A brief history of cloud computing
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The document provides a historical overview of cloud computing, starting from the 1950s with mainframe computers and the concept of 'time sharing.' Key developments include the establishment of the ARPANET, the introduction of virtual machines by IBM in 1969, and the coining of the term 'cloud computing' in the 1990s. Significant milestones include Amazon Web Services launching in 1997 and the introduction of the Elastic Compute Cloud in 2002, which paved the way for modern cloud services.
A brief history of cloud computing
- 1. A brief history of cloud computing from
- 2. In the 50s mainframe computers were huge, occupying entire rooms. Due to the cost of buying and maintaining mainframes, organisations couldn’t afford to purchase one for each user. The solution was “time sharing” in which multiple users shared access to data and CPU time. The term “time sharing” is the premise of cloud computing. 1950s
- 3. J.C.R. Licklider developed the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) – the network that became the basis of the internet. His vision was for everyone on the globe to be interconnected and accessing programs and data at any site, from anywhere. 1969
- 4. IBM released an operating system called VM that allowed admins to have multiple virtual systems, or “Virtual Machines” (VMs) on a single physical node. The VM operating system took the 50s “time sharing” model to the next level and most of the basic functions of any virtualisation software that you see nowadays can be traced back to this early VM operating system. 1970s
- 5. Telecommunications companies started offering virtualised private network connections, which meant it was possible to allow for more users through shared access to the same physical infrastructure. This change enabled traffic to be shifted as necessary to allow for better network balance and more control over bandwidth usage. Meanwhile, virtualisation for PC-based systems started in earnest, and as the Internet became more accessible, the next logical step was to take virtualisation online. 1990s
- 6. The term “cloud computing” is coined by University of Texas professor Ramnath Chellappa in a talk on a “new computing paradigm.” ! However, the term may actually have been used a year earlier in Compaq. See here for more info. 1997
- 7. Amazon created Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing an advanced system of cloud services from storage to computation. 2002
- 8. Amazon introduced the Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) as a commercial web service. The EC2 let small companies rent computers on which they could run their own computer applications. 2006
- 9. Google and Microsoft entered the playing field. The Google App Engine brought low-cost computing and storage services, and Microsoft followed suit with Windows Azure. 2009
- 10. The Oneserve field service management software moves to the cloud. Ok, so we know this isn’t quite such a historical landmark as the rest of the cloud’s history but it’s noteworthy for us! 2010
- 11. Want to find out more? Download our free resource, The Ultimate Guide to the Cloud