Cloud computing is a technology that has evolved alongside the growth of data, permeating our daily lives and being used in a variety of fields. It enables efficient use of resources through virtualization and distributed processing, and is expected to play a key role in advanced infrastructures such as smart cities in the future, along with its environmental benefits.
With the computerization of all sectors in the 21st century, the amount of data is doubling every year. This is not just a sign of more data, but that data itself is beginning to be recognized as an asset and competitive advantage. The accumulation and analysis of data has become a factor in determining the success of companies and the direction of government policy. This means that the amount of data we will process this year is comparable to the total amount of data humans have accumulated in the last year. The growing volume of data has given rise to the term big data, and the ability to handle it has become more important than any other skill. The technology behind this is cloud computing. It’s a technology that may seem intimidating and obscure, but it’s actually very close to the masses.
Almost everyone has used or heard of services like Apple’s iCloud and Google Drive. The term cloud computing itself is thrown around a lot, but not many people really understand what it is. In fact, a Silicon Valley software company called Citrix conducted a survey of 1,000 people about cloud computing. The results of the survey showed that more than half of the people said that cloudy weather affects cloud computing. These results show how little people understand cloud computing. If you’re interested in computer technology, you’ll be shocked at the results.
So, why is cloud computing important and why is it so poorly understood despite its popularity? One reason is that it is a producer-based technology rather than a user-based technology. The fact that cloud computing is a producer technology is also important to understand. You’ve probably seen server rooms in businesses and schools before. In order for multiple people to perform computing tasks, you needed a large server computer and a room to house it, an air conditioner to keep it cool, and a few experts to build a computing environment using the server computer. Today, however, you don’t need hardware like server computers, a physical space like a server room, or computing experts to build a computing environment. The era of one-person development has arrived, where a single developer can build a computing environment.
As you can see, cloud computing technology has led to a dramatic increase in productivity. Cloud computing is not a proprietary technology of any one company, but has evolved in a complex ecosystem where many companies around the world collaborate and compete. The technology is already used by nearly every business to run computing environments or provide services to users. The IEEE defines cloud computing as “a paradigm in which information is stored permanently on servers on the Internet and temporarily on clients, such as desktop or table computers, laptops, wall-mounted computers, portable devices, etc. Cloud computing allows clients to utilize computing resources without the need for physical space and physical devices, as long as they have an internet connection.
In addition to dematerialization, cloud computing has the revolutionary characteristic of on-demand. On-demand means that clients use resources only as much as they need, which can be understood as pay-as-you-go. For example, let’s say Harvard University runs servers for course registration. If it were to run its servers in the classic way, it would need to prepare high-performance server computers to handle the traffic of tens of thousands of concurrent users on registration day. However, after the enrollment period is over, the number of users drops significantly, and the utilization rate of these expensive, high-performance computers becomes low, which means that computing resources are wasted. The space and depreciation costs of physical computers also cannot be ignored. However, with cloud computing, it is possible to lower the specification of computing resources after the course is finished and operate the server efficiently at a low cost.
The core technologies of cloud computing that enable on-demand computing resources are virtualization and distributed processing. In the past, it was impossible to change the operating system on a computer system, and it was unthinkable to run multiple operating systems on a single machine. However, technology has evolved to logically divide a single physical computer system into many smaller systems. These advances in virtualization technology made it possible to partition underutilized high-performance computers and allow multiple people to share computing resources. Distributed processing is a technology that allows multiple computers connected by an internet network to logically partition tasks under one operating system. In the past, you had to purchase a higher-powered computer system to perform a task that was too large for your current computer system to handle. But with distributed processing technology, you only need to acquire a less efficient computer system to handle the task.
In short, virtualization technology tricks parts of a fragmented system into thinking they are a single, intact computer system. Distributed processing technology tricks the operating system into thinking that multiple systems are a single, high-performance computer system. This results in better overall utilization of computing resources and lower costs. Cloud computing service providers also operate data centers with computer systems and communications equipment, and these data centers are not limited to a specific geographic area, but have the flexibility to be built in remote, mountainous areas where land prices are low. This has environmental benefits that go beyond mere economic gains. Cloud computing is a technology that dramatically increases the efficiency, economy, and productivity of the information industry, while also contributing to the environment by reducing social costs. It is likely to be at the core of advanced infrastructures such as smart cities of the future, and its role will only grow as data-driven decision-making becomes increasingly important.
