There\u2019s lots of talk today about the \u201ccloud\u201d today. But what exactly is it? Some may argue that the cloud is just marketing hype \u2013 a buzzword for a broad range of solutions being billed the latest, greatest trend that everyone is trying to exploit. Others \u2013 who oftentimes have a vested interest in a single product \u2013 may try to narrowly define the cloud as mandatory technical reference architecture comprised of a specific virtualization software residing on a particular hardware platform.
\nBut, in reality, the cloud is something in between those two extremes. It can be a combination of virtual, physical and hosted solutions that give users capacity on demand from a pool of computing resources. It should deliver scalability and flexibility, and offer self-provisioning and management. And you should only have to pay for what you use. <\/p>\n