Popular press Article (cloud computing for E-learning) - Essay Example

Running Head: Cloud Computing for e-learning Submitted: The submitter: The location: Telephone Number: Fax Number: Email: Cloud computing Cloud computing is the recent trend in computing which is a technological advancement in data storage. Cloud computing refers to the technology and technique used for delivering services hosted over the internet. There are three main categories. The infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (Paas) and Software as a Service (SaaS). The main characteristics of cloud computing are elastic where the customer is served according to customer’s demand and ability.

For instance services of hosting the resources for an hour, a month or a year. The service provider manages everything while the consumer only need to have a laptop or a desktop computer to access the services. There are several categories of cloud computing. The first one is where the public get to sell their services freely on the internet, which is, referred public cloud. Amazon and Google are the largest public cloud computing service providers where users from the public domain can access.

Private cloud is a characteristic where the organization offering cloud computing services host their resources with limited access from the public. A virtual cloud is where the public cloud is created to be private. Scalable and easy IT services and computing resource are the main aim of cloud computing regardless of the characteristics of the cloud services. Amazon provides virtual server instance API, which is an example of Infrastructure-as-a-Service as a Web Service. Amazon provides virtual servers and storage space for their clients.

Amazon calls its Cloud model service as Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). This service is across several Operating system vendor versions such as Linux, Solaris and Window Operating system. Web development application is another form of cloud computing. Google is offering hardware services where developers upload their Python codes then they run the application. Cloud computing is compared to utility services such as electricity and water hence referred to utility computing. PaaS is a service offered in terms of software and product tools that are provided by the host company.

Software are installed in a client machine via the web portal or a gateway. GoogleApps and Salesforce.com (Force.com) are an example of Platform-as-a-service. The standards for data exchange and standards for data portability currently some developers are still protecting their software and platform. The software-as-a-service in cloud computing is a model where the software product and the client interact via the front-end portal such as a web. The user can access the resources and data from anywhere because the vendor or the service provider hosts everything.

Because many learning institutions have limited resources and infrastructure necessary for e-learning. This has necessitated the use of Blackboard and Moodle, as the major players in the field of e-learning software; they have developed editions that are cloud oriented. Various educational levels use e-learning such as academic courses, continuous education, company trainings, e.t.c. there are a number of e-learning solutions which are open source and also commercial. At least two entities are involved with the e-learning, the student and the trainer.

The e-learning systems can get the benefits of cloud computing by using the infrastructure, the platform and the services provided by the vendor.References Neal Weinberg, 2009, Network World, Cloud Computing: Hot technologies for 2009, retrieved from, http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2009/outlook/hottech/010509-nine-hot-techs-cloud-computing.htmlSearch cloud computing 2007, Cloud computing, retrieved from, http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-computing