A Beginner’s Guide to Cloud Computing

Posted by kanwarpreetkaur on October 9th, 2019

Cloud has become the latest buzzword in the world of information technology. As per a recent survey by LogicMonitor, 83% of the enterprise workloads will be on the cloud by 2020. Although the technology has been there since the 1960s, the cloud gained popularity only after the arrival of Salesforce.com in 1999. Salesforce pioneered the concept of delivering enterprise applications through a website.

Another significant milestone in cloud technology was the emergence of Amazon Web Services India. In 2006, Amazon launched its web service Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) that allowed companies to rent computers to run their own applications. Today, Amazon is counted among the market leaders in the cloud computing industry along with Google and Microsoft.

In light of increasing popularity of cloud-based services, let us try to understand the nuances of this technology.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing refers to the use of IT resources such as compute power, applications, storage and database through the internet on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Let’s try to understand this using a simple example.

Picture yourself as a business owner seeking computing resources to fulfill his IT needs.

You can fulfill these IT needs in either of the two ways: One, buy your own computing resources and equipment or two, use the power of computers located elsewhere through the internet. In the second case, you don’t need to own computers. They are being offered as a ‘service’.

Buying your own computing equipment entails expenditure in terms of money, time, manpower and other resources. You need to purchase, install and maintain servers on your premises. You need to pay for the hardware, software, electricity, floor space and IT manpower. Add the licensing requirements that come with it.

Now, if you choose the second alternative, you are using the computing resources of a third party, the so-called ‘cloud provider’, by paying some fees. These resources are located not on your premises but somewhere on the ‘cloud’ represented by the internet. Here, you pay only for the computing resources you use; there are no upfront costs involved.

Cloud computing is, thus, a utility-based computing model that involves the delivery of various services over the internet.

By choosing the cloud, you can not only avoid the hassle of buying new equipment but also get rid of several unnecessary expenses.

Today, cloud computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services offer on-demand computing resources to thousands of enterprises and individuals across the globe.

These cloud service providers maintain hundreds and thousands of servers in massive server farms present in multiple locations. These server farms produce enormous computing power needed for the seamless delivery of cloud services like servers, software, networking and storage.

Now that we have a fair idea of what the cloud is all about, let us discuss some key benefits of cloud computing:

1) Flexibility

Cloud computing model enables on-demand delivery of services which imparts users the ability to cater to the fluctuating demands of their business. If your business needs increase, you can easily scale up and draw resources from your cloud service. And whenever you need to scale down again, you can do so in an instant.

2) Disaster Recovery

Every business, be it a startup or a business conglomerate, requires a robust disaster recovery solution to safeguard their data and applications. Cloud services are now helping enterprises leverage premium back up and disaster recovery solutions at pocket-friendly rates. Most cloud managed services provider have DR as a part of their package.

3) No Upfront Expenditure

Cloud computing operates on a pay-as-you-go basis which means you have to pay only for the resources you consume. There is no upfront capital expenditure. Besides, you are saved from the hassle of buying and maintaining costly hardware and pay for all associated expenses.

4) Better Collaboration

Cloud-based applications allow teams to access, edit and share documents in real-time sitting anywhere. This helps them collaborate better across teams, remain updated of any changes and streamline the workflow.

5) Security

We all have valuable information stored on our computers. But what if the system you work on gets stolen or crashes? Such a mishap would have wreaked havoc a few years back when there was no cloud. Fortunately, today we have cloud-based platforms that allow us to store and access data whenever, wherever we want. So, regardless of what happens to your machine, you can always count on cloud to save critical data.

6) Automatic Updates

In cloud computing, your servers are off-premises. So, your service providers take care of tasks such as updating software and applying security patches. This saves you from the hassle of maintaining your system and allows you to focus on the core aspects of your business.

What are the different Cloud Deployment Models available today?

There are mainly three kinds of cloud deployment models: public, private and hybrid. Each model has its pros and cons. You can choose any depending on your data and the level of security and management you need.

Public Cloud

Public Cloud is what most of us refer to when talking about the cloud. A public cloud is hosted by third-party service providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM who handle and control all the computing infrastructure and allow clients to access and share computing infrastructure (hardware, storage and bandwidth). Clients access services through accounts and usually pay on an hourly basis.

A public cloud benefits from economies of scale and is often cheaper than a private or hybrid cloud. Here, clients need to pay only for the resources they use. Plus, they don’t have access to the service provider’s infrastructure, so they don’t need to worry about installing and maintaining it.

A public cloud can, however, have security issues. Because public cloud service providers have infrastructure located in multiple countries, they often face difficulty in complying with security requirements. Besides, a public cloud can have connectivity issues during a surge in online traffic.

Private Cloud

In a private cloud, the computing resources are reserved exclusively for one enterprise. The private cloud can be physically located onsite or offsite. A private cloud offers added security as only one client has access to it. It also lets clients customize resources to meet their specific needs.

A private cloud is, however, expensive to use. Besides, the users are restricted to the cloud infrastructure specified in the contract. Because a private cloud is highly secure, it may be difficult for users in remote locations to access it.

Hybrid Cloud

A hybrid cloud combines the elements of both public and private cloud to varying degrees. In a hybrid model, the data and applications move between the public and private cloud. For instance, a company can use a private cloud for storing critical data and public cloud for interacting with customers.

The hybrid model allows users to take advantage of both kinds of deployment models. It offers a tremendous amount of flexibility as the clients can move applications between public and private environments.

Besides, a hybrid model is cost-effective as the companies can use expensive (private) cloud resources only when they really need it.

A hybrid cloud is complex when compared to public and private models hence difficult to maintain. Being a combination of different applications and data, a hybrid cloud can pose integration challenges.

What Service Models do Cloud Solutions typically follow?

Cloud computing solutions usually follow any of the three service models: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is the most basic cloud service model. In an IaaS model, the service provider offers virtual infrastructure in the form of servers, storage and networking resources. IaaS is, in fact, a virtual data center. IaaS can be used for a variety of purposes ranging from hosting a website (cloud hosting) to working with massive sets of data.

In an IaaS model, the clients have the flexibility to choose and install the operating system and tools they want. The clients manage applications, data, runtime and operating system while the service provider takes care of the servers, hard drives, storage and networking.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS solutions are typically used by software developers. PaaS offers not only a virtual infrastructure but also a computing platform for developing, testing and managing applications. PaaS solutions enable developers to deploy applications without requiring to install and manage all the related infrastructure viz. servers, databases, operating systems and development tools. PaaS includes platforms like Heroku and Force.com.

In a PaaS model, the service provider offers a complete environment for application development where the developer just needs to manage the code. PaaS solutions reduce development time considerably and, therefore, are chosen by software development companies.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS solutions allow clients to use web-based cloud applications. Some of the common applications that we use in day-to-day life fall in this category e.g. Gmail (e-mail service), Google docs and Office 365 (office tools), Dropbox (storage services) and Salesforce (customer relationship management software).

In a SaaS solution, all the hardware and software is managed by the vendor; the client does not need to install and configure anything. The application is ready to be used as soon as you log in using your credentials.

How do you think cloud technology will evolve in the days to come? Let us know in the comments below.