What exactly is 'the cloud' in cloud computing?
There is no cloud - it's just someone else's computer.
The answer
Cloud computing means storing and processing data on remote servers in massive data centers rather than on your local device. Companies like Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google Cloud operate millions of servers across hundreds of facilities worldwide. The 'cloud' provides on-demand scalability - a startup can rent the same computing power as a Fortune 500 company and pay only for what it uses. As of 2024, over 60% of corporate data is stored in the cloud, and the industry generates over $600 billion annually.
Source: Amazon Web Services
- cloud computing
- infrastructure
- data centers
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