Cloud Computing is one of those concepts that changed the world of computers when it arrived. Plus, it is a major part of the ongoing industrial revolution. This is why before we discuss its uses and benefits, it is important to understand what it is.
What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud Computing refers to the on-demand supply of computer system resources, it mainly concerns computing power as well as data storage. In simpler words, it means delivering computing services over the cloud i.e. over the internet.
Clouding computing is a broad concept that covers, servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence. Now you might be asking why use cloud computing when you can have all of these in one place? Well, you are not half wrong.
But the thing is these things cost money, and big corporates might be able to afford them, but not every firm is that rich. This is cloud computing allows smaller companies to innovate better, and avail flexible resources.
In addition to this, it can also help you lower the cost of operations and make the infrastructure job easier. We shall be discussing the benefits of Cloud computing in the next section in detail.
Benefits of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing was a big revolution back in the day. It helped even the small firms use the benefits of big computer systems. Times have changed but the importance and benefits of Cloud computing have stayed.
Thus, the benefits of this groundbreaking or shall we say, “cloud” breaking service is, as mentioned below:
- Cost
When you run a company, it isn’t cheap. But cloud computing can help you reduce the cost of computing operations at least. Now you might how do this happens? Well, when you opt for cloud computing, you don’t have to buy a lot of hardware and software. In other words, you don’t have to run and maintain the data center on-site. It also saves electricity, so your bill will also be cheaper.
- Speed
When you speak of computing, you can’t ignore speed. And cloud computing delivers just that. it allows you to use a seemingly endless amount of computing resources in a few clicks or calls. Due to on-demand service, it fits your business needs perfectly and that too only when you need that skyrocketing speed.
- Performance
Do you know that largest of the cloud computing data centers are regularly updated with the latest technologies? What this means is that you get the best performance without spending much of the latest technology yourself.in addition to hardware, they also regularly update the software part so you don’t have to spend on the new products.
- Reliability
Cloud computing is without a doubt quite reliable. There are several backups available of your data. In addition to this, it also provides disaster recovery so your precious data isn’t lost. And we know how important data is.
- Security
Data is important; thus it must be kept secure. Any leak can cause companies thousands of dollars in the end. You can avoid all of this with cloud computing. It offers you different policies, technologies, as well as control that allows you to secure your important data against cyber-attacks.
Types of Cloud Computing
Now that you know the benefits you get with cloud computing, it's time to learn the different types of cloud computing. In this section of the blog, the three different types of cloud computing shall be discussed in detail.
- Public cloud
The first is public clouds. As the name suggests, a third-party cloud service provider owns it and also operates the same. In addition to this, they offer their resources over the cloud “internet”. Services include all the obvious, like servicer, storage, and others.
As such, in this type of cloud computing all the infrastructure including all hardware and software. These resources or services can be accessed through a web browser from the client side.
- Private cloud
In contrast to public clouds, private cloud is just the opposite. This cloud infra is owned by one business or corporate and used by the same. As such, this type of data center is located at the head office of the organization, usually along with an on-site data center.
As such, private cloud services, as well as infrastructure, are maintained within a private network. As you might have guessed, this is commonly used by very large organizations only that are spread across multiple locations.
- Hybrid clouds
A hybrid cloud, combines the other two types of clouds, i.e., public and private. This is done by allowing the data and applications to be transferred or used between both of these. Thus, this type of data center has benefited from both of the previous ones.
Types of Cloud Services
since cloud computing is such a large concept, it has different benefits and types as we just saw. But do you know that there are different types of cloud computing services too? Well, now you do. Here, we shall be discussing all these services in the detail. Thus, let's dive into it:
- Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
IaaS is the most basic cloud computing service category. Firms that use these can rent out Its infrastructure, which includes servers and virtual machines (VMs), storage, networks, operating systems. This type of service is providing on a pay-as-you-go basis, thus it is beneficial for short-term clients.
- Platform as a service (PaaS)
PaaS or Platform as a service is when cloud services are supplied with an on-demand environment. This is done for developing, testing, delivering, and managing purposes of software or applications. As such, it allows better development of web and mobile applications. Thus, you won’t have to step your own, servers, storage, network, and databases which are necessities for app or software development.
- Serverless computing
As the name suggests, serverless services mainly focus on creating functionality within applications without actually establishing servers and infrastructure. Here, the clouding computing services provider does all the work and sets up all the required infrastructure.
- Software as a service (SaaS)
Last but not least is the SaaS or software as a service. It is a method of providing software applications over the cloud. This is available on both a subscription and an on-demand basis. Here, the service provider sets up and maintains all the required software as well as infra. In most cases, it is cheaper than buying the software.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, cloud computing is a vast field. It has several advantages and a lot of different types of services. One can say that it is quite a good bet for smaller businesses. After all, Biggers firms can maintain a server of their own.