Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing often referred to as “the cloud”, in simple terms means storing or accessing
your data and programs over the internet rather than your own hard drive.

Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing services such as servers, storage, databases,
networking, software, analytics, intelligence, and more, over the Cloud (Internet).

Cloud Computing provides an alternative to the on-premises data centre. With an on-premises
datacentre, we have to manage everything, such as purchasing and installing hardware,
virtualization, installing the operating system, and any other required applications, setting up
the network, configuring the firewall, and setting up storage for data. After doing all the
set-up, we become responsible for maintaining it through its entire lifecycle.

But if we choose Cloud Computing, a cloud vendor is responsible for the hardware purchase
and maintenance. They also provide a wide variety of software and platform as a service. We
can take any required services on rent. The cloud computing services will be charged based
on usage.
The cloud environment provides an easily accessible online portal that makes handy for the
user to manage the compute, storage, network, and application resources.

Advantages of cloud computing

o Cost: It reduces the huge capital costs of buying hardware and software.
o Speed: Resources can be accessed in minutes, typically within a few clicks.
o Scalability: We can increase or decrease the requirement of resources according to
the business requirements.
o Productivity: While using cloud computing, we put less operational effort. We do not
need to apply patching, as well as no need to maintain hardware and software. So, in
this way, the IT team can be more productive and focus on achieving business goals.
o Backup and recovery of data are less expensive and very fast for business continuity.
o Security: Many cloud vendors offer a broad set of policies, technologies, and controls
that strengthen our data security.

Types of Cloud Computing

o Public Cloud:

In a public cloud deployment mode, the services which are deployed are open for
public use and generally public cloud services are free. Technically there may be no
difference between a public cloud and a private cloud, but the security parameters are
very different, since the public cloud is accessible by anyone there is a more risk
factor involved with the same.

The cloud resources that are owned and operated by a third-party cloud service
provider are termed as public clouds. It delivers computing resources such as servers,
software, and storage over the internet. A public cloud is a type of computing in
which a service provider makes resources available to the public via the internet.
Resources vary by provider but may include storage capabilities, applications,
or virtual machines. Public cloud allows for scalability and resource sharing that
would not otherwise be possible for a single organization to achieve.

o Private Cloud:

A private cloud is operated solely for a single organization; it can be done by the same
organization or a third-party organization. But usually the costs are high when you are
using your own cloud since the hardware would be updated periodically; security also
has to be kept in check since new threats come up every day.

The cloud computing resources that are exclusively used inside a single business or
organization are termed as a private cloud. A private cloud may physically be located
on the company’s on-site data centre or hosted by a third-party service provider.
 o Hybrid Cloud: It is the combination of public and private clouds, which is bounded
together by technology that allows data applications to be shared between them.
Hybrid cloud provides flexibility and more deployment options to the business.

Types of Cloud Services

Most cloud computing services fall into three broad categories:

1. Software as a service (SaaS)

2. Platform as a service (PaaS)
3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a way of delivering services and applications over

the Internet. Instead of installing and maintaining software, we simply access it via the
Internet, freeing ourselves from the complex software and hardware management. It removes
the need to install and run applications on our own computers or in the data centers
eliminating the expenses of hardware as well as software maintenance.
SaaS provides a complete software solution that you purchase on a pay-as-you-go basis from
a cloud service provider. Most SaaS applications can be run directly from a web browser
without any downloads or installations required. The SaaS applications are sometimes
called Web-based software, on-demand software, or hosted software.
In this service the Cloud Provider leases applications or softwares which are owned by them
to its client. The client can access these softwares on any device which is connected to the
Internet using tools such as a web browser, an app etc.

For Example: salesforce.com provides the CRM (Customer Relation Manager) on a cloud
infrastructure to its client and charges them for it, but the software is owned by the salesforce
company only.

Advantages of SaaS
1. Cost-Effective: Pay only for what you use.
2. Reduced time: Users can run most SaaS apps directly from their web browser without
needing to download and install any software. This reduces the time spent in installation
and configuration and can reduce the issues that can get in the way of the software
deployment.
3. Accessibility: We can Access app data from anywhere.
4. Automatic updates: Rather than purchasing new software, customers rely on a SaaS
provider to automatically perform the updates.
5. Scalability: It allows the users to access the services and features on-demand.

Platform as a Service

PaaS is a category of cloud computing that provides a platform and environment to allow
developers to build applications and services over the internet. PaaS services are hosted in the
cloud and accessed by users simply via their web browser.
A PaaS provider hosts the hardware and software on its own infrastructure. As a result, PaaS
frees users from having to install in-house hardware and software to develop or run a new
application.
The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including
network, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed
applications and possibly configuration settings for the application-hosting environment.
In this service the Cloud Provider gives the ability to the customer to deploy customer created
application using programming languages, tools etc that are provided by the Cloud Provider.
The customer cannot control the underlying architecture including operating systems,
storage, servers etc.

For Example: This service would make sense to you only if you are a developer, since this
service provides you a platform for developing applications, like Google App Engine.

Advantages of PaaS:
1. Simple and convenient for users: It provides much of the infrastructure and other IT
services, which users can access anywhere via a web browser.
2. Cost-Effective: It charges for the services provided on a per-use basis thus eliminating
the expenses one may have for on-premises hardware and software.
3. Efficiently managing the lifecycle: It is designed to support the complete web
application lifecycle: building, testing, deploying, managing, and updating.
4. Efficiency: It allows for higher-level programming with reduced complexity thus, the
overall development of the application can be more effective.
The various companies providing Platform as a service are Amazon Web services,
Salesforce, Windows Azure, Google App Engine, cloud Bess and IBM smart cloud.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

In this service the Cloud Provider provides the customer with virtual machines and other
resources as a service, they abstract the user from the physical machine, location, data
partitioning etc. If the user wants a Linux machine, he gets a Linux machine; he will not
worry about the physical machine or the networking of the system on which the OS is
installed.
For Example: AWS (Amazon Web Services) is IaaS.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a service model that delivers computer infrastructure on

an outsourced basis to support various operations. Typically IaaS is a service where
infrastructure is provided as an outsource to enterprises such as networking equipment,
devices, database, and web servers.
It is also known as Hardware as a Service (HaaS). IaaS customers pay on a per-user basis,
typically by the hour, week, or month. Some providers also charge customers based on the
amount of virtual machine space they use.
It simply provides the underlying operating systems, security, networking, and servers for
developing such applications, services, and for deploying development tools, databases, etc.

Advantages of IaaS:
1. Cost-Effective: Eliminates capital expense and reduces ongoing cost and IaaS customers
pay on a per-user basis, typically by the hour, week, or month.
2. Website hosting: Running websites using IaaS can be less expensive than traditional web
hosting.
3. Security: The IaaS Cloud Provider may provide better security than your existing
software.
4. Maintenance: There is no need to manage the underlying data center or the introduction
of new releases of the development or underlying software. This is all handled by the IaaS
Cloud Provider.

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