Abstract

A lot of advancements have taken place and still taking place in computing. Gone are the days that people had to rely on inevitable standalone computer to meet their needs. With advancement in technology, computing is turning the world to a better place. Even physical objects are now connected to the internet with the help of wireless sensor networks. This paper traces the historical linkage of different computing frameworks from computer networks to cloud of things with a view to helping researchers and organisations understand the various evolution phases of computer networks. The progression of ideas from the advent of computer networks to six (6) different computer connectivity frameworks like distributed computing, cluster computing, grid computing, cloud computing, internet of things and the cloud of things was examined making all the developments that have taken place to be easily seen in a single medium. The emergence of each framework as well as the strengths, weaknesses and motivation for each of the emerged paradigm was briefly described. A generalized framework with the latest paradigms which anchor the era of big data was also presented.