In this current digital world, cloud computing can be described as a form of technology which uses the internet and remote servers to manage data and applications. It’s a platform which allows consumers and businesses to use applications without the need off any installation and can access their files from any computer with an internet access.
Today’s era of global economy is mostly driven by and on digitalization. To attain success in this knowledge-driven economy, sharing of information is a must and information is considered as an asset.
Well the global economy has been successfully making progressive developments in the way we share and exchange the information. But to make it factual, the introduction of cloud technology has been seen as a game-changer.
What is Cloud Computing?
The word itself is strange to many of the us, but in reality, we all use the facility of cloud computing daily through using services like online banking, social-networks and much more, but we don’t realise it.
We can describe the-cloud computing as delivery of various services through the mode of internet. And these resources are tools and applications, -for example data: storage, servers’ database, software and networking. We are also concluding that how long the medium or devices have access to the web, it has access to the data, and various applications work on it.
How does the cloud computing work?
By using an internet service connection, cloud storage enables users to have access and download data on any device, such as laptops, tablets or Smartphone’s. With the Cloud Storage facility, the users have privilege to edit documents simultaneously with other users as well, thus end users have the access to work on any types of files from anywhere.
Companies have the opportunity to access anything from apps to storage through a cloud service provider, instead of owning such computing infrastructure or data centers.
This is the one benefit of using cloud computing services, where any firms can avoid the higher cost and requires very high complexity of owning and maintaining their own IT infrastructure, and instead they can simply pay for what and when they use it.
Besides, providers of cloud computing services can benefit from this scale by delivering the same types of essential services to a different range of customers.
What does it make cloud computing different?
It’s managed
The word itself describes that the service is pre- managed. It is as simple, that you use the service provided by someone else and they manage each and everything on your behalf. Let’s take a small example, if you’re using Google Documents, you don’t have to worry about anything related to buying of licenses for word-processing software or keeping them up-to-date whenever any updates are released. Also, you have nothing to worry about virus attacks that might affect your computer or about backing up the files you create; Google does simplify all for you. There is one basic principle of cloud computing that you no longer need to have worry on how the service is been provided to you, you all have to simply concentrate on your job and leave the task of providing dependable computing service to somebody else.
It’s “On-Demand”
These services are available on one’s demands and often users buy it as “pay as you use” or on monthly or yearly subscription basis. It’s as simple as we would buy electricity, or telephone or broadband services from a utility or a service provider. Some service providers like Google’ Gmail provide it as free of cost to the users.
It’s Public or Private
Most of us have PCs on our desks or at home, we are used to have complete control over our computer systems and have complete responsibility of them as well. It comes in two basic pattern, public and private, which are the cloud equivalents of the internet and intranets. One of the most familiar examples of public clouds is Google services which offers email and other free services under one platform.
Types of Cloud Computing
Cloud services are typically developed and modified, based on the end-user (business) requirements. The primary services include the following:
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) means here you’re buying access to raw computing hardware over the Net, such as servers or storage. Since, you buy for what you need and pay for only using it, this is often also referred to as utility computing. Example of IaaS is ordinary web hosting where you have to pay a monthly subscription to have a hosting company serve up files for your website from their servers.
- Software as a Service (SaaS) means you use somebody else’s system for completing an application running. Perhaps the best-known examples are Google email and Google Documents.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) means you use software and hardware provided by other company for developing other web-based tools. So, for example, you might develop your own e-commerce website, while other important things would be managed by merchant server which includes the shopping cart, checkout, and payment mechanism running on a merchant’s server.
Advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing
Pros
- Setup and installation and maintenance cost is less.
- Its helps to grow your applications.
- You can scale up or scale down at short notice or as per your business plan.
- There is complete freedom to pay only for what you use.
- Freedom from worries as everything is managed under SLAs.
- There is another bigger benefit consisting overall environmental factor (i.e. lower emission of carbon) of many users efficiently sharing large systems together.
Cons
- There is a very higher ongoing operating and maintenance costs. One has to be greatly dependent on service providers and any sudden slowdown or shutting down on their side can hamper the entire business needs.
- Risk of getting or being locked into proprietary or vendor-recommended systems.
- Unreliable on service provider and their services.
- Risk for privacy and security risks.
Cloud infrastructures are known to be in the support of environment friendly, as it powers the virtual services instead of physical products and hardware, and other bigger contribution towards reduction on paper waste, improving energy efficiency, and (given that it has the allows employees access from anywhere with an internet connection) reducing commuter-related emissions. Thus, it has a very important role in future call of go green and zero emission mission.