What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is renting computing resources like servers, storage, and databases over the internet instead of buying and running your own hardware. A provider such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud owns huge data centres, and you use only what you need and pay for what you use. It lets teams launch fast and scale without large upfront costs.
Why teams use it
- No upfront hardware: rent instead of buy.
- Pay as you go: you are billed for what you actually use.
- Scalable: add capacity in minutes when demand grows.
- Managed services: the provider handles hardware, power, and maintenance.
Instead of buying a server, waiting weeks, and maintaining it, you spin up a virtual server in the cloud in minutes and shut it down when done. That speed and flexibility is the main appeal.
A clean one liner is cloud computing is renting on demand computing resources over the internet on a pay as you use model. Mentioning pay as you go and scalability covers what interviewers want to hear.
Common follow up questions
Related interview questions
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