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Can anyone tell me what is the difference between a normal server and a cloud server? And which one of the two is preferable?

I am asking this after I noticed phpacademy's new set of tutorials:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... pUM_LXO-O7

"Cloud" is really just a buzzword meaning "Internet". So in actuality, all web servers are "cloud servers". However, what a lot of these people mean is a server that is meant to provide services like it was local to the user. For example, a "cloud server" could be a file-backup service as if it was a plugged-in portable storage drive. Others offer some kind of application-like service, such as Google Drive + Google Docs, which allows you to do word processing in your browser through an elaborate Javascript application and have them automatically saved into "cloud backup" (the files are saved onto a server).

So really "cloud" brings nothing new technology-wise to the Internet. Backing-up things on web servers is nothing new, and neither is an application running in the browser that acts like a local application. It is just a style to make them easier to work with, I guess. If it really means anything at all.

Jackolantern wrote:"Cloud" is really just a buzzword meaning "Internet". So in actuality, all web servers are "cloud servers". However, what a lot of these people mean is a server that is meant to provide services like it was local to the user. For example, a "cloud server" could be a file-backup service as if it was a plugged-in portable storage drive. Others offer some kind of application-like service, such as Google Drive + Google Docs, which allows you to do word processing in your browser through an elaborate Javascript application and have them automatically saved into "cloud backup" (the files are saved onto a server).

So really "cloud" brings nothing new technology-wise to the Internet. Backing-up things on web servers is nothing new, and neither is an application running in the browser that acts like a local application. It is just a style to make them easier to work with, I guess. If it really means anything at all.

Is it useful to get your own cloud server? In those tutorial videos he is paying around $5 for a cloud server and he is installing whatever he needs, so that might be useful if you need something like node.js?

That is just a host, or probably a VPS to be specific (Virtual Private Server). I am not sure what a "cloud server" is beyond a VPS or a host, and I am almost certain that it is just a cash-in on the "cloud" buzzword.

I went through and followed those videos today, and it's just a regular web server. I also would suggest that everyone watch those videos... they give you a perfect development area to work in.

In case anyone can't tell, I loath the word "cloud". It is just technology companies trying to exploit people by making it sound new and exciting.

Well, "cloud" is just a new term for the same old internet.

Yep, I mentioned that above