Computers in the Clouds(a)|漫步在云端

by Owain Mckimm

Technology is moving into the clouds.

Describing cloud computing is almost as difficult as describing the Internet itself. With all its varied applications, complexities, uses, and potential, it is a vague term describing a new phenomenon. The cloud in cloud computing is synonymous with the Internet. It is described as such because the image of a cloud is often used to represent the Internet in charts. Cloud computing basically means using the Internet as a kind of computer.

This may be hard to comprehend at first, but most of us are probably more familiar with cloud computing than we know. We are all accustomed to things like Gmail, Facebook, and Flickr. These are applications which we use every day to send and receive email or store pictures and other forms of data. They are services which are not limited to one computer. They can be accessed from any device with an Internet connection and do not require users to invest in any additional hardware or maintenance services. This, in short, is the essence of cloud computing. It is computing as a service hosted by a third party rather than by the users themselves. Now expand this concept to include services, such as providing extra storage capacity, web servers, platforms for developing software, and a myriad of other applications without the need to create and maintain your own IT infrastructure, and you will begin to see the full potential and complexity of cloud computing.

It is estimated that by 2013, the cloud computing market will be worth around US$8.1 billion, and strangely, it is businesses that have been the last to take advantage of the phenomenon.

漫步在云端

科技正迈入云端的时代。

描述云端运算几乎和描述网络本身一样困难。从它各种不同的应用、复杂性、用途和潜力来看，云端运算是个用来描述 1 种新现象的模糊术语。云端运算里的『云』就等于网络。之所以用这个字描述，是因为网络在图表中常用云朵的形状来表示。云端运算基本上的意思，是把网络当作计算机来使用。

这个概念乍听之下可能很难理解，但我们大多数人对云端运算的熟悉度可能比我们所知的还来得高。使用像是 Gmail、脸书和 Flickr 这样的东西对我们来说都是家常便饭。这些都是我们日常用来收发电子邮件或储存相片等各类数据的应用程序。它们提供的服务不局限于 1 部计算机，而是只要能连接网络的任何设备就能存取，使用者不需额外花钱购买硬件或维修。简言之，这就是云端运算的本质。它是一种由第 3 端执行，而非用户本身执行的运算服务。现在将这个概念扩大到包含其他服务，像是提供额外的储存空间、网络服务器、软件开发平台，以及各式各样的应用，而这些都不需要你设立或维护自己的信息基础架构就能拥有，你将开始见识到云端运算的真正潜力和它的复杂性。

有人预估，到 2013 年，云端运算的市场价值将达到 81亿美元左右，而奇怪的是，企业反而是最后才利用云端运算的一环。