share photos, books, videos, music, and more!

Now, let me also caution you, these new storage methods only work if the Internet works. So, for safety measures, if you have important documents, back them up locally on something that you can take with you. I use the 690 Gb Transcend, tough as nails, portable, and army tested.

Have a great day in the cloud! Learn more about me and what I do in business here!