Even wondered what’s so fascinating about Cloud Technology, Not got a chance to explore it yet ? No worries, this article is solely based on Modern day Cutting-Edge Technology – Cloud Computing, its Applications.

Definition

In technical terms, Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing.

Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, you can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, on an as-needed basis from a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS).

In more simpler words, Cloud computing involves tech where you rent some of the resources available on web to host your services and meet your requirements. By doing this, you don’t have to maintain your bulky system hardware.

These resources may be anything like servers, networks, storage, development tools, and even applications (apps).

Some of the most common cloud providers are Amazon (Amazon Web Services), Google (Google Cloud Platform), Microsoft, IBM etc.

But why, Cloud Tech is in demand, let’s see :

Problem with Traditional Approach

• Deploying and Maintaining your own infrastructure is neither feasible nor cost-effective.
• Time to setup the infrastructure is more.
• There might be some cases/scenarios where resources are under-utilized or sometimes they may be even over-utilized.
• Reduced Return of Investment.

Revolutionary Idea of Cloud Computing was able to fill out these huge gaps seen in traditional approach of computing.

Advantages of Cloud Computing over Traditional Approach

1. Highly Scalable : In Cloud Computing, resources can be auto-scaled or de-scaled as per the requirements. It is very easy to move to the config with high capacity and performance.
2. Minimal TAT : Turn Around Time is the total time taken between the submission of a program/process/thread/task for execution and the return of the complete output to the customer/user.
3. High Performance : In Cloud Computing, Performance is high due to various automation.
4. Highly Cost Effective : Cloud Tech believes on ‘Pay-as-you-go’ model of computing. It allows you to pay only for those services/ resources that you use.
5. No Maintenance Overhead : In Cloud Computing, user does not need to worry about maintenance of the system. This is under-taken by Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).
6. Easy Agile Development : Cloud Tech works on CICD Model (Continuous Delivery Continuous Integration).

Let’s look at few more features of Cloud Computing :

• On-Demand Self Service
• Anytime, Anywhere Network Access
• Measured Service
• Security is taken at priority

Cloud Computing Development Models

Question now : How are these cloud services delivered ? – For this, we have four different Cloud Development Models

1. Public Cloud
2. Private Cloud
3. Community Cloud
4. Hybrid Cloud

Let’s look them up one by one

Public Cloud

• In Public Cloud Network, infrastructure is owned by Cloud Service Provider and services are delivered over Internet.
• Example of famous Public Cloud Providers are Amazon(AWS), Google(GCP), Microsoft(Azure) etc.
• Public Clouds are multi-tenant. In multi-tenancy, a single instance of the software and its supporting infrastructure serves multiple customers.
• Public Clouds can be highly scaled to meet up the requirements.
• Public Cloud are Elastic & Resilient. They recover quickly from hazards.
• In Public Cloud, Infrastructure is taken care by CSP, so maintenance is not required on user-side.
• Low Total Cost of Ownership.
• Public Clouds are best for variable workload.
• Challenges in Public Cloud : Data Security & Privacy

Private Cloud

• In Private Cloud Network, Infrastructure is operated solely by an Enterprise/ Organization. This Infrastructure may be setup on-premise or off-premise.
• Example of famous Private Cloud Providers are HP Data Centers, Microsoft, Ubuntu, Elastra-private Cloud etc.
• Private Clouds are single-tenant.
• Optimized Performance,
• Private Clouds are known for their improved security and control.
• Private Clouds are best for handling sensitive data and legal compliance.
• Challenges in Private Cloud : High Total Cost of Ownership & Skillset

Community Cloud

• In Community Cloud Network, Infrastructure is shared among several organizations and hence results in collaborative effort from both CSP and User.
• Example of Community Cloud : U.S.-based dedicated IBM SoftLayer cloud for federal agencies.
• Community Clouds are multi-tenant. In multi-tenancy, a single instance of the software and its supporting infrastructure serves multiple customers.
• Community Clouds are generally hosted outside the organization and are elastic.
• Community-driven governance.
• Low Total Cost of Ownership.
• Community Clouds are best for collaboration work.
• Challenges in Community Cloud : Complex Data Is Accessible Between Organizations, Shared Storage and Bandwidth.

Hybrid Cloud

• In Hybrid Cloud, two or more cloud models are intermoduled to form hybrid cloud deployment scenario.
• Example of Hybrid Cloud : Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure
• In Hybrid Cloud, you get the benefits of both Public as well as Private Cloud.
• In Hybrid Cloud, Data flow is established between Private and Public clouds.
• In Hybrid Cloud, you have complete control over sensitive assets.
• Hybrid Cloud model is highly flexible as per the requirements.
• Hybrid Cloud Model supports Cloud Bursting.
• Low Total Cost of Ownership.
• High Performance and highly customizable.
• Hybrid Clouds are best for Cloud Bursting & On-Demand Access.
• Challenges in Hybrid Cloud : Portability, Data Migration and Integration.

Cloud Service Models

Cloud Service Models are broadly classified into three categories :

1. SaaS (Software as a Service)
2. PaaS (Platform as a Service)
3. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

Software as a Service (SaaS)

In SaaS, software applications are offered as a service to an end-user. This software service is deployed on cloud hosting service and is made available on the Internet.

Characteristics

1. SaaS makes software available over the web.
2. SaaS applications are accessible through browsers.
3. No Visibility over backend.
4. Billing is based on the subscriptions.
5. In SaaS, there is no visibility over backend for end-user.
6. They are available on-demand, and can be scaled-up OR scaled-down based on the requirements.
7. Example of SaaS Cloud Service Model : Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Google Aps.

Platform as a Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a third-party service provider that delivers a platform to customers so they can develop, run, and manage software applications without the need to build and maintain the underlying infrastructure themselves.

Characteristics

1. Infrastructure, Runtime, Platform & tools are taken care by Cloud Service Provider.
2. Less control over Infrastructure as an end-user.
3. Control over application code.
4. No management effort required from user side.
5. Example of PaaS Cloud Service Model : AppCloud from Salesforce.com, Google App Engine by GCP, OpenShift from RedShift Inc., Oracle cloud Platform from Oracle.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

IaaS is a type of cloud computing service that offers essential compute, storage and networking resources on demand, on a pay-as-you-go basis. These resources may any of the listed below :

• VMs & Virtual machine disk storage
• Load balancers
• Software bundles

Characteristics

1. IaaS provides Compute, Network, and Storage resources.
2. Control over Operating system and cloud storage services for end-user.
3. Example of IaaS Cloud Service Model : EC2 service from AWS, Virtual Machines

IaaS vs PaaS vs SaaS – Who manages what ?

UNIT	IaaS	PaaS	SaaS
Application	User	User	CSP
Data	User	User	CSP
Runtime	User	CSP	CSP
Operating System	User	CSP	CSP
Servers	CSP	CSP	CSP
Networking	CSP	CSP	CSP
Storage	CSP	CSP	CSP

Well that’s all for this article. Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it.