Cloud Computing

What we are going to Cover

1. What is Cloud Computing

2. How Cloud Computing Works
3. Virtualization In Cloud Computing
4. Cloud Computing Architecture
5. Types of Cloud Computing
6. Cloud Deployemnt Models
7. Cloud Hosting
8. Features of Cloud Computing
9. Why Switch from On-premises to cloud Computing
10. Top Cloud Computing Companies
11. Pros of Cloud Computing
12. Cons of Cloud Computing
13. Cloud Sustainability
14. Use cases of Cloud Computing
What is Cloud Computing

Cloud computing refers to the use of hosted services, such as data storage, servers,
databases, networking, and software over the internet. The data is stored on physical servers,
which are maintained by a cloud service provider. Computer system resources, especially
data storage and computing power, are available on-demand, without direct management by
the user in cloud computing.

How Cloud Computing Works

Cloud computing helps users in easily accessing computing resources like storage, and
processing over internet rather than local hardwares. Here we discussing how it works in
nutshell:

Infrastructure: Cloud computing depends on remote network servers hosted on internet

for store, manage, and process the data.
On-Demand Acess: Users can access cloud services and resources based on-demand
they can scale up or down the without having to invest for physical hardware.
Types of Services: Cloud computing offers various benefits such as cost saving,
scalability, reliability and acessibility it reduces capital expenditures, improves efficiency.

Virtualization In Cloud Computing

Virtualization is the software technology that helps in providing the logical isolation of
physical resources.

Creating logical isolation of physical resources such as RAM, CPU, and Storage.. over the
cloud is known as Virtualization in Cloud Computing.

In simple we can say creating types of Virtual Instances of computing resources over the
cloud.

It provides better management and utilization of hardware resources with logical isolation
making the applications independent of others.

It facilitates streamlining the resource allocation and enhancing scalability for multiple
virtual computers within a single physical source offering cost-effectiveness and better
optimization of resources.

Cloud Computing Architecture

Cloud computing architecture refers to the components and sub-components required for
cloud computing. These components typically refer to:

Front end ( Fat client, Thin client)

Back-end platforms ( Servers, Storage )
Cloud-based delivery and a network ( Internet, Intranet, Intercloud )

Front End ( User Interaction Enhancement )

The User Interface of Cloud Computing consists of 2 sections of clients. The Thin clients
are the ones that use web browsers facilitating portable and lightweight accessibilities
and others are known as Fat Clients that use many functionalities for offering a strong
user experience.

Back-end Platforms ( Cloud Computing Engine )

The core of cloud computing is made at back-end platforms with several servers for
storage and processing computing. Management of Applications logic is managed
through servers and effective data handling is provided by storage. The combination of
these platforms at the backend offers the processing power, and capacity to manage and
store data behind the cloud.

Cloud-Based Delivery and Network

On-demand access to the computer and resources is provided over the Internet,
Intranet, and Intercloud. The Internet comes with global accessibility, the Intranet helps
in internal communications of the services within the organization and the Intercloud
enables interoperability across various cloud services. This dynamic network
connectivity ensures an essential component of cloud computing architecture on
guaranteeing easy access and data transfer.
Types of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing can either be classified based on the deployment model or the type of
service. Based on the specific deployment model, we can classify cloud as public,
private, and hybrid cloud. At the same time, it can be classified as infrastructure-as-a-
service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) based on
the service the cloud model offers.

Based on the service model, cloud can be categorized into IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-
Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). Let’s take a look
at each one.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a service or IaaS is a type of cloud computing in which a service

provider is responsible for providing servers, storage, and networking over a virtual
interface. In this service, the user doesn’t need to manage the cloud infrastructure but
has control over the storage, operating systems, and deployed applications.
Instead of the user, a third-party vendor hosts the hardware, software, servers, storage,
and other infrastructure components. The vendor also hosts the user’s applications and
maintains a backup.

Platform as a service (PaaS)

Platform as a service or PaaS is a type of cloud computing that provides a development

and deployment environment in cloud that allows users to develop and run applications
without the complexity of building or maintaining the infrastructure. It provides users
with resources to develop cloud-based applications. In this type of service, a user
purchases the resources from a vendor on a pay-as-you-go basis and can access them
over a secure connection.

PaaS doesn’t require users to manage the underlying infrastructure, i.e., the network,
servers, operating systems, or storage, but gives them control over the deployed
applications. This allows organizations to focus on the deployment and management of
their applications by freeing them of the responsibility of software maintenance,
planning, and resource procurement.

Software as a service (SaaS)

SaaS or software as a service allows users to access a vendor’s software on cloud on a

subscription basis. In this type of cloud computing, users don’t need to install or
download applications on their local devices. Instead, the applications are located on a
remote cloud network that can be directly accessed through the web or an API.

In the SaaS model, the service provider manages all the hardware, middleware,
application software, and security. Also referred to as ‘hosted software’ or ‘on-demand
software’, SaaS makes it easy for enterprises to streamline their maintenance and
support.
Cloud Deployemnt Models

Private cloud

In a private cloud, the computing services are offered over a private IT network for the
dedicated use of a single organization. Also termed internal, enterprise, or corporate
cloud, a private cloud is usually managed via internal resources and is not accessible to
anyone outside the organization. Private cloud computing provides all the benefits of a
public cloud, such as self-service, scalability, and elasticity, along with additional control,
security, and customization.

Private clouds provide a higher level of security through company firewalls and internal
hosting to ensure that an organization’s sensitive data is not accessible to third-party
providers. The drawback of private cloud, however, is that the organization becomes
responsible for all the management and maintenance of the data centers, which can
prove to be quite resource-intensive.

Public cloud

Public cloud refers to computing services offered by third-party providers over the
internet. Unlike private cloud, the services on public cloud are available to anyone who
wants to use or purchase them. These services could be free or sold on-demand, where
users only have to pay per usage for the CPU cycles, storage, or bandwidth they
consume.

Public clouds can help businesses save on purchasing, managing, and maintaining on-
premises infrastructure since the cloud service provider is responsible for managing the
system. They also offer scalable RAM and flexible bandwidth, making it easier for
businesses to scale their storage needs.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud uses a combination of public and private cloud features. The “best of both
worlds” cloud model allows a shift of workloads between private and public clouds as the
computing and cost requirements change. When the demand for computing and
processing fluctuates, hybrid cloudOpens a new window allows businesses to scale their
on-premises infrastructure up to the public cloud to handle the overflow while ensuring
that no third-party data centers have access to their data.

In a hybrid cloud model, companies only pay for the resources they use temporarily
instead of purchasing and maintaining resources that may not be used for an extended
period. In short, a hybrid cloud offers the benefits of a public cloud without its security
risks.
Cloud Hosting

The Infrastructure is where the people start and begin to build from the scratch. This is
the layer where the cloud hosting lives. Let’s say you have a company and a website and
the website has a lot of communications that are exchanged between members. You start
with a few members talking with each other and then gradually the number of members
increases. As time passes, as the number of members increases, there would be more
traffic on the network and your server will get slow down. This would cause a problem.

A few years ago, the websites are put on the server somewhere, in this way you have to
run around or buy and set the number of servers. It costs a lot of money and takes a lot
of time. You pay for these servers when you are using them and as well as when you are
not using them. This is called hosting. This problem is overcome by cloud hosting. With
Cloud Computing, you have access to computing power when you needed. Now, your
website is put in the cloud server as you put it on a dedicated server. People start visiting
your website and if you suddenly need more computing power, you would scale up
according to the need.

Features of Cloud Computing

The following are the Features of Cloud Computing:

Scalability: With Cloud hosting, it is easy to grow and shrink the number and size of
servers based on the need. This is done by either increasing or decreasing the resources
in the cloud. This ability to alter plans due to fluctuations in business size and needs is a
superb benefit of cloud computing, especially when experiencing a sudden growth in
demand.
Save Money: An advantage of cloud computing is the reduction in hardware costs.
Instead of purchasing in-house equipment, hardware needs are left to the vendor. For
companies that are growing rapidly, new hardware can be large, expensive, and
inconvenient. Cloud computing alleviates these issues because resources can be
acquired quickly and easily. Even better, the cost of repairing or replacing equipment is
passed to the vendors. Along with purchase costs, off-site hardware cuts internal power
costs and saves space. Large data centers can take up precious office space and produce
a large amount of heat. Moving to cloud applications or storage can help maximize space
and significantly cut energy expenditures.
Reliability: Rather than being hosted on one single instance of a physical server, hosting
is delivered on a virtual partition that draws its resource, such as disk space, from an
extensive network of underlying physical servers. If one server goes offline it will have no
effect on availability, as the virtual servers will continue to pull resources from the
remaining network of servers.
Physical Security: The underlying physical servers are still housed within data centers
and so benefit from the security measures that those facilities implement to prevent
people from accessing or disrupting them on-site.
Outsource Management: When you are managing the business, Someone else manages
your computing infrastructure. You do not need to worry about management as well as
degradation.
Why Switch from On-premises to cloud Computing

The following are the Top reasons to switch from on-premise to cloud computing:

Reduces cost: The cost-cutting ability of businesses that utilize cloud computing over
time is one of the main advantages of this technology. On average 15% of the total cost
can be saved by companies if they migrate to the cloud. By the use of cloud servers
businesses will save and reduce costs with no need to employ a staff of technical support
personnel to address server issues. There are many great business modules regarding the
cost-cutting benefits of cloud servers such as the Coca-Cola and Pinterest case studies.

More storage: For software and applications to execute as quickly and efficiently as
possible, it provides more servers, storage space, and computing power. Many tools are
available for cloud storage such as Dropbox, Onedrive, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, etc.

Employees Better Work Life Balance: Direct connections between cloud computing
benefits, and the work and personal lives of an enterprise’s workers can both improve
because of cloud computing. Even on holidays, the employees have to work with the
server for its security, maintenance, and proper functionality. But with cloud storage the
thing is not the same, employees get ample of time for their personal life and the
workload is even less comparatively.

Top Cloud Computing Companies

1. Amazon Web Services(AWS)

One of the most successful cloud-based businesses is Amazon Web Services(AWS), which is
an Infrastructure as a Service(Iaas) offering that pays rent for virtual computers on Amazon’s
infrastructure.

2. Microsoft Azure Cloud Platform

Microsoft is creating the Azure platform which enables the .NET Framework Application to
run over the internet as an alternative platform for Microsoft developers. This is the classic
Platform as a Service(PaaS).

3. Google Cloud Platform ( GCP )

Google has built a worldwide network of data centers to service its search engine. From this
service, Google has captured the world’s advertising revenue. By using that revenue, Google
offers free software to users based on infrastructure. This is called Software as a
Service(SaaS).
Pros of Cloud Computing

Cost Efficiency: Cloud Computing provides flexible pricing to the users with the principal
pay-as-you-go model. It helps in lessening capital expenditures of Infrastructure,
particularly for small and medium-sized businesses companies.
Flexibility and Scalability: Cloud services facilitate the scaling of resources based on
demand. It ensures the efficiency of businesses in handling various workloads without
the need for large amounts of investments in hardware during the periods of low
demand.
Collaboration and Accessibility: Cloud computing provides easy access to data and
applications from anywhere over the internet. This encourages collaborative team
participation from different locations through shared documents and projects in real-
time resulting in quality and productive outputs.
Automatic Maintenance and Updates: AWS Cloud takes care of the infrastructure
management and keeping with the latest software automatically making updates they is
new versions. Through this, AWS guarantee the companies always having access to the
newest technologies to focus completely on business operations and innvoations.

Cons Of Cloud Computing

Security Concerns: Storing of sensitive data on external servers raised more security
concerns which is one of the main drawbacks of cloud computing.
Downtime and Reliability: Even though cloud services are usually dependable, they may
also have unexpected interruptions and downtimes. These might be raised because of
server problems, Network issues or maintenance disruptions in Cloud providers which
negative effect on business operations, creating issues for users accessing their apps.
Dependency on Internet Connectivity: Cloud computing services heavily rely on Internet
connectivity. For accessing the cloud resources the users should have a stable and high-
speed internet connection for accessing and using cloud resources. In regions with
limited internet connectivity, users may face challenges in accessing their data and
applications.
Cost Management Complexity: The main benefit of cloud services is their pricing model
that coming with Pay as you go but it also leads to cost management complexities. On
without proper careful monitoring and utilization of resources optimization,
Organizations may end up with unexpected costs as per their use scale. Understanding
and Controlled usage of cloud services requires ongoing attention.
Cloud Sustainability

Enery Efficiency: Cloud Providers supports the optimization of data center operations for
minimizing energy consumption and improve efficiency.

Renewable Energy: On increasing the adoption of renewable energy sources like solar and
wind power to data centers and reduce carbon emissions.

Virtualization: Server virtualization facilitates better utilization of hardware resources,

reducing the need for physical servers and lowering the energy consumptions.

Cloud Security

Cloud security recommended to measures and practices designed to protect data,

applications, and infrastructure in cloud computing environments. The following
are some of the best practices of cloud security:

Data Encryption: Encryption is essential for securing data stored in the cloud.
It ensures that data remains unreadable to unauthorized users even if it is
intercepted.
Access Control: Implementing strict access controls and authentication
mechanisms helps ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive data
and resources in the cloud.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): MFA adds an extra layer of security by
requiring users to provide multiple forms of verification, such as passwords,
biometrics, or security tokens, before gaining access to cloud services.

Use Cases Of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing provides many use cases across industries and various
applications:

Scalable Infrastructure: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) enables organizations

to scale computing resources based on demand without investing in physical
hardware.
Efficient Application Development: Platform as a Service (PaaS) simplifies
application development, offering tools and environments for building,
deploying, and managing applications.
Streamlined Software Access: Software as a Service (SaaS) provides
subscription-based access to software applications over the internet, reducing
the need for local installation and maintenance.
Data Analytics: Cloud-based platforms facilitate big data analytics, allowing
organizations to process and derive insights from large datasets efficiently.
Disaster Recovery: Cloud-based disaster recovery solutions offer cost-
effective data replication and backup, ensuring quick recovery in case of
system failures or disasters.