Term of the Moment
HDL
Definition: cloud
A datacenter full of servers connected to users via a private network or the public Internet. The cloud hosts any combination of websites, email, video calling, media streaming, AI processing and other data processing services. The terms cloud and "cloud computing" are generally synonymous (see cloud computing).
The Cloud Symbol = Any Network
For decades, organizations have used a cloud symbol to represent their network in diagrams of computer resources when network infrastructure is not necessary. The important elements in such diagrams are the workstations and departments. The cloud symbol simply shows that the computers are connected to each other.
The Network Looks Like a Cloud
The Biggest Cloud: The Internet
The Cloud Symbol = Any Network
For decades, organizations have used a cloud symbol to represent their network in diagrams of computer resources when network infrastructure is not necessary. The important elements in such diagrams are the workstations and departments. The cloud symbol simply shows that the computers are connected to each other.
A cloud symbol reduces a network into entry and exit points when network details are not needed. Every local network contains servers, routers and switches, but in this type of diagram, those details are not necessary. See router, switch, private cloud, personal cloud, WAN and LAN.
The Internet comprises tens of millions of rack-mounted servers in huge datacenters run by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and other cloud computing providers, all of which are available to the general public. Companies may also have a cloud that is not connected to the Internet (see private cloud). See cloud computing, cloud storage and rack mounted.