Cloud computing has been becoming popular nowadays. The term “cloud” refers to a cloud picture often used in a network scheme architecture or a topography that is identical with the internet.

There are four types of cloud that are mostly used for businesses. They are listed below:

Private Cloud limits a cloud for one organization only. The cloud resource can’t be shared to other organizations or users. The cloud type is mostly used for inter business interactions. In this regard, a single and same organization can manage, own and operate the cloud resource.

Public Cloud accommodates for Business to Consumer (B2C) interaction. Public Cloud utilizes computing resources that are owned, arranged and operated by the government.

Hybrid Cloud is open for two interaction types, Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2C). That makes the hybrid cloud is bound together but with different cloud resources.

Community Cloud refers to the use of the cloud resource for community and organization.

 

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, cloud computing is a modelling that makes it possible for configurating computing resources, such as network, server, storage, application and service. The cloud computing technology allows users to access the computing resources at their most convenience and ease. The cloud computing innovation accommodates for management to create immediate usage and reduce dependency on providers.

The term “cloud computing” isn’t entirely new. We have used the innovation for years. The simplest example of the system usage is electronic letter service or popularly known as email. Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and other technology giants use cloud computing for creating and managing Gmail, Ymail, Hotmail, respectively.

As users, we can access the email services from everywhere provided that we are connected to the internet. Each of the email service providers uses their servers to keep the emails. We run the email services via the browsers that we use. That roughly describes the use of cloud computing in email services.

Another popular example of the cloud computing usage is Facebook. The social media company utilizes the cloud computing technology to run its various contents, like Candy Crush Saga, Farm Heroes Saga, Criminal Case and others. As Facebook users, we can play with the games without installing them in our computers. We thus needn’t to worry on hard disk capacities.

The cloud computing system has some weaknesses and strengths that draw some pros and cons. We briefly explain them in the following.

The Strengths of the Cloud Computing

Easy access stands out among benefits of the cloud computing technology. We don’t need to use the same computer to do a certain task. For example, you are tasked for making materials for a presentation in Power Point application format. You can create the materials in Google Docs or Skydrive of Windows Live if you don’t have any Power Point application in your computer. Simply connect your computer to your Google account the log into it. The same applies if you choose Windows Live. You can now start making the materials online.

The example depicts how flexible the cloud computing system is. You don’t need to keep the materials in our hard disk or flash disk that will take up space in the external storage tools. You can open the files where you keep the materials wherever you are as long as you are connected to the internet. You don’t need to carry laptop if you have to present the materials at the company’s subsidiary company because the presentation materials are kept in the cloud.

The cloud computing system helps companies, especially big scale ones, saving costs. The technology helps reducing budget for computer infrastructure procurement and maintenance that typically take up big budgets. The firms will hire a fair amount of IT staffs who won’t deal with updates, configurations and other things that don’t relate to computing anymore. The cloud computing system frees the companies for paying software licenses that are installed in computers. The cloud computing system runs the programs that are previously taken from the software.

The Weaknesses of the Cloud Computing

Internet connection holds the key to use the cloud computing system. It can be said that internet connection marks as the only way by which we can make use of the technology. We can’t connect to the cloud if internet connection is unavailable. The internet connection factor remains a hurdle, especially in Indonesia. Not all of the country’s regions are connected to the internet. Unstable and insufficient internet connection becomes problems for some of the country’s regions that are already linked to the internet.

Using the cloud computing technology raises doubts over privacy and security. The innovation drives us putting our whole trust our data privacy and security to the cloud computing service provider. For instance, you manage privacy configuration to keep your photos in Facebook. That means we put our trust to Facebook on the pictures’ file safety. We can’t sue Facebook in case the photos disappear because we use the storage service for free. There have been a number of hosting (server) file storage rental companies, such as 4shared, Indowebster, Ziddu and others. Some require you to pay some amount of money while others offer for free.

We need to consider the quality of the cloud computing server prior to providing cloud computing server service. It is possible that we will bear loses if we hire an unreliable server provider. That will cause poor file storage system or accidental disrupted program access. A poor server provider quality will instead cause some troubles on us, not to ease our use of the cloud computing system.