By: Rashida Jamil
Definition of Cloud Computing:
- In layman’s terms, Cloud Computing is the storing and accessing of data and programs over the internet instead of your computer’s hard drive.
Key Characteristics:
Virtual
- Think of a room full of servers. Together, they become a massive pool of resources. Then think of the pool as multiple virtual servers and you just created a “cloud.”
Flexible and Scalable
- Since virtual servers aren’t physical, they are super flexible, giving you what you need at the moment. Spin up a server in minutes, and take it down just as easily
Open or closed
- In the open cloud, you can easily move your cloud around—without being locked into one provider or a closed network.
Affordable
- You’ll get the greatest cost savings in the public cloud, where your virtual servers run on physical servers that you share with other customers.
Secure
- A hybrid cloud gives you the benefits of both public and private clouds. For example, you can put public-facing components in a public cloud, while storing customer-sensitive data in a private cloud.
Cloud Computing Services:
Software as Service (SaaS)
- Is a Cloud-based application where you can access from someone else’s computer/domain. For Example: Gmail
- You can sign up and start using cloud apps in minutes
- Apps and data are accessible from any connected computer
- No data is lost if your computer breaks, as data is in the cloud
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
- Is a Cloud-based environment with everything required to support the complete lifecycle of building and delivering web-based or cloud applications. This will cut down the cost and complexity of buying and managing the hardware, software, provisioning and hosting it
- With PaaS you can:
- Develop applications and get to market faster
- Deploy new web applications to the cloud in minutes
- Reduce complexity with middleware as a service
Infrastructure as Service (IaaS)
- A service that provides companies with computing resources including servers, networking, storage, and data center space on a pay-per-use basis.
- On demand and elastic services—quickly scale up or down
- Self-service, automated provisioning and de-provisioning
- Reduced costs from economies of scale and resource pooling
- Pay-for-use—costs based on metered service usage
Cloud Computing Deployment Models:
Public Cloud
- Are owned and operated by companies that use them to offer rapid access to affordable computing resources to other organizations or individuals.
- With public cloud services, you don’t need to purchase hardware, software or supporting infrastructure, which is owned and managed by providers.
Private Cloud
- Is owned and operated by a single company that controls the way virtualized resources and automated services are customized and used by various lines of businesses. ——–Mainly used for internal use within a corporation.
Hybrid Cloud
- Uses a private cloud foundation combined with the strategic use of public cloud services. ——The Hybrid cloud is on the public cloud but you can store personal things on the private cloud.
