How Does Cloud Computing Work?

Cloud computing lets you access storage, data, and application services over the internet. It’s fast and convenient and frees you from a close dependence on local data. But how does cloud computing work? What happens behind the stage when you upload a file to Dropbox or use Gmail? Read on to find out.

Remote Servers

Whether you’re using cloud computing to store data, run an app, or access social media, the workings behind the stage are more or less the same. It all starts with remote servers.

Cloud services providers like Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, or Amazon connect groups of remote computer servers to create a centralized network. These computer servers are more powerful than your home computers. And they take up a lot more space.

Data Centers

These centralized servers are usually stored in a secure data warehouse or data center that receives round the clock protection. Large cloud services providers set up dozens of data warehouses in different locations around the world.

For security reasons, your data can be stored across multiple data centers in different locations. That means you can’t really tell where the data is stored in the cloud at any given point.

What’s more, data centers can be set up in such a way that if a natural disaster occurs, backup servers can pick up their work without disrupting the service they provide.

The Internet

In cloud computing, the internet acts as a bridge between your cloud provider’s data centers and your computer or mobile device. Without the internet, you can’t upload or access data in the data center. The term “cloud” in term computing actually refers to the internet.

User Device

To access or upload data in the cloud, you need a computer or mobile device connected to the internet. You can only use the cloud while you are online.

But many cloud services provide applications that save data in real-time and allow for offline syncing. That means that if you get disconnected or suffer a power outage, your work won’t be lost—it will sync when your connection comes back.

Companies that use cloud computing services rely on routers and switches to link all the computers in the office and make cloud services easily accessible to all their employees.

Cloud Computing Interface

Depending on the cloud computing service you choose, you may use a web app available through your web browser or an application installed on your device. Many cloud service providers work through both. For example, you can use Dropbox or Google Drive by going to the online service page or by downloading and installing an app available on all major operating systems.

A cloud storage service app will let you upload files from your computer and sync them across devices. A productivity suite like the G Suite from Google will provide several web-based apps that you can access through your browser.

How Does Cloud Computing Work – Final Thoughts

Cloud computing isn’t all that complicated, it is? When you realize that the cloud is, in fact, a network of devices and data centers connected over the internet, understanding how cloud computing works becomes a lot easier.

Ultimately, cloud computing enables you to use the internet to access computing resources and apps without worrying all that much about the technical side of things. Cloud computing is nothing if not convenient.