One of the tech buzzwords these days is cloud computing: the delivery of computing services?servers, storage, software, databases and so on?over the internet.
You are already using the cloud if you have Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, or another online backup account. Your data may live  on your hard drive, but a copy is also on one of the data centre servers that, in a dark warehouse somewhere, makes up the cloud.
Storing files on the cloud allows them to be accessed remotely, and also allows them to be selectively shared with clients and collaborators. Toronto firm Sustainable recently transitioned from a local network to a system where files are synced to the cloud. ?We used to use different services like Dropbox and WeTransfer to send files to clients,? says designer Joel Andersen. ?This consolidates and streamlines the whole process.? Files can also be quickly pulled up at site and client meetings. Perkins+Will?s new Toronto office uses a hotelling approach to workstations, enabled by cloud computing. Photo by Scott Norsworthy
Another aspect to cloud computing that architects are beginning to tap is the idea that data processing can be done over the internet, rather than by the hardware on a personal computer or laptop. Processing a complex rendering, for instance, can be done by a powerful off-site computer (or set of computers), rather than having a dedicated rendering machine at an office. Diamond Schmitt has servers for in-house rendering, but for large jobs, says ...