In the IT world today, cloud computing is nothing new. But predictions are made that the personal cloud, the place where you store all your ‘private’ content, will completely replace local data storage on PCs. Personal cloud includes Google Drive and OneDrive from Microsoft. By the same token, enterprise will increasingly shift their storage of data and applications to cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure.
Some say that the cloud is to become the ‘glue’ that connects us to a web of devices and information. But how did we end up on the cloud? Let’s take a look at some of the standout moments in the timeline history of the cloud.
1969
ARPANET, the first version of the Internet, is developed by J. C. R. Licklider. ‘Lick’, as he is affectionately known, has a vision of an ‘Intergalactic Computer Network’ in which the human population is interconnected through computer networks. What a farfetched idea! Anyway, the ‘Intergalactic Computer Network’ or Internet has to exist for the development of the cloud.
1970s
Virtualisation takes off in business with IT vendors offering virtual private networks (VPNs) acting just like real computer networks, including operation systems, but with remote access and storage.
1990s
VPN technology is now popular in enterprises, a precursor to our modern cloud computing infrastructure.
2002
Amazon introduces web-based retail. Using cloud computing, they have the flexibility to use their own computing capacity with greater efficiency. Other organisations such as eBay follow in Amazon’s footsteps.
2006
Amazon launches Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS provides online services to other websites or clients. One AWS site, Amazon Mechanical Turk, offers cloud-based storage, computational applications and AI. AWS also has Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) letting people rent virtual computers while using their own programs and applications.
2006
Google isn’t far behind with the launch of Google Docs services. Initially, Google Docs only has two products: Google Spreadsheets and Writely. Using Writely, you can save and edit documents and upload them to blogging platforms. Both of Google’s products are compatible with Microsoft Office.
2007
Netflix begins its subscription movie-streaming service using the cloud. Now couch potatoes can binge-watch videos at their leisure.
2010
Not to be left out of the race, Microsoft launches Microsoft Azure, offering office 365 and SharePoint. Azure is pitched at corporate IT and CIOs, a market that both Amazon and Google have yet to capture.
2011
Apple launches iCloud for storing your personal data such as music and photos. At the same time, Microsoft advertises the cloud on TV and viewers quickly latch on to the idea of being able to store and easily access data in the cloud.
2012
Oracle introduces Oracle Cloud, with three services aimed at enterprises and corporations available: IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service).
So there you have it. That’s how we ended up on the cloud. What the future holds for cloud computing is anybody’s guess. But given the accelerated rate at which the cloud has grown over the last decade, we know that it’s here to stay. So it’s up in the air for both your pleasure and your business.
More on the cloud HERE
