GoalExplain what cloud computing is and how files in the cloud are reached.
New words
cloud computing · storing and reaching data and programs through remote servers on the internetserver · a powerful computer that stores data and programs for many usersremote · far away, not in the same place as youon demand · ready whenever you ask for it
Explanation
Imagine a very big building in another city with thousands of lockers. You do not carry the building to school. When you need something from your locker, you travel there by road, open it with your key, and take it. Cloud computing works like that. It means storing and reaching data and programs through remote servers on the internet, on demand and from anywhere. Servers are powerful computers kept in special buildings. The road is the internet, and your key is your password. The cloud is not really in the sky: it is real computers in real buildings. We draw it as a cloud only as a symbol. Servers can connect people who are not on the same local network, so a pupil at school and the same pupil at home can reach the same files. One important point: you need an internet connection to reach what is stored in the cloud.
Worked examples
Lockers
The cloud
the building
remote servers
the road
the internet
your key
your password
open when you need
on demand
The locker building and the cloud compare like this: the building is the servers, the road is the internet, your key is your password, and opening the locker when you need it is ‘on demand’.
Mariam saves a drawing on a school computer. At home she reaches the same drawing on the family laptop. The file is not inside either device. It is stored on remote servers, and each device reaches it over the internet.
internet is off→cloud-only file cannot be reached→copy on the device still opens
A storm cuts Karim’s internet. He cannot open a file that is stored only in the cloud. A copy on his own device would still open. That is why important files are kept in more than one place.
Class activity
Draw the cloud journey. Draw a school computer, a home laptop and a big cloud in the middle. Join them with arrows. Label the cloud ‘servers’, the arrows ‘internet’ and a small key ‘password’. Then write one sentence: why is the cloud not really in the sky? No real accounts are needed.
Practice
1
What is cloud computing?
Storing and reaching data and programs through remote servers on the internet, on demand.
2
What are servers?
Powerful computers in special buildings that store data and programs for many users.
3
What do you need to reach files that are stored only in the cloud?
An internet connection (and your password).
4
Is the cloud in the sky? Explain.
No. It is real computers in real buildings; the cloud is only a symbol.
