Cloud buster

16.10.2011 With the recent high-profile security breaches of Sony's PlayStation Network, along with outages at Amazon's data centres, LAURA O'BRIEN asks providers how secure data is in the...

Broadband: You'll need this to access the cloud to begin with. As cloud applications get more complex, broadband quality throughout Ireland will need to be increased.

Cloud: A metaphor for a global network, first used in reference to the telephone network and now commonly used to represent the internet.

Cloud computing: A networking solution in which everything from computing power to infrastructure, applications, business processes and collaboration are delivered as a service any time, anywhere.

Infrastructure-as-a-Service: Your IT infrastructure - including storage, hardware, servers and networking elements - is managed in a hosted environment by a specialised service provider.

Public cloud: A cloud computing environment in other words open for use by the general public. For instance, Gmail, Hotmail, evenFacebook.

Software-as-a-Service: Software services available over the internet to organisations' workers, just as CRM databases via Salesforce.com.