One of the first free cloud storage providers on the internet was Google Documents. And, as the name implies, this is a service that actually lets you save and edit documents online. If you are comfortable using Microsoft Office, using Google documents is going to be a piece of cake (or pie, if you prefer).

Google documents is very easy to set up and to use. First of all, if you have an email address through Google, you already have Google documents available to you. If you don’t have an email account with Google Mail (g-mail), you can get one by going to Google. It is free and easy.

Google’s document sharing has been in place for a few years and allows multiple users to update shared documents, even making changes simultaneously. It also will allow the most space when you start talking about paid cloud. They max out at 16 terabyte, which is pretty darn much space. For right now it’s free to use whatever space you need, but the cost will eventually be around 25 cents per gig annual fee.

As with most cloud providers, you can store files for free and you can access those files from anywhere. The files are also not at risk of being lost if you have your computer stolen or get a virus. They are backed up and secure with the free service.

Once you have an email account and you are signed in, just go to Google.com to access your free cloud storage provider.  Just click on the link at the top of the page that is marked “Documents” and you will be in. All you have to do from there is either create a document by clicking on the “Create” button, or upload a document by clicking on the “Upload” button. You can then work on the documents “on the cloud” which simply means that you are working and saving the documents on the external drive which Google provides.

Of all the free cloud storage providers, Google’s Documents is the closest one to cloud computing. Using Google documents is intuitive for most folks and is very easy to navigate through and understand.

If you are considering using a free cloud storage provider, you should definitely consider using the Amazon cloud. This system is really easy. If you’ve ever bought anything at Amazon, you already have a free cloud storage account, and if you aren’t an Amazon member, signing up is as simple as providing an e-mail account and verifying it. Then off you go.

Amazon provides 5 gigabytes of free cloud storage. If you purchase any mp3 files from Amazon, those can also be stored in your cloud but do not take up any of the 5 gigs; they are stored for free and whatever space they take is a bonus from Amazon.

As with most cloud providers, you can store files for free and you can access those files from anywhere. The files are also not at risk of being lost if you have your computer stolen or get a virus. They are backed up and secure with the free service.

Think about the possibilities for this. If you are at work or at home you can access any file you place in the cloud. If you are on another continent or in a meeting with a client, your data, files, and presentations are right there for you. All it takes is internet access whether that is wifi, 3G, 4G, cable, DSL or any other type of hookup. It can be accessed through a smart phone, lap top or desk top computer.

If you want to share files with friends, family, or coworkers, you can do that as well. You choose what files are private, shared, or public. If you need more space, you can get up to 1000 gigabytes and pay a monthly fee.

There are a number of reliable secure free cloud storage providers, and using Amazon cloud is a good option. This storage can supplement your home computer’s capacity and/or provide data backup to keep your files safe and secure.

One of the easiest free cloud storage providers available is Dropbox. This very simple system allows you to store your valuable files and access them anywhere. It is also totally secure and sharable.

Getting an account at Dropbox is as easy as going to their website and downloading the Dropbox software. Once the Dropbox.exe file is downloaded, simply open it up and follow the set-up instructions. You will have to have a valid email address and choose a password, but then you are off to the races.

The system is very simple to use, and it is just as easy as saving a file into a folder on your desktop, because that’s all there is to the system. Dropbox sets up an icon on your desktop and you can treat it just like any other drive on your computer. You can set up private folders that only you have access to, and you can set up shared folders that others can see as well by just extending them an invitation to that folder.

Imagine the simplicity of sharing photos and files with your friends and family. Instead of having to email a large collection of photos from your vacation, for example, you can add them to the shared folder on your Dropbox and they can access and download the photos they want to save.

Or if you work in various locations, you can have work files available anywhere. Have you ever had a presentation at a potential client’s location and they asked for some information you didn’t have with you? If you have saved that information into your Dropbox, you can simply access it through one of your free cloud storage providers – Dropbox. It is just that simple.

Dropbox gives you 2 Gigabytes of storage for free to start. That is a lot of spreadsheets! Actually, unless you store a lot of videos, chances are you won’t need more space than that. If you do, prices for additional space on Dropbox are extremely reasonable.

Here’s an easy way to get additional free storage. For each person who joins and installs Dropbox, you get an additional 250 megabytes of storage up to a limit of 8G. If you need even more than that, you can get 50 GB for $9.99 a month or 100 GB for $19.99 a month. There are also plans for work teams.

Free cloud storage providers are a great tool for sharing and for file backup. In this day of computer viruses, Dropbox is a great way to share and backup your files.

Microsoft is right in the middle of the free cloud storage providers. Their Windows Online Folder has now morphed into SkyDrive. Just glad that didn’t turn into SkyNet – don’t need the impending doom of Terminators coming down on us. (And let’s face it, who wants an immortal Arnold robotic clone?) SkyDrive is a pretty decent option for storing your files in “the cloud.”

SkyDrive offers you 25 gigabytes of free storage online. One thing that is limiting about their free cloud storage alternative is that the file size is limited to 100 megabytes, though that file size should cover most of what you are saving.

To put it into perspective, most files are less than one megabyte in size. That covers most files such as spreadsheets, word processing files, presentations, and even most database files.

Music files are usually less than ten megabytes in size, so those are covered as well. The only thing that isn’t covered is video files which can be very large depending on the length and quality of the video.

One issue with Microsoft cloud storage is that it is a true storage space. There is no capability to play music files on-site or to open and work on files online. They have to be downloaded to your computer to be opened and viewed as well.

Free cloud storage such as SkyDrive is a great way to back up your files. In this time of many online viruses and computer crashes, it is good to know that your valuable files are saved somewhere other than your hard drive. Offering this service for free makes it a no brainer.

According to Microsoft the future is here already, and they are ready for you to embrace it with Microsoft cloud computing, or Microsoft Private Cloud, as they call their service. Most people think about cloud computing as off-site data and IT management, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

With Microsoft Private Cloud, you can host your own cloud on site, or you can take advantage of a private cloud hosted off site. Either way, it’s your cloud and no one else’s.

While it is their service, it is all under your control. You decide what software is available on your cloud, plus storage and resources. The advantage to any cloud computing solution is that IT is centrally located. Traditionally, IT has to be all over your company grounds putting out fires and going to individual work stations that are having issues.

With Microsoft cloud computing, or any cloud computing, the software is all serviced from one central location. This is also the downside. If you have issues with that cloud or central location, you have issues company wide. With individual computers, one person can have software or hardware problems and it doesn’t affect everyone.

The advantages to centralized cloud based computing is that upgrades only need to be done at one location and, as needs change, only one place gets the changes. For example, if more users come on board, more memory and processor speed can be added. As the newest version of a software package comes out, IT only has to upgrade once, not multiple times.

Microsoft cloud computing is the next step up from simple cloud storage. Cloud storage allows you only to save files online so you can access them from anywhere; cloud computing allows you to work on those files online and so much more. You can also hand off your IT needs to Microsoft, if that is your desire, and eliminate most internal IT needs.

Cloud computing is definitely the wave of the future. The flexibility of the system to respond quickly to changing needs makes it a very economically viable business computing choice.

Whether you choose Microsoft cloud computing or another cloud option, you will move to the cloud. For many reasons, it is an obvious game changer in the IT world.

Microsoft® is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corporation.

If you are looking for a simple cloud computing definition, you have come to the right place. The terms cloud computing, cloud storage, and working in the cloud are all starting to float around in everyday conversation.

Cloud computing is actually a very simple concept. It means your software and computing components are not right at your desk but are shared components with the people in your network. Are you confused? Don’t be. We’ll break it down into something more familiar to you.

Cable television is a great analogy to cloud computing. Think about your television as a giant computer monitor. That’s not hard to do since most newer televisions actually have this capability since they have a computer input plug built in. You can actually use your television as a monitor, so that makes this explanation/analogy even easier.

The cable system hooks your monitor (TV) into a system which provides various channels and packages to your home. You don’t have to have a satellite dish or figure out how to make the system work or what components you might need. Everything is done remotely for you.

That is very close to a cloud computing definition. You have a monitor and a keyboard in your home or office, but the software and processing is done in a remote location which is called “the cloud.” They could just as easily have called it a remote mainframe computer. You are connected through the internet, whether that is a wireless connection or through a hard-wired connection.

The wireless connection makes the cloud analogy more understandable because, wherever you go, your network is with you.

The beauty of a cloud computing network is that software is updated automatically, and no one has to visit individual computers to do updates. This also works with processor speed. Did you know that according to Moore’s Law, computing speed doubles every two years? Cost and space wise, that has held true for many years and will continue into the foreseeable future.

That “law” means that to keep up to speed (literally), you have to continuously replace your processor every two years. With cloud computing that is eliminated because you are just accessing a system. The internet geeks maintaining that cloud will be upgrading the system without a hiccup. You won’t even realize things have changed except that your applications will be working faster and easier. Having a centralized cloud computing system means that IT folks no longer are knocking on your door or barging into your cubicle. That is all taken care of remotely.

Hopefully this cloud computing definition makes sense to you. It’s a fairly straightforward idea that will be replacing traditional stand-alone computers everywhere in the near future.

Microsoft cloud storage is the latest trend in the growing category of cloud computing. Microsoft’s version of this is called SkyDrive (formerly called Windows Online Folder.) It is a great option for online storage of your files. Think about a catastrophic event such as a fire or property theft. In either of those cases, your files are gone, probably forever.

This means you could lose everything from your tax files to your precious family photos. But if you use Microsoft cloud storage, you can avert that crisis.

There is a free version of SkyDrive which would probably serve most of your needs depending, of course, on what you are storing in the cloud. Microsoft will let you store files of up to 100MB in size. That would work for most files, unless you are talking about long videos or presentations containing lots of photos and/or videos. (For example, the average ten-minute, high definition video on YouTube is around 100MB in size.)

Now 50MB is a good size file, but you aren’t limited to a single file, either. SkyDrive will allow you to have up to 25GB (gigabytes) for free. That is pretty much storage space by the average computer user’s standards. But suppose you aren’t average and you need more space than that. What do you do?

There are other alternatives for cloud storage. Amazon has a program called Amazon Cloud Drive which is free up to a certain amount and then costs just pennies per month for an upgraded plan. Dropbox is also a viable alternative. It is free up to 100 GB, and doesn’t limit file size. Dropbox is more for file sharing but can be used simply for storage as well.

Cloud computing is here to stay. The relative cost of storage at your home is dropping drastically all the time. A 1 terabyte external hard drive can be purchased for under a hundred dollars, but the cloud offers free storage that would satisfy most consumer needs, while upgrades to capacity are very inexpensive.

The added bonus with the cloud, specifically Microsoft cloud storage, is that your information is backed up, secure, and isn’t going anywhere.

One of the services that Microsoft provides for free is their Microsoft cloud, otherwise known as SkyDrive. It is a pretty amazing thing to offer storage for free, because even “virtual” storage costs the providers something, and the cost for them is in servers. Offering 25 gigabytes of free storage covers a lot of files, but they also limit file size (as of December 2011) to 100 megabytes.

That size will cover nearly any files you care to upload with the exception of video files, and that’s probably why they have imposed that file size limit. Streaming videos from this (or any) cloud would take a lot of bandwidth. Smaller files would not impose so heavy a load as video streaming.

Using the cloud is very simple. It’s not quite intuitive, but if you have familiarity rummaging around your computer’s hard drive and external devices such as USB thumb drives, you shouldn’t have any trouble negotiating Microsoft cloud.

To sign up for the service, you simply have to go to SkyDrive.Live.com. If you’ve got a Hotmail account, you already have SkyDrive even if you didn’t know it. If not, all you have to do is sign up for Hotmail or any Windows Live ID and then you will be able to access your folders online.

Microsoft already has three folders set up when you arrive. The first folder is set up for documents and the second one for pictures. Those are both set up as private folders. The third folder is labeled “public” and can be used for file sharing. This could be very useful for people working on the same projects in different locations.

Microsoft has SkyDrive set up to work just like any other folder on your computer. You can simply drag and drop files into an open folder in SkyDrive and away you go. You can also use the icons for PowerPoint, Word, Excel or OneNote. Those are located at the top of the page.

Microsoft cloud is not limited to storing files made on their programs. You can store any sort of file there from PDF’s to MPG4’s and MP3’s. However, you cannot play music or videos on the site. That is one downside to the service. Some other cloud providers do offer that.

Many people don’t back up their files as often as they should, and perhaps that’s because of difficulty or cost, but this seems to be an easy way to make sure you don’t lose your files in the event of some disaster like a house fire, virus or computer theft.

All in all SkyDrive, the Microsoft cloud storage application, is a great service. Try it out and see what you think. At this price (free), it’s definitely worth using.

The term cloud computing or even just “the cloud” is starting to become more and more common, but many people need a simple cloud computing definition as they are trying to understand what is going on.

Simply put, the ultimate version of cloud computing would mean that you no longer need a home computer, and your system could never get outdated or run out of storage space.

How can that happen, you might ask. Well, in a way, we are turning back the clocks. In the very early days of computers, people had terminals that were hooked up to a main frame computer. The terminals were simply access to the power of the mainframe. In essence, this is what the cloud is doing but in a different way.

At some point in the future, your home terminal may well be just a monitor and a keyboard that would be nearly useless without a live internet connection. Honestly, most people already consider their home computers useless if they don’t have the internet.

Think about the implications, though. If you subscribed to a cloud computing service, all your software needs would be taken care of. Once the new version of Windows® came out, it would be instantly part of your system. This could be pro or con depending on your familiarity with the old software and how it operated. Sometimes new versions are not an improvement. (Especially in the example used above.)

But overall, if you think of the cloud computing definition, it would give you vastly more storage, greater computing speed, and access to software that may have been out of your budget. Finding the right provider for your cloud computing might be the biggest challenge.

Will there be services that cater to niche markets? Most assuredly. If you are a Mac user and heavy into video and audio editing, chances are Apple is going to have a plan for you. Chances are, actually, that cloud services will be similar to cable television services. Additional software and storage will be available catering to specific needs and desires.

The cable television analogy is actually a very good model to base your understanding of the cloud computing definition. There would be a basic package which would include internet access, word processing, spreadsheets and the like, then additional packages might be for gamers, technophiles, music lovers, programmers and video editing folks, just to name a few.

Think about your home terminal as an entrance to an unlimited online library of resources, and that will be a start to your cloud computing definition.