What exactly is cloud computing?

i've never really needed to use it. but now that i'm getting into servers and networking more, its a topic of interest to me.

if you could explain it as a real world example that would be great since that is the way i learn best.What exactly is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is basically an internet based computing solution where resources such as personal files, data, and application files are provided to a users device on demand.



An example of this would be the cellphone, SideKick. The SideKick itself does not store a user's information such as contact lists. Instead the lists are stored on the 'cloud' and accessed when the user requests it.



Pros of cloud computing would be having access to large amounts of data and software without requiring space to store them on devices.

A huge Con of cloud computing, which the SideKick experienced, is that if the system which stores the data becomes corrupt or fails, users will not have access to their data.What exactly is cloud computing?
Well the cloud is representing the Internet Cloud.



ie Instead of trying to show heaps and heaps of devices that represent the Internet, just show a cloud.



One of the easiest thing to think off in the cloud is a computer that can be remotely controlled.



ie There is a computer or server out there in the Cloud and it's yours, no one else has access to it, and you use Remote Screen Access such as VNC to control it.



However it's unlikely, although not impossible, to get your own computer or server, that's where you get into services where that one computer or server is divided up for many different users and/or many different tasks.



Different Cloud Computing companies will offer a number of different options in-so-far as tasks, user type, user amounts and costs.



I hope that has explain it as best as I can :)What exactly is cloud computing?
cloud computing is much the same as distributed computing.

it is essentially using a service outside the realm of the conventional network/firewall or client, to extend the network's capabilities.

with the recent advent of "web 2.0" and social networking as well as mobile phone clients which cannot really store all the data they work with, the term is being thrown around pretty inclusively, and pretty much refers to any computing task using the power of the "cloud" of computers wirelessly connected that is the internet, to extend it's ability; from a blackberry syncing, to a myspace whore using imageshack for image hosting.