Over 120 staff and students attended ITSC Open Day—Cloud Computing on 15 September, which aimed at showcasing the concept, application, development, merits and trends of cloud technology to CUHK members. There were talks from a CUHK professor, key cloud computing players in the market, exhibitions, and visits to the University’s central computer room.

What is the definition of ‘cloud computing’?

The most commonly quoted definition comes from the US Institute for Standards and Technology which states that ‘Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of resources—networks, servers, storage, applications and services—that can be rapidly provided and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.’


When was the term coined?

The term ‘cloud computing’ was coined in 2007. However, the basic concept has been around for years. In fact, cloud computing activities are involved in much of our daily electronic life, such as checking the Gmail box, blogging in MSN, sharing photos via Flickr etc.


Why is it named ‘cloud’?

It is said that people always have no idea about Internet space outside the personal computer, so the image of cloud is commonly used to represent that area. Now, the new coinage was introduced to refer to this new service model.