User:JulioAndrade/cloud (networking)

Cloud In communications network. The word "cloud" often refers to the Internet. However, the term "cloud computing" refers to the services that have enabled the cloud to become so prominent in everyday life (see cloud computing). See private cloud and personal cloud.

A Cloud May Refer to Any Network A cloud can be a wide area network (WAN) like the Internet or a local area network (LAN) within an organization. For decades, network diagrams have used a cloud-like symbol to reduce the entire infrastructure into simple entry and exit points. Cloud symbols are drawn when the network architecture is not material to the illustration. Inside the cloud, there may be any number of cables, routers, switches and servers that handle the forwarding of data from one point to another, as well as the required data processing.