Let's talk about cloud computing

Overview

Teaching: 10 min
Exercises: 0 min

Questions

• What’s cloud computing?

Objectives

• Learn about this thing we call ‘Cloud Computing’.

There is a lot of hype around cloud computing, and like other hyped technology there can be confusion around what it is how to best use it. You maybe familiar with commerical cloud operators like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud (there are many others). To help demystify this thing we call ‘Cloud Computing’, just remember this simple truth: the cloud is just someone else’s computer.

Like your laptop it can run a variety of operating systems (ie: Windows, various Linuxes), perform calculations for you and run your algorithms. There are some important differences between running jobs on your laptop and running them on the cloud.

• Your laptop needs to be turned off or put to sleep, the Cloud can run with high uptime
• If your problem runs slowly on your laptop, you’re stuck. The cloud gives you options to scale your problem
• If your laptop is run over in the carpark, you may lose your work. Cloud systems are operated in professional data centres with backup and redundancy solutions.

The bottom line is that cloud computing frees you from being limited by your personal computing equipment, and helps you secure elements of your research from personal physical security issues.

Key Points

• The Cloud is just someone else’s computer.

• You can run compute jobs without interruption.