Internet vs Cloud Computing
Internet is a global network of billions of interconnected computers around the world. It offers many resources and services such as the World Wide Web and email. For example, World Wide Web offers users the access to trillions of hyperlinked documents. More recently, the focus has moved towards offering all of the resources (which are traditionally available locally) over the Internet. Cloud Computing is a direct result of this initiative, which offers many resources such as software, platforms and infrastructure as services.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is the emerging technology of delivering many kinds of resources as services, mainly over the Internet. Delivering party is referred to as the service providers, while the users are known as the subscribers. Subscribers pay subscription fees typically on a per-use basis. Cloud computing is broken down into few different categories based on the type of service provided. SaaS (Software as a Service) is the category of cloud computing in which the main resources available as a service are software applications. PaaS (Platform as a Service) is the category/application of cloud computing in which the service providers deliver a computing platform or a solution stack to their subscribers over the Internet. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is the category of cloud computing in which the main resources available as a service are hardware infrastructure. DaaS (Desktop as a Service), which is an emerging –aaS service deals with providing a whole desktop experience over the Internet. This is sometimes referred to as desktop virtualization/virtual desktop or hosted desktop.
What is Internet?
Internet (short form for internetwork) is a global network of interconnected computers. It is actually a network of networks, which connects billions of computers belonging to millions of public, private, government and academic networks. Internet uses the TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) for the communication between the interconnected computers. The core Internet protocols (IPv4 and IPv6) are been standardized by the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). Computers are physically connected through electronic, optical and wireless technologies. Hypertext documents that make up the World Wide Web and the infrastructure needed for email are two of the most widely used resources/services that are carried by the Internet. With the introduction of services like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) and IPTV, many traditional communication media (such as telephone, newspaper and television) have been reshaped. Traditional printed media like newspapers and books are now available on web sites, blogs or feeds. Internet has made the world a much smaller place through its various mechanisms for interaction (such as Instant Messaging, forums, chat rooms and Social Networking). Furthermore, E-business has taken over the traditional business.
What is the difference between Internet and Cloud Computing?
Internet is a network of networks, which provides software/hardware infrastructure to establish and maintain connectivity of the computers around the word, while Cloud computing is a new technology that delivers many types of resources over the Internet. Therefore Cloud computing could be identified as a technology that uses the Internet as the communication medium to deliver its services. Cloud services can be offered within enterprises through LANs but in reality, Cloud computing cannot operate globally without the Internet.