Cloud Computing is one of the buzz words of this age and time as its popularity is growing along with the growth of the use of this technology, especially by the organizations to support their business operations. In its simplest words, cloud computing refers to utilizing the computing power delivered through the use of internet technology. As the definition suggests, cloud computing uses internet technology to connect to computer servers so that the power of these servers could be utilized to support computing operations. Many organizations provide these services for a charge so it could be said that cloud computing is computing power for sale.
Let’s dive deep into this topic:
Types of Cloud Computing:
Cloud computing is divided into three general categories:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This is probably the most basic type of cloud computing service. It allows the users to rent IT infrastructure such as servers or virtual machines so that their computing needs could be supported through these.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): Platform as a service provides the users with the platform that could be utilized to develop, test and manage software applications. Such a platform could be utilized to develop software applications without the need to set up the hardware and software infrastructure.
- Software as a Service (SaaS): Software as a service refers to the software application running on cloud servers which could be accessed by the users to fulfil a specific need. It is an application running on the servers delivered to the users leveraging the power of internet technology.
Types of Clouds:
Clouds are generally classified into three categories:
- Public Cloud: In this type of cloud, the servers are located at the premises of cloud service providing company and the servers are shared among the users. Most people refer to this type of cloud when they talk about this subject.
- Private Cloud: In this type of service, you have the privilege to keep separate cloud infrastructure for yourself. Organizations usually purchase this type of service to ensure higher security and control.
- Hybrid Cloud: When an organization is using both public as well as private cloud, it is said to have been using a hybrid cloud to support its operations. The applications which require a higher level of security are kept on private servers whereas the applications which require lesser security are stored on public servers.
Advantages of cloud computing:
- Cost Savings: With cloud computing, you don’t need to invest a huge sum of money to set up the infrastructure required to perform your computational operations. You don’t need to invest in hardware, networking, servers or even n IT team that is required to manage these operations.
- Accessibility: As cloud computing is powered with the help of internet technology it could be accessed from anywhere in the world. This feature of cloud computing assists the organizations to expand globally and help the organizations in this era of globalization.
- Better collaboration: Cloud computing assists the employees of the organizations to collaborate in a better way as they are able to share the information and communicate in real-time
- Disaster Recovery: The data stored in computers of the organizations are prone to disasters which eventually becomes a loss for the organization. However, if these organizations are using service such s cloud storage the data lost could be easily recovered thus saving them from huge loss.
- Scalability: The computing needs of one organization is different from the other furthermore the same organization may have different computing needs at different times. This statement is becoming truer along with time. Cloud computing helps the organizations deal with this challenge, they are able to increase or decrease the computational power they need on very short notice.
- Professional IT Support: The cloud computing service providers also provide professional IT support for a very small charge. Organizations when maintaining their own IT teams are required to pay huge amounts to do so.
- Easy implementation: Cloud computing could be set up with just a few clicks. The cloud computing services provider do almost everything for you and help you set up the resources as per your requirement.
- Up to date software: The cloud computing services providers keep their software up to date. In traditional computing, you have to do it yourself which takes up your time and resources. Furthermore, you may not be aware of the new update that has been released in the market which may eventually keep you away from upgrading your systems.
Disadvantages of cloud computing:
- Lesser Control: When you use cloud computing service you give up much of the control you have in traditional computing as many of the authority to manage things is shifted to the company providing you with the cloud service.
- Downtime: You may face downtime when utilizing cloud computing service which happens due to some problem on the side of the cloud computing service provider. Although the downtime has reduced to almost none it’s still a factor to consider when counting the cons of cloud computing.
- Dependability on connectivity: The use of cloud computing service is completely reliant on your internet connection. In the case of dis-connectivity, you lose not only the internet but also the cloud computing power you have.
- Vulnerability to attacks: Most of the cloud service providers have ost of the cloud service providers have public clouds for the provision of their service. This makes them vulnerable to attacks such as spyware, malware and hacking. The data of the organizations or individuals stored in these clouds is at risk due to this reason.
Conclusion: Cloud computing surely seems to be the future of computing considering the flexibility and features it offers. There surely are some challenges which are needed to be dealt with before its full potential could be achieved. Considering its growth however it could be said that these challenges would be neutralized in the future. Time is yet to tell how true this statement would be.
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