.. _cloud-introduction:

===============
Anaconda Cloud
===============

:emphasis:`What is Anaconda Cloud?`

`Anaconda Cloud <http://www.anaconda.org>`_ is a 
`Continuum Analytics <http://continuum.io>`_ package management 
service. Cloud makes it easy to find, access, store 
and share public and private notebooks, environments, and conda and 
PyPI packages. Cloud also makes it easy to stay current with updates 
made to the packages and environments you are using. Cloud hosts 
hundreds of useful Python packages, notebooks and environments for 
a wide variety of applications. You do not need to log in, or even to have 
a Cloud account, to search for public packages, download and 
install them.

Cloud is the Continuum Analytics\ |reg| Anaconda Repository made available 
to the public. Repository is also available for purchase by companies 
that want to power their own internal, private Cloud. For more 
information, see `Anaconda subscriptions 
<https://www.continuum.io/anaconda-subscriptions>`_ .

You can build new packages using the Anaconda Client command line 
interface (CLI), then manually or automatically upload the packages to 
Cloud to quickly share with others or access yourself from anywhere.

For developers, Cloud is designed to make software development,
release and maintenance easy by providing broad package management
support. Cloud allows for both free public and paid private package 
repositories, as well as package channels, providing a flexible and 
scalable service for groups and organizations of all sizes.

Hosting of freely available packages always remains free for
individuals and organizations hosting up to 3\ |nbsp|\ GB of packages. 
There is a small fee for hosting of private packages or more than 
3\ |nbsp|\ GB of packages. For more information, see our 
`plan options <https://anaconda.org/about/pricing>`_.


To use Cloud, you should first:

* `Download Anaconda <https://www.continuum.io/downloads>`_.

* Become familiar with using conda. A good place to start is 
  the `conda cheat sheet 
  <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/using/cheatsheet.html>`_ 
  and the `conda test drive 
  <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/test-drive.html>`_.

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2
   :hidden:

   User guide <user-guide/index>
   faq
   help-support
   Command reference <commandreference>
   glossary

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