Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services — servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, intelligence, and more — over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources, and economies of scale.
In other words, Cloud computing is renting resources, like storage space or CPU cycles, on another company's computers and you only pay for what you actually use. It's a way to rent the compute power and storage from someone else's data center.
You can treat cloud resources like you would your resources in your own data center and when you're done using them, you just give them back. You're billed only for what you use.
There are different companies which provide these services and they are referred to as a cloud provider.
Some of the cloud computing companies are Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Rackspace, SAP, Dropbox, and IBM Cloud etc.
Types of Cloud Computing
As there are different kinds of businesses and requirements, one type of computing may not suit others with a different requirement. Thus, there are 3 types of cloud deployment models:
Public Cloud
This is the most common model of deployment. In this model, you don’t own your local hardware or software. You don’t manage them directly and update them on your own. Everything runs on the cloud providers end which delivers their resources like CPU, storage etc. over the internet. Microsoft Azure is an example of a public cloud.
In this, all the hardware, software, and other infrastructure that support them are owned and managed by the cloud providers. We can access these services and manage them using our web-based account.
Advantages
- Here, you don’t need to buy a new server in order to scale up or scale out.
- It saves your cost as you only pay as you go.
- Minimum technical knowledge is required to set up and manage them using the User Interface rather than actually managing them directly.·
- Virtual machines within a Public Cloud system can be created, scaled and shut-down in an instant. So, it is very efficient and easy for someone to meet the needs of a rapidly changing demand.
Disadvantages
With the use of shared Infrastructure and services, there are some limitations as well.
- The performance of the network depends on internet connectivity.
- You can only customize the security settings at the operating system level - security at the physical level is under the control of your cloud provider.
Private Cloud
Private clouds or enterprise clouds are used by organizations that have security, compliance and data privacy as their top priority.
If a data center infrastructure is already available with the organization the private cloud can be implemented in-house.
However, for having in-house private clouds the organization needs to invest heavily in running and maintaining the infrastructure and It can lead to significant capital expenditure.
A use case scenario for a private cloud can be when an organization has data that cannot be put in the public cloud, because of legal or security reasons.
Thus, a private cloud is a dedicated infrastructure provided to one single organization or client.
Advantages
- It belongs to a single client. Hence, the infrastructure and systems can be configured to provide high levels of security. You have complete control (and responsibility) over security.
- It gives you better control over information, users and everything which is a part of your private cloud.
- Storage and network components are customizable
Disadvantages
- You have initial huge investment costs as you have to purchase the hardware for starting and the further during maintenance
- Private clouds require IT skills and more expertise as in this scenario the organization has to set this up on its own.
Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud, as the name suggests, combines public and private clouds.
For example, you could host a website in the public cloud and link it to a highly secure database hosted in your private cloud (or on-premises datacenter).
Suppose there could be one or more applications that run on old hardware which can’t be updated. In this case, you can keep the old system running locally, and connect it to the public cloud for authorization or storage or for some other functionality which is not dependent or is not a legacy to maintain.
Advantages
- You can keep any system running and accessible that uses out-of-date hardware or an out-of-date operating system
- You have more flexibility as here you can choose what you want to keep private and what in the public cloud.
Disadvantages
- It can be more expensive than selecting one deployment model as it involves a large initial investment.
- It can be more complicated to set up and manage.
So far, we have discussed the three models of cloud deployment. So, it is important to understand before we choose any model as it depends on your budget, and on your security, scalability, and maintenance and other needs.
I hope you find this article helpful. Stay tuned for more … Cheers!!