Cloud Revolution: Study Traces Origins and Rise of Cloud Computing over Several Decades
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The story of cloud computing extends beyond decades of technological advances in areas like virtualisation and networking, and now fundamentally reshapes how organisations access and utilise computing power. Deepa Gurung from Joongbu University, S M Zia Ur Rashid and Suman Rath from The University of Tulsa, along with Zain ul Abdeen from Virginia Tech, trace the origins of this revolution, examining the early concepts of resource sharing and the subsequent development of massive, globally connected data centres. Their work demonstrates how cloud platforms have lowered the barriers to entry for data-intensive applications, while also acknowledging the challenges of widespread adoption, including security vulnerabilities and vendor lock-in. By analysing both the historical trajectory and emerging trends, such as the integration of edge computing and the rise of AI-optimised architectures, this research provides critical insight into a rapidly evolving paradigm, and highlights the need for a balance between scalability, openness and trust in the future of cloud computing. Cloud Computing, History and Early Concepts This research demonstrates how cloud computing evolved from early ideas of shared resources to the powerful, flexible systems used today, highlighting the shift from traditional IT infrastructure to a more scalable and cost-effective model. The study details the historical roots of cloud computing, beginning with concepts of time-sharing in the 1960s, where innovative strategies addressed high hardware costs by allowing multiple users to access a central computer concurrently. These early systems established principles of shared resources and cost efficiency, pioneering techniques for multiplexing, isolation, and resource utilization that would later become fundamental to modern cloud environments. The work then examines the development of grid computing and service-oriented architecture, which laid the groundwork for resource pooling and application integration. Cloud computing offers utility computing, delivering resources as a pay-as-you-go service, and relies heavily on virtualization, a key technology for resource sharing and efficiency. Core characteristics include scalability, elasticity, and multi-tenancy, allowing resources to be dynamically adjusted to meet demand and shared among multiple users. The research also explores current trends such as serverless computing, which focuses on executing functions without managing servers, and edge computing, which brings computation closer to data sources to reduce latency. Containerization technologies, like Docker and Kubernetes, package and deploy applications in isolated containers, while AIOps utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning for IT operations management. The integration of cloud resources with big data processing and analytics is also a key trend, alongside the exploration of quantum computing for cloud applications. However, the study identifies challenges such as vendor lock-in, security and privacy concerns, cost management, scalability issues, data governance, and the complexity of cloud environments. Ultimately, the text presents cloud computing as a rapidly evolving field with a rich history, powerful capabilities, and ongoing challenges.
Early Cloud Computing’s Historical Development The study traces the evolution of cloud computing, beginning with the earliest concepts of resource sharing in the 1950s and 1960s. Initial mainframe time-sharing systems enabled multiple users to access a central computer concurrently, establishing principles of cost efficiency through economies of scale. These early architectures laid the foundation for multiplexing, isolation, and resource utilization that characterize modern cloud environments. By the 1970s and 1980s, distributed computing systems emerged, allowing interconnected computers to collaborate on complex tasks and providing a foundation for decentralized resource management. Crucially, the study highlights the role of virtualization technologies developed by IBM, allowing multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine and introducing new possibilities for flexibility and resource optimization. Researchers connected these developments to the emergence of utility computing in the 1990s, conceptualizing computing resources as metered services akin to electricity, a vision initially proposed in 1961. The research meticulously charts key milestones, including the launch of Amazon Web Services in 2006, which marked a turning point in the widespread adoption of cloud infrastructure. Scientists assessed how these advancements drove scalability, cost-effectiveness, and availability, while also acknowledging the strategic trade-offs organizations face regarding security, regulatory compliance, and vendor lock-in. The research comprehensively evaluates the historical trajectory of cloud computing, establishing a foundation for understanding its current capabilities and future challenges.
Cloud Computing Evolves From Time-Sharing Systems The study traces the evolution of cloud computing, beginning with the earliest concepts of resource sharing in the 1950s and 1960s. Initial mainframe time-sharing systems enabled multiple users to access a central computer concurrently, establishing principles of cost efficiency through economies of scale. These early architectures laid the foundation for multiplexing, isolation, and resource utilization that characterize modern cloud environments. By the 1970s and 1980s, distributed computing systems emerged, allowing interconnected computers to collaborate on complex tasks and providing a foundation for decentralized resource management. The 1990s saw the introduction of utility computing, conceptualizing computing resources as metered services, similar to electricity, a vision initially proposed in 1961. Salesforce, founded in 1999, demonstrated the viability of delivering complex enterprise applications, like customer relationship management, entirely through a web interface on a pay-per-use model. A pivotal moment arrived in 2006 with the launch of Amazon Web Services, introducing Elastic Compute Cloud and Simple Storage Service as foundational infrastructure services. By the mid-2010s, businesses began adopting hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, seeking greater control, flexibility, and resilience, with hybrid deployments keeping sensitive workloads private and multi-cloud strategies mitigating vendor lock-in. Simultaneously, the rise of mobile, IoT, and real-time applications highlighted the limitations of centralized architectures, motivating the development of edge computing to place computation closer to data sources and end users. Cloud Computing’s Growth, Risks and Limitations Cloud computing has fundamentally reshaped access to information technology resources, evolving from early concepts of resource sharing to a globally distributed utility model.
This research demonstrates how cloud platforms have lowered the barriers to entry for data-intensive and computationally demanding applications, fostering innovation across numerous fields. The study traces the historical development of the field, highlighting the technological and economic forces that have driven its expansion and widespread adoption. The work also acknowledges inherent limitations within large-scale cloud deployments, specifically concerning security vulnerabilities arising from configuration weaknesses, the complexities of regulatory compliance, and potential operational inflexibility due to reliance on single vendors. Future advancements, the research suggests, will likely focus on optimising hybrid and multi-cloud architectures for increased resilience, enhancing the edge-cloud continuum to address latency-sensitive applications, and prioritising sustainable computing practices.
The team identifies emerging trends such as the convergence of edge and cloud infrastructure, the rise of AI-optimised architectures, and the initial exploration of quantum computing services as key areas shaping the next generation of cloud environments. 👉 More information 🗞 Cloud Revolution: Tracing the Origins and Rise of Cloud Computing 🧠 ArXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.06800 Tags: