I honestly hate the term. It comes from the early ’90 when network designers would throw the image of a Cloud into their diagrams to represent a big portion of the network that didn’t need to be defined. It was used to represent the complexity of the internet outside of your local network in an ethereal icon.
The cloud represents the portion of the internet you don’t need to understand. It’s just magic. When we say it’s in “The Cloud” or “Cloud Computing” we are relying on someone else’s technology to care for our data or applications.
The concept is that we can deploy an application or tool-set for data storage onto a bunch of servers and give your systems access to that information through your internet connection. You don’t need to have a local server hosting you that data, instead you just need an internet connection. Salesforce was a pioneer in this space providing one of the earliest SaaS (Software as a Service) tool on the internet back in 1999.
So the Cloud is some special Data Center somewhere in the world?
Yes, and no. It could be a bunch of data centers linked working together to answer your query. It could also be a local relay server closer to you to make sure you have a good experience. It can also be on your own network.
I can host my own “Cloud”?
YES! Since “The Cloud” is anything connected to the internet, if your local network is connected to the internet, you technically can host your own Application or Data. As server hardware becomes obsolete, you can actually build your own servers and deploy your own applications that you host off of your internet connection. Of course, there are negatives to this (power consumption, heat, internet/power outages) but you’d be surprised what you can do with your own “Cloud”.