Eli5: what is cloud, in computer networking terms.
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To be on the internet, the information needs to be on a server, that it’s a computer connected to the internet designed to be efficient at receiveing requests and delivering the responses.
Originally, you needed to set up your own server. With time, companies appeared offering the service of “setting up your server”, but there still was a specific computer dedicated to it. Later, companies started to set up generic servers, renting space on it. At the same time, big companies were setting up servers in different locations, setting them up in order to exchange information between each other, blurring the difference between each server. Companies started to set up their generic servers in a similar fashion, renting space and resources without being tied to a specific computer. This is basically the “cloud”.
The idea of “cloud” is that the idea of server as a physical thing (the specific computer where the information is) is separated from the server as an interactive thing (the management of the requests). There’s a layer between each other, this lets the “physical” side of the servers to be set up, configured and maintained without interrupting the exchange of information.
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