Cloud Computing – Complete Tutorial

Accessing and storing data over the internet is called Cloud Computing. Many IT companies require cloud computing as it is available ready-made. The various technologies and tools in this make it the number one choice of all consumers. If you are a person who is interested to know how cloud computing services work and progress, glue on to this blog, and get all the pieces of information you need.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage which is a cloud storage and computing power without direct active management by the user. It can also be stated as working on images, videos, or any type of file that can be easily managed and accessed with the help of the internet.

Instead of storing your data on hard disk, drives, you can store your data on the cloud storage and can use it anytime. You can connect with any electronic device which has an internet facility to log in to your cloud space.

Cloud storage can be beneficial to individuals’ personal use, and also for businesses to store their data. As there has been increasing in the use of cloud space, there are many securities to save your space. And due to its efficient usage, cloud space has been the first choice to save the data, recover the data and accessing the data whenever possible.

Cloud Computing – Meaning 

The word is named as such because they are accessed remotely or virtually. They also let the users store their data in the cloud and they can be used at any time without any hassle. The data can be recovered, modified, and updated in any place in the world. Isn’t that great news?! 

It erases the space and heaviness that your storage devices like pen drives, hard disks, and CDs. They also eradicate the unnecessary clusters that were in your data. The cloud, as it is present everywhere so, is your piece of information. But they are super safe and will be in control only by you!

History of Cloud Computing

And now that you’ve known about what is computing cloud it will be easier if I entertain you with the history of the same. So, the history or the roots of this begins with Server Architecture. A user needs to connect with the Server Architecture in order to access the data. But it has had some limitations. So, to overcome the server architecture’s limitations, Client Server Computing and Distributed Computing came into practice. 

Yet those two saw some drawbacks and thus, Cloud Computing comes into the scene. 

Types of Cloud Computing

There are many types of services that suit your needs. To use this type, you have to know the correct deployment or architecture. There are four types in it, and they are:

1. Public Cloud

It is owned by third-party cloud services that provide services and storage. In this type, the hardware, software and other supporting tools are given by the public cloud. With the help of a web browser, you can access and manage your account. Example Microsoft Azure.

2. Private Cloud

It is owned by a single user or organization. The private cloud can also be used by a company, with the help of any other third party. The private cloud is managed and accessed by the private network. It also has two subdivisions they are, Managed Private Cloud and Dedicated Cloud.

Managed Private Cloud

A customer can use the private cloud which has been set up by a third-party vendor. It is managed by a team of inexperienced people who will work efficiently to give the software services and solutions.

Dedicated Cloud

The dedicated cloud means having a cloud within a cloud. That is having a folder inside another folder.

3. Hybrid Cloud

The combination of both public and private cloud technologies together is called Hybrid Cloud. In a hybrid cloud, you can also share the data. Hybrid clouds have flexibility, more deployment, optimising, and high security. The hybrid cloud can adjust according to the needs and requirements. So, it must have like,

• One private and public cloud
• The public cloud can be two or more than that
• The private cloud can be two or more than that
• Any one of the virtual environments should be connected to either the private or public cloud.

4. Mulitcloud

Multicloud is the combination of one cloud service with more than one cloud vendor. The hybrid clouds can be called mulitcloud. But it isn’t the same with the mulitcloud. When a large number of hybrid clouds are connected then it will become a mulitcloud.

Types of Cloud Computing Services

There are three types of services. They are Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). Come let’s explore more in detail about these three services.

1. SaaS (Software as a Service)

In this type of service, the user gets licensed software applications, either on-demand or pay-as-you-go. They are also called web services. Users with stable internet can use this service using their mobile, laptop or personal computer. Example – Microsoft Office 365.

2. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

Under this type, they provide the user with a storage and application programming interface. The user can transfer all the necessary data to a virtual machine. The user will have some capacity to do all the work needed. This type of service can be used for personal and official usage. The user can use this for free for a certain amount and can purchase it when the need arises. They can also decline it if not necessary. Example – IBM and AWS.

3. PaaS (Platform as a Service)

In this type, the user gets benefited from the tools that a user might need. They come in, only after the software development. The user can develop software with these tools. Example – Salesforce and Google App Engine.

Advantages Cloud Computing

Here are the top benefits you can get using this.

1. Cost

It can cut down all the expenses that you need to purchase such as getting a place, hardware, software, electricity, maintenance cost and much more.

2. Global scale

The reach will be higher considering the geographical location, you can use the power, storage and resources that are needed for IT.

3. Performance

They perform on the biggest data centres, so there will be constant updates on the latest technology so that you can get fast and efficient tools for your work.

4. Speed

You can get ample services with just a click. And irrespective of the service whether self or on-demand the speed of the service will be efficient.

5. Productivity

It reduces the time-consuming IT works and the IT employees could work more, without thinking about all those unnecessary things and give more time for their work.

6. Reliability

It can be reliable as it has easy data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity at less expense. It can be beneficial to online marketers, sellers, ecommerce business retailers and much more.

7. Security

It has high security, to protect your data, app and information. They also provide various policies and technologies that control and strengthen your storage.

Also read, how bad customer experience will kill the ecommerce business.

Disadvantages of Cloud Computing

There are specific challenges that it faces, irrespective of its vast advantages. Following are some of its disadvantages:

1. Security

They have high security which is a non-negotiable thing we must agree on. But hacking into the account and breaching the information leads to the loss of sensitive information. Thus, they need special and extra care.

2. Cost Unpredictability

The service and the pay are unpredictable as you only pay per the service you choose. And this ends up in high-end pay which makes the users awkward and grins while doing the payments.

4. Capability and expertise lacking

As the service is constantly updating over the technologies and updated generations models to be the best, there are some difficulties in learning all these tools and teaching to the employees, implementing them and being able to work with them.

5. IT Governance

There is no control while using the cloud, so this affects managing the risks, security and much more that are related to IT.

6. Complaints

While transferring data from the local resource to the cloud there are some complaints as they face some problems with the industry regulations which affect storing in the highly secured cloud.

7. Multiple Clouds

The data stored varies from each cloud. And thus, managing multiple clouds is a tedious thing to do.

8. Performance

If the internet is not stable the performance will be bad. As it will affect the connection between the provider and user performance and will be a hindrance.

9. Private Cloud

It is unsettling to build, develop and manage a private account.

10. Migration

They have complaints when migration occurs from one cloud account to another. They take more time and cost.

11. Lock-in

Switching between cloud accounts has some limitations, including technicalities, legal and regulations.

Virtualization in Cloud Computing

Creating a virtual thing that can’t be touched and felt like a personal computer, laptop and other hardware which are used to provide software services and solutions is called virtualization in cloud computing. To explain it briefly, you can create your account and business and it can be accessed anywhere in the world with the help of virtualization.

To know more about virtualization regarding this, it is important to know about its types. There are six types of virtualization in cloud computing. They are Hardware, Operating system, server virtualization, storage virtualization, Desktop virtualization and Network virtualization. 

Cloud Computing Architecture

So having known the definition, the meaning of the name, history, and service. To get to know the architecture of cloud computing it is essential to know how it is built on.

1. Service-oriented
2. Event-driven

Like every functionality of the work, cloud computing has two main components. They are as follows:

1. Front end

The front end is the user (you) who uploads the data like storage, personal information, official information and much more. You have control over the cloud that you are operating. The front end includes all those things that you can see, as visual, digital and use. 

2. Back end

The back end is where the work is being done. The back end has all this data that is stored by the user. It is very important as it holds every piece of information that you put in, irrespective of its type is being stored. 

All this information is gathered in a central server which directs the data received from the user and stored in the back end. So, how does the central server work? It creates a link between the device of the user and the central server and that is called middleware. As the process, all need an internet connection the connection should have high network security, high bandwidth and no disturbance in the server connection. And they have high cloud security to protect all this data. 

Moreover, cloud computing has many dependencies on server virtualization and automation. The first provides services ready-made to the IT and the latter provides self-service and cloud functions

Importance of Cloud Computing

It can offer several advantages and benefits. Perhaps the most significant benefit of cloud computing is its scalability. With this, businesses can easily scale up or down as needed, without having to make significant investments in new hardware or software. This can help businesses save money and be more agile in responding to changing needs.

Another key benefit of this is that it can help businesses improve their disaster recovery plans. By storing data and applications in the cloud, businesses can ensure that they can be quickly accessed and recovered in the event of a disaster. This can help minimize downtime and keep businesses running smoothly, even in the face of unexpected disruptions.

Finally, it can also help businesses save money on IT costs. By using cloud-based solutions, businesses can avoid the need to invest in their on-premises infrastructure. This can help businesses save on upfront costs and ongoing maintenance and management expenses.

Overall, it can offer several advantages and benefits for businesses. Businesses can improve their scalability, disaster recovery plans, and IT costs by taking advantage of the cloud.

Cloud Computing Service Providers

The emergence of Cloud Computing has set extraordinary growth among users. And after Google Play, many other companies like Alibaba, Microsoft Azure, HP, Oracle, IBM and much more have introduced cloud computing services. 

Features of Cloud Computing

The following are the features:

1. Self-service provisioning

The user can use any type of software here. They provide server time, storage, and reduction of conventional IT chores.

2. Elasticity

The company can increase and decrease the scalability according to the need of the company.

3. Pay per use

The user can pay only for the resources they are using.

4. Workload resilience

They implement redundant resources so that the work is going on smoothly.

5. Migration flexibility

You can easily migrate the data from one cloud to another at a low cost and also to new places.

6. Broad network access

As long as you have internet and an electronic device you can use the cloud service from anywhere in the world.

7. Multi-tenancy

Several users can use the same platform to share, and save their data and still have their privacy and security.

8. Resource pooling

It is the same as the multi-tenancy but the platform and customer should be large enough and also be flexible.

The Future of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing has great advantages that it offers in terms of scalability, flexibility and cost-savings that are just too hard to ignore. In the coming years, we can expect to see even more businesses making the switch to cloud-based solutions.

As it becomes more and more popular, the providers of these services will continue to innovate and improve their offerings. We can expect to see even more features and capabilities being added to cloud-based solutions, making them even more attractive to businesses of all sizes.

The future of cloud computing is looking very bright indeed. With the continued adoption of this technology, we can expect to see even more businesses benefiting from its many advantages.

Wrap Up

Cloud computing includes increased flexibility, scalability, and cost savings. Additionally, it can help to reduce the environmental impact of computing by reducing the need for energy-intensive data centres. Despite its many advantages, it does have some disadvantages, such as security risks and data privacy concerns. Overall, cloud computing is a viable option for businesses and individuals who are looking for increased flexibility and scalability.

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