In simple words, cloud means servers that can be accessed over the internet, software, and databases that can run on those servers. Moreover, It is not a physical entity. The usual location of cloud servers is data centers situated across the world. Using cloud technology, individuals and businesses do not have to manage physical servers themselves or configure software applications and software on their machines. However, cloud computing is dependent upon the same physical server hardware that becomes the backbone of any network. Cloud architecture makes storage space and processing power via the internet. Additionally, data stored on the cloud can be accessed anytime using a good internet connection. Cloud computing has turned out to be a brilliant option for organisations shifted to remote working due to COVID-19.

What is cloud computing?

When different types of services are delivered over the internet then it is known as cloud computing. It generally includes applications and tools like servers, databases, networking, storage, and software. These services are packaged and deployed in three models: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS (explained later). Cloud computing follows the strategy of pay as you go instead of buying and maintaining physical data centers and servers. It is usually available in the form of a subscription where bills can be paid monthly or annually based on the usage. Cloud computing is a popular choice by individuals and businesses because it is cheap, fast, secure, and efficient.

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing infrastructure based on application software that saves data on servers located remotely. Data stored on servers can be easily accessed through the internet. To understand how cloud computing works, it can be divided into two sections: front end and back end. Both of them are connected through networks, usually the internet. In simple terms, the front end is the side for the user or client. While the back end is the cloud section of the system.

Using the front-end section, users can communicate and access the applications and data. It involves interaction with computers, applications, networks, and everything that clients can access via cloud computing. However, not all cloud computing service providers will offer a recognizable user interface to their users.

The back end consists of everything essential for cloud computing services. Every cloud software or app has a host, hosting company responsibly maintains massive data center Noida. These companies will take the responsibility of providing security, storage capacity, and computing power required to keep the information. Users can send the information to the cloud or get access to the information from the cloud.

A cloud computing system can have any computer program, from data processing to video games. However, each app has its dedicated server.

Types of cloud services

Cloud computing service allows the users to perform lots of actions including

Email

Data storage

Delivering software

Audio and video streaming

Creating and testing applications

Cloud computing is used by small businesses, government agencies, huge corporations, and even individual consumers.

Cloud deployment models

Cloud computing is available on both public and private models. Public cloud services can be easily accessed over the internet just by paying the fee. On the other hand, private cloud services are provided to a certain number of people. Another type that exists is the hybrid cloud which combines the benefits of both public and private cloud. However, all the cloud deployment models work on the same principle by virtualizing the computing power into segments that provide storage and processing abilities.

Deployment models are somewhat different from each other based on implementation, hosting, and access. Though, all the models follow the same principle or virtualization but vary in terms of accessibility, storage, location, and capacity. As per the data type, you can choose between public, private, hybrid, and community cloud.

Public cloud

Clouds that are managed by third parties which provide cloud-based service over the internet are called public clouds. Public cloud services are available on a pay-as-you-go basis. They offer solutions that minimise IT infrastructure costs and become a reliable solution for handling loads. Due to its advantages, it is highly suitable for small enterprises that have just started. In the public cloud environment, resources are shared among numerous users known as tenants.

Pros of public cloud services

Easy infrastructure management - Public cloud service provider helps you in updating and managing the server hence it reduces your efforts.

Cost-efficient - Public cloud is cost-effective because it involves the pay-as-per-use policy. Billing is done monthly and yearly basis thus it reduces overhead costs.

Time-saving - It saves time in developing, testing, and launching new software and applications. Apart from this, it allows 24X7 infrastructure availability.

Cons of public cloud services

Network performance - Network performance suffers as the number of users increases. Network performance is highly unstable in public clouds.

Security and data risk - Public cloud is not suitable for storing sensitive data due to high vulnerability. A user does not know where the information is stored and who can access it.

Lack of customization opportunity - In public clouds there are pretty few opportunities for customization.

Private cloud

Clouds that are not shared by any other individual or business are known as the private cloud. It is usually located behind a firewall that is used by a single organization. The private cloud offers the highest level of security and control. Additionally, the costs of service are not shared with any other individual or business. The user is solely responsible for the management. The cloud service provider does not provide any kind of management services.

Pros of private cloud services

Customization - Private cloud model offers high customization options. You can customise the solution as per your needs.

Data and security - Private cloud models provide high data security. That is why they are highly preferred for storing sensitive data.

Legacy applications - It is a special feature that comes with the private cloud is that it supports legacy applications. These applications are not functional with public clouds.

Cons of private cloud services

Limited scalability - In private clouds, scalability depends on the in-house hardware. Therefore, it offers limited scalability.

High cost - You have to purchase hardware and software. Moreover, you have to hire a few professionals for maintaining and updating the server thus it will increase the costs.

Hybrid cloud

As the name suggests, the hybrid cloud model includes the features of both public and private clouds. Since it is the combination of two different clouds hence it is also called a heterogeneous cloud. Though it allows you to share applications and data between the public and private cloud environments. The drawback of the private cloud is that it cannot handle peak loads and does not support scalability. In such cases, public clouds are needed. Organisations can use the private cloud for storing sensitive data and simultaneously use features of the public cloud.

Pros of hybrid cloud services

Agility - Agility is something that brings productivity and progress. Hybrid cloud helps you in developing and testing new applications in the correct time frame.

Cost - Due to the scalability provided by public clouds, you only have to pay for the extra capacity if you need it.

Control and flexibility - Hybrid cloud allows you to allocate resources according to the cases. You will have complete control over the cloud.

Cons of hybrid cloud services

Difficult integration - Data and application integration is pretty challenging in the hybrid cloud. However, activating two or more infrastructures will increase the cost.

Maintenance - Hybrid cloud model requires high maintenance cost. It increases the operating expense of the organisation.

Community cloud

Cloud that is shared by the users of the same industry or by those who have the same goals are known as community clouds. In the community cloud, the infrastructure is shared among the organisations with the same concerns and tasks. However, the cloud can be managed by the organisation or a third party. The cloud infrastructure is designed as per the understanding of the computing needs of a community. A community cloud is similar to a private cloud that functions more like a public cloud.

Pros of community cloud services

Collaboration and data sharing - Sharing data is easy with the community cloud. Additionally, It enhances the efficiency of the users. Configuration and protocols can meet the industry needs within the community.

Cost - Community cloud is a cheaper way of availing the benefits of private cloud. It is due to multiple companies sharing the bill.

Cons of community cloud services

Limited bandwidth and storage - The drawback of using a community cloud is that it offers limited storage space and bandwidth capacity. 

What is a multi-cloud model?

Multi-cloud simply means multiple public clouds. Sometimes a single public cloud is not sufficient to meet the computing needs of an organisation hence they have to switch to multi-cloud. It is a more complex hybrid cloud that combines a private cloud with multiple public cloud services. Multi-cloud is a cloud computing model in which an organisation uses a combination of clouds which can be two or more public clouds, two or more private clouds,s or a combination of both public and private clouds.

Multi-cloud Vs hybrid cloud: which one should you choose?

Both hybrid cloud and multi-cloud refer to cloud deployments that integrate more than one cloud. However, both differ in the kind of infrastructure they include.

Hybrid cloud infrastructure includes two or more different types of clouds, while multi-cloud includes different clouds of the same types. Hybrid cloud always involves public and private cloud whereas multi-cloud only involves public cloud.

Types of cloud computing services

Cloud computing services are designed on the same conceptual framework of remorse infrastructure that is powered by housed servers located in data centers. However, cloud computing is one-piece technology like cell phones and microchips. Instead, it is a system of three services: Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Function as a Service (FaaS) which is a new cloud service model. Moreover, these are sometimes known as cloud computing stacks because they are built on top of each other.

Infrastructure as a Service(IaaS)

It is one of the most common models of cloud computing because it offers the basic infrastructure of virtual servers, networks, OS, and storage drives. It offers flexibility, scalability, and reliability to many businesses that seek the cloud. Furthermore, it removes the hardware requirements in the office. Small and medium-sized organisations can use the services because it is a cost-effective IT solution for supporting business growth. IaaS is a completely pay-for-use service that is available for public, private, and hybrid cloud models.

Features and advantages of IaaS cloud computing

Infrastructure as a service saves both time and capital as the hardware setup and support is provided by the service provider.

It is always in demand hence there is no wastage of any unused resource and zero delays on adding resources.

It follows a utility-based pricing model thus you have to pay only for the resources you are using.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is an advanced version of IaaS. Apart from just providing the basic IT infrastructure, PaaS is also responsible for providing a computing platform and solution stack as a service. Web applications can be easily developed using PaaS. Additionally, it is a flexible service and robust enough to support such applications. PaaS offers scalable solutions that are ideal for business environments where numerous developers are working on a single project. It is highly useful in situations where there is existing data like a CRM tool has to be used.

Features and advantages of PaaS cloud computing

Platform as a service makes software development easy even for non-tech experts. Anybody with or without knowledge can develop an application through a web browser in just one click.

Upgrading and updating the infrastructure is not needed because the PaaS service provider handles all upgrades, updates, and software maintenance.

It provides location independence by which developers from different locations work together on the same application.

PaaS does not require any investment in physical infrastructure or expertise in management.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is a cloud computing solution that involves the deployment of software over the internet to multiple businesses. Moreover, these businesses have to pay the subscription charge or follow pay per use model which is billed monthly and yearly. It is a very helpful tool for CRM and applications that require mobile or web access. For example, mobile sales management software. Additionally, SaaS is managed from a central location hence businesses do not have to worry about maintenance. It is an ideal choice for short team projects.

Features and advantages of SaaS cloud computing

Software as a service does not require any initial setup cost, users can use the application once they subscribe to the plan. Moreover, it does not require any hardware cost because the service provider takes care of everything.

It provides cross-device compatibility because SaaS apps can be accessed from any device like laptop, smartphone, or desktop over the internet.

Businesses do not need an IT expert to download the software on multiple systems. Moreover, they do not have to worry about keeping software up to date on every PC.

It offers a flexible payment option as the users have to pay as per the user.

Software updates are free of cost and automatic

Function as a Service (FaaS)

FaaS Is also known as serverless computing. It allows the customers to code responsively without worrying about allocating processing resources. Infrastructure is handled by cloud service providers while customers can focus on deploying application code. It also supports automatic scalability which makes it an excellent fit for dynamic workloads. Consumers or clients only have to pay for the resources they are using which makes FaaS a pay-as-you-go model of cloud computing.

Features and advantages of FaaS cloud computing

Function as a service is scalable and fault-tolerant.

Money invested in FaaS is never wasted because users have to pay the bill as per the amount of functionality they have used.

It makes developers efficient by allowing them to focus more on writing codes rather than dealing with the server logistics.

Uses of cloud computing

 

Software testing and development

Cloud computing is a quick way of developing, testing, accepting, and producing software and applications. It is very easy to create and configure cloud resources using IaC. For creating new environments, just change a few variables. It allows you to run scripts automatically from your DevOps environment. There is no need to create more VMs or additional environments and hope about exactly mirroring the production environment. Cloud environments will always be the same even if you choose a less expensive tier of services.

Big data analytics

Cloud offers numerous solutions for big data analytics. Storing and processing structured and unstructured data with various tools for data warehousing, data lakes, and extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) is easy. Even if you do not do anything with your data, still, cloud platforms have unlimited storage for gathering everything that you might need later. It generally includes customer shopping habits, sensor data, images, search and site navigation, etc. Cloud services scale for collecting all the constant streams of data.

Artificial intelligence(AI), machine learning (ML) will help you find patterns in data and generate business value from huge quantities of data. Having such detailed insights and information can help you in business growth, cost optimization, enhancing customer experience, and marketing improvements. The computing power available on cloud services helps you analyse data in real-time and make quick decisions.

Social networking

Social networking is one of the most underrated uses of cloud computing. The software as a service (SaaS) cloud computing is used by some of the well-known social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Social media platforms are designed to help you in finding the people you already know or connect with unknowns. They also provide you with multiple options for sharing data like photos, videos, tweets, messages, and posts. Along with cloud storage, social media is one of the most commonly used customer-driven usage of cloud services.

Cloud storage

Cloud storage is an efficient way of storing all the necessary data. Data is available everywhere and anyone whom you give access to. It is very helpful for contractors and employees working from home during the lockdown and work from home. Cloud stores some files redundantly so you have some backups in place. It also offers the facility of synchronisation and ensures backup in case of an equipment malfunction or natural disaster.

Pay for the storage you use and storage can be scaled as the business grows. Cloud storage is fast, secure, and easily accessible However most cloud breaches occur due to the errors caused by users while setting up the services like failing to lock down containers with user permissions. It is not because cloud platforms are insecure.

Data backup

Nowadays, data breaches are the common issues that can destroy any business. Traditional methods of data backup are effective in backing up data. However, they are more prone to viruses and due to portability they can be lost or damaged. Cloud-based backup is an effective solution to these challenges. It is easy to incorporate and offers maximum data security. You can archive and backup your sensitive data on cloud-based systems. It assures that your data is safe and intact. Additionally, some cloud computing services will allow you to schedule backups. You can also encrypt your cloud backups so that hackers and snoopers can never access them.

Disaster recovery

Over 75% of businesses that experience a disaster do not have a disaster recovery strategy. Building a disaster recovery site and testing it can be a highly expensive and time-taking activity. Cloud computing makes disaster recovery very easy, just pick your backup and click restore. It helps you create a replica of your site and copy data and settings. In case of disaster, launching applications and data services can get your business back up and running without any delay.

Business Process

Using business management applications like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) you can incorporate cloud computing technology in your management strategy. Such applications are deployed using the software as a service (SaaS) which relies on cloud computing models. They ensure consistent maintenance, management, and security of business essential resources. Moreover, they will provide efficiency to service providers and customers.

What is cloud hosting?

Cloud hosting is one of the most popular hosting solutions because it makes applications and websites accessible using cloud resources. The cloud allows you to spread your data on multiple servers that are interconnected and located across any specific area. Furthermore, all these servers exist in the virtual environment. Cloud hosting India is an advanced solution for website hosting which is suitable for both small and large businesses. Everyone is choosing cloud hosting because it is highly scalable and cost-friendly.

Advantages of cloud hosting

Cloud hosting is pocket-friendly - Cloud hosting is a significant way of saving hardware costs. Cloud data is saved on the servers owned by huge companies thus the cost of physical devices can be saved.

Cloud hosting is scalable - Cloud hosting is an emerging technology that supports changing IT requirements. Furthermore, a growing company will always seek more space and bandwidth that the cloud can easily deliver.

Cloud hosting provides disaster recovery - Backup is an essential part of hosting. Even a perfectly built system can fail with just one crash. Cloud follows a backup procedure that collects all the facts and information.

Cloud hosting is secure - Data stored on the cloud is less prone to hacking and data theft. Moreover, cloud service providers should comply with the rules and regulations set for protecting customers’ data.

Cloud hosting is fast - Getting any information on the cloud is a matter of seconds. Enter the keywords and hit enter, all the matching results will be instantly displayed. Due to the speed of cloud services, most businesses are preferring it.

Conclusion -

With each passing day, technology is booming and cloud computing is the new chapter that is going to rule for the next few decades. Due to the flexibility and scalability of the cloud, it can be used at several places in the industry. Cloud hosting is also a brilliant solution for small and large-scale businesses. Cloud hosting India is an effective way of hosting your website and adding multi-layer security to it. Furthermore, everyone is moving towards cloud hosting because it is cost-friendly and scalable.