The lost phone, the saved photos
Leila drops her phone in a river. It is gone. But her photos are safe. She signs in on a new phone and they all appear.
They were never only on the phone. They were stored on computers far away that she does not own. That is the idea of the cloud.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can describe four cloud services and say when an organisation might use each one.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Network | devices joined so they can share data |
| Cloud computing | using computers and storage owned by someone else over the internet |
| Provider | the company that runs the cloud service |
| SaaS | software you use in a browser or app, run by a provider |
| PaaS | a place for developers to build and run their apps |
| IaaS | rented computers, storage and network from a provider |
| DaaS | data you can use on demand from a provider |
| Server | a computer that serves data or programs to others |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter: what you already know
Have a go
Starter: what you already know
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
The cloud is other people's computers
Cloud computing means using computers and storage that someone else owns, over the internet. The company that runs them is the provider.
The computers are called servers. They sit in large buildings with strong power and security. You rent what you need and pay for what you use. You do not have to buy and look after the machines yourself.
Why use the cloud?
| Benefit | What it means | A risk to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Pay for what you use | No big cost to buy machines | Costs can grow if use grows |
| Grow or shrink quickly | Add storage in minutes | You depend on one provider |
| Reach from anywhere | Work from home or school | No internet means no access |
| Backups and updates done for you | Less work for staff | You must trust the provider with your data |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check
Have a go
Check
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.