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What is Cloud Computing ?
Delivering IT services typically over the internet is known as Cloud Computing. This includes anything from networking, storage, softwares, servers and databases. The name ' cloud ' was inspired by the cloud symbol in flowchart. The current leading cloud service providers are the Google, Amazon, Azure, Alibaba and IBM. Among them Amazon Webservices (AWM) has the largest revenue and IBM gets the credit for being the 1st pioneer in cloud services.Â
Cloud services gave new dimension for using software as a service. The cost of paying for every service is significantly cut down since you only pay for the cloud services. Most of the services which doesn't require you to be connected physically are available through the cloud. Even popular services such as Netflix depends on cloud services in order for running its video streaming and other business services. In fact cloud computing has become the default option for many softwares and apps. But like every other service there are potential drawbacks in using cloud services too. There are certain risks involved. Many of the other detains such as the operating system and hardware are irrelevant to the user. From the security side, how well your cloud service is secure depends on the level of security on your existing system. However security concerns do exist for the cloud services, especially from the corporate companies. Hence for preventing security breaches many security tools came into use. These tools has the capability to identify most of the fraudulent activities which is happening inside the cloud services.Â
And also the field of cloud service has become competitive. Therefore cloud service providers constantly expand their business. Most notably is through the cloud storage. Rather than using a physical hard drive for storing data, users can use cloud storage for a remote database. Therefore the data present in them can be accessed anytime and anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.Â
How does Cloud Computing work ?
To get a better understanding on how a cloud computing work, we have to divide into 2 sections as the side from the user and the side from the cloud system. Side of the user consists of the client's computer and the application necessary for accessing the cloud system. Cloud system consists of the control server and the storage system. It is the central server which manages the users demand and manages traffic. In order for making different computers connect with each other, control servers manage a software known as the Middleware. And also same as how a firewall implements a set of rules, the control servers too consists of set of rules known as Protocols.Â
Types of Cloud Services
Types of cloud services consists of 3 broad categories. Those of the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). All three of the cloud service are different in many aspects including those of management and flexibility. Knowing the difference between them can make you select the right service according to your needs.
Infrastructure as a Service - Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the fundamentals of cloud computing services. It provides IT infrastructure such as the operating system, storage, networks and servers on a pay as you go basis. From a IaaS you van gain access to computers and data storage space (both physically and virtually). Therefore clients are no longer in need of purchasing softwares and servers.Â
Platform as a Service - Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud computing service which provides an environment for the developers to develop and test their softwares. Due to this it is made easier for the developers to create their own apps without needing to worry about the servers, storage, networks, databases and managing infrastructure. Generally after the development has been taken place, the PaaS providers takes the initiatives for hosting them. Hence software developers and web developers are mostly benefited from PaaS.
Software as a Service - Software as a Service (SaaS) is a method of providing software applications for a pay as you go basis. The user has nothing to do with the operating system and hardware as he will only access the service though an application or a web browser. The hosting and the maintenance will be taken care by the cloud providers. So the user has to focus only on how he will be using the software.Â
Deployment models of Cloud ComputingÂ
As mentioned earlier there are various types of cloud services which are different from one another. The way how they deploy their services varies as well. Currently there are 3 different ways to deploy a cloud service. Those are the public, private and hybrid cloud.
Private Cloud - Private cloud is a cloud computing resources reserved solely for a single business organization. These kind of companies will generally have an onsite datacenter for storing their private cloud. From these datacenters companies can manage and control their data and build their own infrastructure, so that it can benefit the internal users.Â
Public Cloud - Public cloud delivers their cloud services over the internet which is open for public use. All of the hardware, software and infrastructure management is owned and operated by the cloud providers. Hence these services are accessed by a user through a web browser. Apart from some of the security concerns, public and private cloud services shows no difference at all.
Hybrid Cloud - Combination of both Public and Private cloud services is known as Hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud allows data to travel between public and private cloud services (a part of data is present in both public and private cloud services). Due to this it provides greater flexibility and many deployment options for business organizations. The goal of hybrid cloud services is to provide unified services of which public and private cloud service provides. It supports both Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumers (B2C) type of interactions.
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