A Cloud Computing Definition…..er…Feeling

Last time I was applying my trade as dirty cloud blogger, I sent myself off on some cloud definition homework.  I have since done so, just that I don’t have the discipline to turn in my homework on time.

Either way, I found that there is no one definition but there is some great work being done to create and agree upon the definitions of types of clouds, what they do, what they aren’t and what they are.  NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), is working on a definition of cloud computing here: http://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/index.html.  That might be as close to official as you get, but realize there is much debate yet over what is and isn’t cloud.

I can’t tell you what cloud computing is in one sentence and definitely can’t in an elevator.  But over time, my hope is that you’ll learn what Clouds aren’t, what Clouds can be, and where to go to find the smartest people on Clouds.  Incidentally, that would be here for now: (graciously copied from slide 64 of Christopher Hoff’s slide deck for his now famous presentation:  “The Frogs Who Desired A King – A Virtualization and Cloud Computing Security Fable“)

Cloud Computing Google Groups:

• Cloud Computing – http://groups.google.com/group/cloud-computing
• Cloud Computing Interoperability Forum – http://groups.google.com/group/cloudforum
• Cloud Storage – http://groups.google.com/group/cloudstorage

At the end of the day (month, year…)  even the smartest people in the world will still be debating who has the high ground in defining this buzzword.  Don’t get hung up on what every piece is or isn’t, but DO educate yourself and pay attention to how the cloud computing community’s definition is evolving.

There, my homeworks is done, kind of.  Now onto my desert, “Why Cloud Computing is Inevitable: A historical, from the gut observation”.