The history of "Cloud Computing" and "Cloud Storage"

Cloud Cloud Everywhere... It has been one of the hottest "buzzwords" for at least 3 years now... Tons of people are talking about "Cloud" and a lot of them seem like they don't even

have a real articulate idea what "cloud" is... (You can go here for a quick primer Understanding the basics of cloud )

Have you ever wondered how cloud computing and cloud storage started? And what was the predecessor to Cloud storage and Cloud computing? Interesting questions..

Cloud computing along with Cloud Storage are a few of the most overused "drive-by sound bite" phrases in technology in my humble opinion. There is so much use of the words creating all this buzz, so everyone else starts using them. Both words appear 53 million times or so on the Internet if you do a Google search. But in the middle of all the chatter, there are a few questions about cloud computing that have never seem to have been answered... The big one for me... Who said it first? Who coined the term "Cloud" Keep reading to find out..

Believe it or not, there is even an abandoned trademark application through the USPTO for the term “Cloud Computing” See Here => Cloud Computing trademark

I read a great article on GCN that I have encapsulated here about some of the historical milestones of "Cloud Computing" over the years, which also sheds some light on how this all started and the evolution of it...

The ’90s were big for cloud storage, as in 1996, the Navy launched IT-2, used to build a secure, global network and provide Ethernet connectivity to 270,000 users around the world. The following year, the term “cloud computing” was coined by Ramnath Chellappa, a professor at the University of Texas, when speaking about new paradigms in computing, GCN reported.

There have been great developments in bandwidth, processing and open-source networking over three decades that have made cloud as ordinary as the weather (pun intended)

1982
The first Ethernet adapter card for the IBM PC released, introducing fast, inexpensive connections that would enable cloud computing.

1989
Software Tool & Die founded, first public dialup Internet Service Provider and “still proud to be the best.”

1992
In a $500 million deal, FAA undertakes wholesale IT outsourcing to Electronic Data Systems Corp. under the Computer Resources Nucleus program.

1996
Navy launches IT-2 to build secure, global network to deliver fast Ethernet to 270,000 users worldwide, with browsers, continuous TCP/IP connections.

1997
The term “cloud computing” is coined by University of Texas professor Ramnath Chellappa in a talk on a “new computing paradigm.”

1998
VMware founded, introduces software providing completely virtualized set of hardware to a guest operating system. Walter Reed Army Medical Center upgrades to 100 megabits/sec Asynchronous Transfer Mode network to accommodate virtual LANs, a stepping stone to the cloud-enabled office.

1999
Salesforce.com founded in San Francisco apartment.

Defense Department shifts communications networks from ATM to a 1-gigabit/sec Ethernet backbone.

2000
Government agencies begin developing computer “grids,” an open-source networking technology that lets users share resources in a manner not subject to central control.

2001
Interior Department becomes one of several agencies to experiment with adopting the application service provider model for delivering applications to workforce.

Agriculture Department links XML soil survey data with GIS, an early example of using software as a service to link devices across the Internet.

2004
State Department launches pilot to switch out PCs for thin clients at overseas posts and domestic offices.

2005
EPA announces project to use grid computing for air quality monitoring, a sign that government acceptance of collaborative networks is widening.

Intel releases Pentium 4 models, first Intel processors to support virtualization on the x86 platform.

2006
AMD releases Athlon 64 processors, the first to support virtualization.

Amazon launches Elastic Compute Cloud, an infrastructure-as-a-service that lets organizations contract for computers to run their applications.

2007
File hosting and synchronization service Dropbox Inc., founded by MIT student, making cloud storage a commodity.

2008
Apptis Inc. and ServerVault Corp. announce secure, managed, federally compliant cloud infrastructure.

2010
OMB issues “cloud first” mandate, requiring agencies to identify three services to move to the cloud and retire associated legacy systems.

GSA announces it will use cloud computing as primary means for hosting the government’s official information portal, USA.gov.

SAP offers agencies Enterprise Resource Planning via the Terremark cloud, enterprise-level software-as a-service.

2011
GSA moves 17,000 e-mail users to Google Apps for Government

DARPA seeks mission-resilient cloud to ensure military can withstand attack against pieces of the network.

2012
Energy Department sets up YourCloud to broker secure cloud services for agency and national labs.

Salesforce.com unveils Government Cloud and AppExchange, multitenant services designed for the public sector.

2013
CIA inks $600 million deal with Amazon Web Services to build a private cloud, bolstering confidence in security of the cloud.

So stay tuned for my next post to find out what we all did before "Cloud computing" and "Cloud Storage" and what was the predecessor to "Cloud"

Thanks for reading

Keith