You might see a dog, a dinosaur,

你或許會看見一條狗，一隻恐龍

or your data?

或是你的資料？

Okay, your data isn't actually stored in a cloud in the sky,

好啦，你的資料不是真的存在天上的雲裡

but it's easy to think so when there's so much talk about cloud computing.

但是當提到雲端運算時，很難不這樣想

So how does the cloud work?

所以雲端是怎麼運作的？

The cloud is a global network of servers around the world acting as one massive hard drive.

雲端是一個巨大的硬碟，由世界各地的網路伺服器匯集而成的一個全球網絡

Every time you sign into your Gmail account, watch a show on Netflix

每當你登入你的 Gmail 帳號、在 Netflix 看劇

or open a file from Dropbox, you're using the cloud.

或是開啟 Dropbox 的檔案，都是在使用雲端

Before the cloud, you might have backed up your documents, photos or music

在雲端出現以前，你可能曾經把你的文件、照片或是音樂備份到

to an external device like a CD-ROM or to your computer's hard drive.

一個像是 CD-ROM 的外接設備，或是到你電腦的硬碟

Now, you can back-up all of that information to the cloud.

現在，你可以將所有的資料都備份到雲端

When I back-up my iPhone to the cloud, my files are sent to servers in Apple's data centers all around the world.

當我將我的 iPhone 備份到雲端，我的檔案會被傳送到世界各地的 Apple 資料中心伺服器

I can access those servers by connecting to the internet.

只要連上網，我就能使用那些伺服器

So even if I lose or break my phone, not that it's ever happened before, that data isn't lost forever.

所以要是我弄丟或是用壞了我的手機，不是說真的發生過啦，資料也不會一去不復返

There are a few obvious benefits to consumers from the cloud

除了讓你在用丟手機時能夠心安

besides giving you peace of mind if you lose your phone.

使用雲端還有許多其他明顯的益處

You can access your data anytime, anywhere if you're connected to the internet.

只要連上網路，你隨時隨地能取得你的資料

And you don't have to worry about using up all of the storage on your hard drive.

而且你不必擔心會用光硬碟的所有空間

Meaning you might not have to pay as much for a device that comes with a ton of storage.

意味著你或許就不用花較多的錢買容量較大的產品

Businesses are also benefiting big time from cloud computing.

企業也從雲端演算獲得了許多好處

It's estimated worldwide revenue from the cloud will exceed $200 billion in 2019,

據估計，在 2019 年來自雲端的全球收益將超過 2000 億美金

that's up from $145 billion just two years ago.

短短兩年前才只有 1450 億美金

You've probably heard of the two biggest names in the market,

你或許已經聽過了市場上最大的兩個品牌

Amazon Web Services, known as AWS, and Microsoft Azure.

亞馬遜網路服務公司，也就是 AWS，和 Microsoft Azure

IBM, Google and Alibaba are also big players when it comes to providing cloud services.

IBM、Google 和阿里巴巴同樣是雲端服務市場的幾大競爭者

It's not just big tech moving business into the cloud.

科技不只是將企業移轉至雲端

Smaller companies are buying in too as a way to grow their businesses.

較小的公司也在買進雲端用以擴展他們的企業

Just think, instead of having to buy all of this hardware to backup your data,

想想看，比起購買這些硬碟用來備份你的資料

you can store an unlimited amount of information online.

你在網路上就可以有無限量的儲存空間

Many cloud services are based on a subscription pricing model.

許多雲端服務是建立在訂閱定價方案

That means customers pay, for example, a monthly fee for cloud services

意思是，舉例來說，用戶付月費使用雲端服務

and they can scale up or down as needed. And cloud providers are cashing in.

而且可以依照需求按比例增加或是減少。如此一來雲端提供者就在賺錢

AWS accounts for roughly 12 percent of Amazon's quarterly sales,

AWS 約佔了亞馬遜一季銷售的 12%

but it generates more than half of the company's operating income.

但是卻帶給該公司過半的營運收入

Before we get too excited about the cloud, let's take a step back and look at some of the risks.

先別對雲端太過興奮，我們退後一步來看看一些風險

One obvious concern, if all of our data is online, what happens when the internet goes down?

一個明顯的憂患，如果我們所有的資料都在網上，網路崩解時會發生什麼事？

That's what happened in 2013 when an AWS outage took down Instagram, Vine and Airbnb.

那在 2013 年發生過，當時 AWS 的一個儲運損耗波及了 Instagram、Vine 和 Airbnb

Cyber attacks are another big risk with research showing

網路攻擊也是另一大風險，研究顯示

around one-fifth of all files in the cloud contain sensitive data.

雲端中約有五分之一的檔案屬於敏感資料

Finally, it can be tough for consumers and businesses to switch between different cloud companies.

還有就是消費者和企業很難切換至不同的雲端公司

I might have a hard time syncing my iCloud and Google Drive accounts.

我要把我的 iCloud 和 Google Drive 帳號同步或許會很困難

That can give some big companies, that are already making big money on the cloud,

那會讓一些已經在雲端賺進大把鈔票的大公司

a lot of power over our data.

擁有更多權力掌握我們的資料

Hey everyone, it's Elizabeth. Thanks so much for watching.

嗨大家，我是伊麗莎白。謝謝你的收看

Let us know if you have any other ideas for CNBC Explains and leave any ideas in the comments section.

若是你有其他有關我們節目的點子，歡迎在底下留言讓我們知道

Be sure to check out all of our other videos over here.

記得去看看我們這裡其他的影片

See you later!

下次見！