I have learned that cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and storage services and virtualization is mandatory for cloud computing. I have also found in some places that there are some differences between cloud computing and virtualization. my questions are:
- Is virtualization mandatory for cloud computing?
- what is the differences between cloud based software services and traditional software services?
Best Answer
"Cloud" is a marketing term while "Virtualization" is a technical term. Virtualization facilitates "cloud computing" in the terms that it reduces costs and by this makes it more affordable, but it is not a technical necessity. What is selling as "Cloud" today, was selling as "Infrastructure as a Service", "Platform as a service" or "Software as a Service" a couple of years ago, think of it as a re-branding with an airier buzzword.