Cloud Computing With Amazon Web Services, Part 1: Introduction - When It's Smarter to Rent Than to Buy

Cloud computing can be loosely defined as using scalable computing resources provided as a service from outside the environment on a pay-per-use basis. One uses only what one needs, and pay for only what one uses. One can access any of the resources that live in the "Cloud" at any time, and from anywhere across the Internet. One doesn't have to care about how things are being maintained behind the scenes in the cloud. The cloud is responsible for being highly available and responsive to the needs of the application. Cloud computing has also been called utility computing, or grid computing.