SSH stands for Secure Shell or Secure Socket Shell, which is a network protocol that provides a secure way for users, particularly system administrators, to access a computer over an unsecured network such as the internet. It is a suite of utilities that implement the SSH protocol and provides strong password authentication and public key authentication, as well as encrypted data communications between two computers connecting over an open network.

SSH uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the remote computer and allow it to authenticate the user, if necessary. It is widely used by network administrators to manage systems and applications remotely, enabling them to log in to another computer over a network, execute commands, and move files from one computer to another.

Some of the typical uses of the SSH protocol include providing secure access for users and automated processes, interactive and automated file transfers, issuing remote commands, and managing network infrastructure and other mission-critical system components.

SSH is important in cloud computing to solve connectivity problems, avoiding the security issues of exposing a cloud-based virtual machine directly on the Internet. An SSH tunnel can provide a secure path over the Internet, through a firewall to a virtual machine.

SSH clients will typically support SCP (Secure Copy) and/or SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) for transferring data. There are many programs available that enable users to perform this transfer, and some operating systems such as Mac OS X and Linux have this capability built-in.

In summary, SSH is a secure network protocol that provides a way for users to access a computer over an unsecured network, such as the internet, and manage systems and applications remotely. It uses public-key cryptography to authenticate the remote computer and allow it to authenticate the user, if necessary. SSH is widely used in cloud computing to solve connectivity problems and provide a secure path over the Internet.