I’ve
always been a fan of science fiction. There’s something about the unknown or
the possibilities of changing the natural world through technology that is
exciting to me. Television shows like Star Trek and movies like Star Wars or
Alien were very thrilling to watch because they enabled my imagination to soar
to levels I didn’t think were possible. What if there were worlds out there
with intelligent life comparable to humans? What if technology existed that was
far more advanced than we were using right now? Today in the twenty-first
century it appears that a lot of the things I saw on TV and in the movies are
becoming reality.
An
example of this is how computer technology has evolved. First the military and
various government agencies used computers to make processes quicker and easier
to accomplish. Then that computer technology was improved and released to the
public to use in our private and business environments. Then that technology
morphed even more into cell phone and mobile device technology so that we could
make it portable. That wasn’t enough. Today we now have the ability to not just
make computer technology and services portable, but available without the need
to carry a device at all! Cloud computing as it’s called today, now makes it possible
for data storage, software, communications and related computer services to be
available to anyone in the world for a reasonable fee. All you need is a device
to access the services, and in some instances you can even rent that as well!
In
the United States, some cities have emerged as real technology giants. Those
metro areas include San Francisco, Portland, Austin, New York and Seattle. Most
of these cities have a lot in common – very diverse populations, educated
workforces, superb higher education systems, world class public and highway
transportation networks, among many other community assets. For instance,
Seattle, where I currently live, is home to some of the world’s leading tech
companies and has a reputation for being an incubator of innovative businesses.
In Seattle, cloud services providers are plentiful, so if you run a business
here you have many options at your disposal.
For
clarity, cloud services are hosted services delivered via the Internet. They
are often sold on per service basis, are flexible, and managed entirely by the
customer. While “clouds” can be private, similar to an intranet, most providers
make their services public similar to the general internet, so that they can be
accessed more easily. They also come in three distinct “flavors” or options –
infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and
software-as-a-service (SasS). IaaS is mostly sold as an alternative to data
storage and is basically a virtual server that clients can use to store
important files and related information. Web hosting was one of the earliest
examples of this kind of service option. PaaS is often used as a virtual
laboratory of sorts for developers to create or improve upon software
applications. An early example of PaaS was open source software. Finally, SaaS is
basically a service that provides virtual access to existing software
applications. This option has become very popular for companies that need to
have access to word processing, accounting, and related software for multiple
employees at more than one location. It saves time on having to install and
obtain licenses for every computer and employee who needs access. Additional
options offered by cloud services companies in Seattle include voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP), which are telephone and related communications
services made available via the Internet.
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