Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the Internet, including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence. You typically pay only for the cloud services you use, which helps lower your operating costs, run your infrastructure more efficiently, and scale as your business needs change.Simply put, the cloud is not a virtual environment but a collection of physical devices.The only difference is that these devices are located somewhere else, and we, as customers, access them online with the help of the internet.Cloud services are not free. Even though there are a few cloud services that are free for a particular limit, after the limit is exceeded, we have to pay to use them. There are many cloud providers out there in the market, famous ones are AWS from Amazon, Azure from Microsoft, and GCP from Google.There are others as well, but the cloud market is mainly held by these three providers.
The cloud is mainly divided into three types based on ownership. They are listed below
Private Cloud: the cloud services used by a single organization, that are not exposed to the public. A private cloud resides inside the organization and must be behind a firewall, so only the organization has access to it and can manage it.Data will be more secure because no one other than the organization will have access to it.
Example : VMWare private cloud infrastructure deployed inside the organization's network
Public Cloud: The cloud services are exposed to the public and can be used by anyone. Virtualization is typically used to build the cloud services that are offered to the public. An example of a public cloud is Amazon Web Services (AWS). Here, anyone can use the cloud resources, It doesn't mean one can access or see others data; it just means each user's resource may be deployed on the same hardware, or we can say the underlying resources are shared between multiple users.The main concern here is the privacy and security of data. and it is also difficult to implement a particular organization's security standard as it is not bound to that organization.
Example: AWS, Azure, GCP, etc
Hybrid Cloud: the cloud services can be distributed among public and private clouds, where sensitive applications are kept inside the organization’s network (by using a private cloud), whereas other services can be hosted outside the organization’s network (by using a public cloud). Users can interchangeably use private as well as public cloud services in their day-to-day operations.For instance, critical services that connect to customers confidential data are kept on a private network, but at the same time, non-critical data, like a storage service for storing backup files, can be kept safely in the public cloud.
Previously, we discussed three types of clouds and understood how they differ from one another. Similar to that, there are three types of cloud models too. Let's discuss more on that.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): In this model, a cloud provider like AWS or Azure will provide us with the infrastructure at a cost. Infrastructure components can be servers (EC2 in AWS), and IaaS allows businesses to purchase resources on-demand and as-needed instead of having to buy the hardware beforehand. In this model, it is the user's responsibility to patch or update the service and do maintenance.The cloud provider's role is to provide you with the infrastructure or resource, but they will not take care of the management part; it is the responsibility of users to manage it. For example, in the IaaS model, the provider gives us a server, but we have to install the OS, patch it, and install software as required. Users have a high level of control over the infrastructure.
Example: For deploying a Python application in the IaaS model, the user has to install the OS, Python, and all its dependencies. Upload the application code to the server to access it.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): In this model, some of the user's responsibility will be taken care of by the service provider.Instead of just giving us resources like servers, the cloud provider will also include the necessary software and libraries required for our application.The only thing the user should focus on is writing the application and uploading it to the PaaS application.Users have a medium level of control over the infrastructure part.
For example, For deploying a Python application in the PaaS model, the cloud provider has already created the infrastructure for us to deploy our application. Our job as users is to just upload the code to the application, and that's it. Our application is deployed.
Software as a Service (SaaS): As the name suggests, we are getting a complete software suite as a service.As an end user, our job is to use the software. The downside is that there is less flexibility, and we can only alter the application to a certain extent. Users have a low or no level of control over the infrastructure.
Example: Consider Office 365 or Gmail. It is a SaaS service; we use these products, but we don't have any control over the infrastructure where they are hosted. We are getting the complete software for usage.
So far, we have discussed how useful and powerful the cloud is. Let's see what some of the advantages and drawbacks of this service are.
Advantages
Cost efficiency: As most cloud platforms follow the pay-as-you-go model, You only pay for the resources you use, which saves a lot of money in the long run.
High speed: As the resources are deployed on high-end hardware, throughput will be high.There are different tier options available to choose from, from low to extreme performance
Scalability: The Cloud is highly scalable, which means we can add or remove resources with just a click of a button and can even automate the scalability as per our use case.
Storage Options: They provide the best low-cost storage options.best for backup and restore.Also, it has unlimited storage, so users can store an infinite amount of data in it.
Disadvantages
Downtime: Even though the cloud is extremely fault-tolerant, there are still situations of cloud outages. This can be due to power issues, natural calamities, or planned maintenance.
Limited control: as an end user, we have limited control over the underlying infrastructure, and we are forced to use what they provide.
Network latency: As all operations are done through the network, there can be issues with network performance.
Cyberattacks: The cloud is secure, but like the proverb "Nothing is 100% secure," there were many instances of security breaches in popular cloud platforms. So always ensure to check all the security parameters before investing.
There are several certifications available to become cloud certified, they differ based on cloud vendors.These are high values in the IT industry, and learning them is never a waste of your precious time; instead, it opens endless opportunities for you in your IT career.
AWS Certification : Vendor Amazon
Azure Certification : Vendor Microsoft
GCP Certification : Vendor Google
By examining all these features, we can easily conclude that cloud computing is the future.As more and more companies are moving to work from home, the use of cloud computing will skyrocket in the upcoming year.Cloud computing opened endless possibilities to businesses and operations, and almost every new startup uses the cloud now. At the same time, traditional companies have started migrating there infrastructure to the cloud.So cloud computing is not going anywhere in the near future.
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