In this chapter, we lay the foundation for understanding what the cloud actually is. We start by considering the history of the term. Then we look at how to define it in order to get a firmer handle on what we mean by cloud computing. We also investigate different ways to conceptualize the cloud. It has, for example, been suggested that the cloud is a utility or a service, which highlights certain important aspects of the cloud but also mischaracterizes it in other ways. The chapter seeks to establish an understanding of what it means when we talk about the cloud.
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