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You may have heard people using terms like the cloud, cloud computing, or cloud storage. But what exactly is the cloud?
Simply put, the cloud is the Internet—more specifically, it's all of the things you can access remotely over the Internet. When something is in the cloud, it means it's stored on Internet servers instead of your computer's hard drive.
Watch the video below to learn more about the cloud.
Looking for the old version of this video? You can still view it here.
Some of the main reasons to use the cloud are convenience and reliability. For example, if you've ever used a web-based email service, such as Gmail or Yahoo! Mail, you've already used the cloud. All of the emails in a web-based service are stored on servers rather than on your computer's hard drive. This means you can access your email from any computer with an Internet connection. It also means you'll be able to recover your emails if something happens to your computer.
Let's look at some of the most common reasons to use the cloud.
Previously, we talked about how desktop applications allow you to perform tasks on your computer. But there are also web applications—or web apps—that run in the cloud and do not need to be installed on your computer. Many of the most popular sites on the Internet are actually web apps. You may have even used a web app without realizing it! Let's take a look at some popular web apps.
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