What Does Cloud Computing Mean?

A method of delivering information technology services (i.e., hardware and software) in which resources are hosted and retrieved from the Internet through Web-based tools and applications, rather than a direct connection to a local server. The cloud computing structure allows access to information as long as an electronic device has access to the Web. The word "cloud" is used as an analogy for the "Internet," because many network diagrams use the image of a cloud to represent the Internet.