Cloud Computing has a few varied meanings from API services such as twitter to web-based (read cloud-based) email services such as gmail and yahoo.

An even bigger tectonic shift is happening though, in the area of infrastructure and hosting, to cloud based solutions.  No longer is provisioning a slow ordering process, followed by a multi-year contract and commitment with an associated high price tag.  Now computing resources can be provisioned and “spin-up” in seconds, even allowing for auto-scaling, bringing new computing resources online dynamically as seasonal traffic patterns demand.

• uniquely suited to applications with seasonal traffic requirements
• supports disaster recovery effectively for free
• allows temporary provisioning of test environments
• facilitates auto-scaling of bare metal servers
• no huge budgetary outlay, pay for only what you use
• bring up resources in seconds – supports true agile development

What’s more since cloud resources are all provisioned in software through an API, it encourages the treatment of infrastructure as a whole as software.  Now the scripts to completely rebuild all of your systems, from spin-up, to package configuration to application configuration can all be done in software, and managed in version control.

Sean Hull asks the question on Quora: What is Cloud Computing?

Related posts:

1. Cloud Computing – Disciplined Deployments
2. Cloud Computing Use Cases
3. How To Build Highly Scalable Web Applications For The Cloud
4. Introduction to EC2 Cloud Deployments
5. 5 Steps to Cloud Computing