When it comes to tech speak, “the cloud” refers to servers that are accessed over the internet and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centres all over the world.
Using the cloud, is like plugging into a central power grid, instead of generating your own power at home.
So what does a server do?
Servers are basically computers that provide services such as performing calculations, storing and giving you access to your data, and providing resources. They work using a request-response model. You send a request to the sever, it performs some actions, and sends a response back to you.
For example, when a Hectre customer uses Hectre’s Spectre tool to take a photo of a full fruit bin and hits “upload”, that image heads up to the cloud over the internet and lands on a server. Often those servers are housed at massive data centres in many locations around the world.
We use AWS (Amazon Web Services) for our servers. When that Spectre image arrives at the server, we have all of the algorithms we’ve built for Spectre sitting there waiting for the request. The calculations runs on the server and then the server responds by sending back the Spectre results.
One of the big advantages of using cloud services is scalability – the massive volumes of data that can be dealt with at high speeds – and that maintenance of the servers is undertaken by specialist professionals, enabling us to focus on more important things like supporting the success of our customers.
Now you can go and chat with your friends and amaze them with your techie knowledge (they’re probably wondering what the cloud is too!)
