Cloud Computing and Electronic Discovery

CHAPTER 1 Cloud Computing Definitions and Technical Considerations

Thieda Christopher

The introduction of cloud computing has taken technology users by the hand and brought them into a new realm of possibilities. Whether the purpose is for personal, corporate use, or anything in between, today’s everyday tech users have been exposed to a multitude of cloud practicalities. Cloud computing applications allow computer users to conveniently rent access to fully featured applications, to software development and deployment environments, and to computing infrastructure assets such as network-accessible data storage and processing. Those that have exposure to common applications such as Google Apps or Microsoft Office 365 likely already have experience with cloud computing, even though they may not have realized it.

The term cloud computing has a variety of definitions, mostly because it has become a powerful marketing term. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal technology agency that works with industry to develop and apply technology, offers this definition:

Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.¹

Today, technical questions remain that occasional users might not dare to ask regarding how virtualized ...