The Problem Cloud Computing Solves

The "Old Way" (On-Premises)

Before cloud computing, launching a website or application meant:

• Buying physical servers - Huge upfront costs (Capital Expenditure/CapEx)
• Guessing capacity needs - Companies bought way more than they needed to handle peak traffic
• Long wait times - Ordering and setting up new servers took weeks or months
• Wasted resources - Servers sitting idle most of the time, but you still paid for them

The "New Way" (Cloud Computing)

Cloud computing flipped this model:

• Rent instead of buy - Pay monthly bills (Operational Expenditure/OpEx)
• No guesswork - Scale up or down based on actual demand
• Instant provisioning - Get servers in seconds, not weeks
• Pay for what you use - No more paying for idle resources

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing lets you store and access data and applications over the internet instead of using your computer's hard drive or a local server.

Cloud Computing Architecture

Cloud systems have three main layers:

1. Front End (User Interface)

• Thin clients - Web browsers (lightweight, accessible anywhere)
• Fat clients - Full applications with more features