cloud computing | Types of cloud computing | Future of cloud computing

 

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing

Suppose you want to develop an application or host a website, the first and the most important element you require is server. Now, after you get server, you’ll require maintenance of the server, resolve security issues, establish your own security mechanism, etc. And all these processes require a lot of management and high expense. To avoid all these management and high expenses, “cloud computing” is used. It allows you think and work your business, website, develop new and creative ideas, helps you focus more on your content, and hence takes away all the loads of server maintenance, resources, memory element, security mechanisms, etc.

Cloud computing is basically the use of remote servers on the internet to store, manage and process data rather than local servers. Remote server means the server that a third person is providing you, and that third person only maintains the server, manages security mechanism, securities issues, performs risk analysis and the only thing you have to do is that you have to access that remote server over the internet and when you access the server over internet, you can store your data, manage your data and process your data.

We can also say that cloud computing is the delivery of IT resources through the internet. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, you can access technology services such as computing power, storage and database, from a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Today, there are several examples of cloud computing applications used by many business groups and individuals as well. One type of cloud service would be streaming platforms for audio or video, where the actual media files are stored remotely and another would be data storage platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or Box.

Organizations of every kind, sector, scale are using the cloud for various reasons such as data backup, email, virtual desktops, software development, testing, big data analytics, etc. For example, in business industry cloud computing allows the organizations to scale, maintain flexibility, and focus their efforts on business operations, healthcare industry is using cloud to develop more personalized treatments for patients, financial service companies are using the cloud to power real-time fraud detection and prevention.

Types of Cloud Computing

There are basically four main types of cloud computing and 3 main types of cloud computing services. First, lets discuss four main types of cloud computing. So, the four main types of cloud computing are as follows:

·       Public Cloud – Public cloud is, where there is a leverage for a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS) from Amazon or Azure services from Microsoft. Public clouds are the cloud environments typically created from IT infrastructure not owned by end user. Fee structure aren’t necessary characteristics of public clouds anymore, since cloud providers such as Massachusetts Open Cloud, allow tenants to use their clouds for free. Apart from AWS and Azure, some of the largest cloud providers are Alibaba cloud, Google cloud, IBM cloud.

·       Private Clouds – Private cloud refers to cloud computing resources, used extensively by a single end user, business or organization and is not shared with others. It can be managed by third party also, but the system or services are used only by the people who are part of that business or organization. All cloud become private clouds when underlying IT infrastructure is dedicated to a single customer with completely isolated access. Some of the examples of private cloud are Microsoft, VMware, Elastra-Private cloud, etc.

·       Hybrid Clouds – Hybrid cloud is basically a mixture of public and private cloud. Non-critical activities are performed using public cloud and critical activities are performed using private cloud. If you want to store an information which is more securable, then choose private in the hybrid and if you want to perform non critical activities, then choose public in the hybrid. The characteristics of hybrid clouds are complex and requirements can differ. A hybrid cloud may need to include at least one private cloud and at least one public cloud, two or more private clouds, two or more public clouds.

·       Multi Clouds – Multi cloud is a cloud computing approach made up to 2 or more cloud environment. Organization utilizes a combination of clouds, which can be two or more public clouds, two or more private clouds, or a combination of public and private clouds to distribute applications and services. Using multi clouds creates redundancy that reduces the risk of single point of failure. Multi cloud can be highly advantageous for your business, when used and managed correctly.

Now, let see types of cloud computing services. But, here what do you mean by cloud computing service? So, as we have discussed above also, cloud computing services are the infrastructure, platforms, or software that are hosted by third party providers and made available to users through internet.

There are basically three main types of as-a cloud service solution and the services are as follows: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS.

·       IaaS – “IaaS” stands for “Infrastructure as a Service”, it is a cloud service provider, that manages the infrastructure for you. It manages the actual server, network, visualization and data storage through an internet connection. It is a type of cloud computing service used by system administrators or the network architects. It provides access to fundamental resources such as physical machines, virtual machines, virtual storage, etc.

·       PaaS - “PaaS” stands for “Platform as a Service”, it is a complete development and deployment environment in the cloud. It provides a platform and environment to allow developers to build applications and services over the internet. We don’t have control over the cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating system, or storage. But we have control over the deployed applications and possibly configuration settings for the application hosting environment.

·       SaaS – “SaaS” stands for “Software as a Service”, it is a service that delivers a software application which the cloud service provider manages to its users. It makes the software available over internet and the software applications are maintained by vendors. Generally, SaaS apps are web applications or mobile apps that users can access via web browser.

Some of the Top Benefits of Cloud Computing

Benefits of Cloud Computing

There are many benefits of cloud computing. We will discuss some of the top 7 benefits of cloud computing. Some of the top benefits cloud computing are as follows:

     Work From Anywhere – Work from home or the flexibility in working location is one of the most compelling, and most commonly cited benefits of cloud computing. Flexible working location is turned out to be positive for both enterprise employers as well as employees, it has increased productivity, improved work-life balance and reduced cost.

   Lower Cost – The cost cutting is one of the most important factors why enterprises choose to adopt cloud. The factors due to which a huge cost savings happened are as follows:

·       Lower acquisition cost.

·       Lower hardware cost.

·       Minimal IT resources required to run.

  Improved Collaboration – In terms of collaboration, nothing can compete with the cloud’s ability to facilitate collaboration across functional boundaries, time zones and     between organizations. Some of the benefits of cloud-based collaborations are as follows:

·       It has improved communication with suppliers, customers and dealers.

·       Reduced operating cost.

·       It has enabled new products and services.

    Increased Security – Cloud providers have worked really very hard and smartly to minimize security concerns, and continue to invest heavily in security. Today there’s no question that the public cloud service providers, such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, offer a more secure environment than you could have ever thought.

      Minimized IT Infrastructure – Cloud computing allows users to access computing and storage resources virtually, with less resources on their end. According to Statista, in 2021,  the Software as a Services (SaaS) is estimated worth approximately 152 billion U.S. dollars and estimated to reach 208 U.S. dollars by 2023. SaaS applications are run in the cloud and usually accessible through desktops and mobile applications, as well as through a web interface.

    Backup and Recovery – Cloud based backup and disaster recovery solutions helped organizations to reduce complexity and deliver flexible, fast and cost-effective functionality. For backup and recovery, you do not require any external hard drives, remotely update and sync your files, share files easily, keep files encrypted and storage for lifetime.

     Document Access and Control – Cloud based document access and control solutions store documents centrally, enabling everyone to access, view, share and edit content. Some of the most popular names that provides this facility are Dropbox, Google and Adobe.

      Future of cloud computing

Cloud computing describes the use of networks of remote servers, usually accessed over internet, to store, manage and process data. The cloud computing generates almost 400 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2021, and not showing any signs of going down.

According to Statista, in 2022, the global public cloud service market is expected to grow by approximately 20.4 percent, which amounts about 495 billion U.S. dollars.

As “Brad Jefferson, Animoto CEO” says “cloud computing is really a no brainer for any start-up because it allows you to test your business plan very quickly for little money. Every start-up, or even a division within a company that has an idea for something new, should be figuring out how to use cloud computing in its plan”.