What is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing
is a delivery of on-demand computing service, which is delivered through the
internet on a pay-as-you-go basis. Cloud services provide quick and low-cost
ICT facilities such as, processing power, storage space, software services,
networking solutions and load of other services to their clients. So, clients
do not need to spend more resources on buying and maintaining ICT facilities on
their own.
Day by day,
cloud computing is getting bigger and bigger due to the reason that, businesses
can get cheaper but reliable ICT services through cloud services than building
and maintaining their own facilities. Currently, hundreds of cloud service
providers can be found on the internet. Among them, there are some well-known
major cloud service providing platforms such as, AWS, Microsoft Azure and
Google cloud who are dominating the industry as of now.
When we talk
about cloud computing, there should be five characteristics, which must exist
to be recognized that service as a cloud.
· On
demand self-service
The user must be able to purchase, upgrade or
downgrade his subscription/service as he or she wants. User must be in total
control over his/her service.
·
Resource
pooling
Cloud services are based on resource pooling. Cloud
service providers create resource pools and in it, they allow their clients to
create virtualized platforms and use them for their work. So, in a cloud,
different kinds of users (clients) from different locations use the same pool
of resources as they need. In addition, multi tenancy is also a part of this characteristic.
It allows all of the cloud users to use a single instance of an application at
the same time. Best example for this is, email applications like Gmail and
Yahoo. Those services use a single application to give service to their users
and users can log in to them using their API interfaces.
·
Rapid
elasticity
Rapid elasticity or scalability is one of the main
characteristics of a cloud. This allows cloud users to upscale or downscale
their cloud infrastructure based on their need without having any problems.
When, unexpected booming happen in the business, they can upscale their cloud storage,
applications or processing power to meet their requirement in order to complete
their workloads.
·
Measured
service
Cloud services should always be pay-as-you-go services.
So, users of cloud service have to pay only what they used. As an example, AWS
or Microsoft Azure users does not have to pay to create a virtual machine. They
only have to pay based on their usage time.
·
Broad
network access
To get access to a cloud service, users must need an internet connection. Cloud computing always requires internet. Through the internet, users can access their cloud services from anywhere in the world.
Evolution of Cloud Computing - A brief explanation of the History of CC
The first steps
of the cloud computing concepts can be trace back to the age of mainframe
computers in 1950s. In that time, a single mainframe computer is used by
several users through dummy terminals. So, conceptually, they used a shared
centralized ICT facility among several users which is the main concept of cloud
computing.
In 1960s,
American Research Projects Agency or most commonly known as “ARPA” came with a
significant breakthrough in the Computing history. They developed the first
network known as “ARPANET”. It was the first step of the Internet and the
beginning of shared data and resources.
In 70s, IBM Company
introduced a new Operating System called “VM”. This OS allowed the users to
install and operate more than one OS simultaneously in a single computer. Every
OS running on VM has its own memory and other ICT infrastructures. This ignites
the concept of “virtualization” in computing industry.
In 1990s,
telecom operators started to provide Virtualized Private Network connections
(VPN) to their customers. Those VPN services were at the same level of
point-to-point services in quality of service. This helped the telecom
companies to introduce many methods of shared ICT resources to their clients.
In the modern day world, cloud computing is a very popular and widely used technology. So, as usual, to meet the high demand of cloud computing services, lots and lots of major tech companies and start-up businesses are providing these services out in the internet. With the fast and reliable internet services, those cloud services are getting more and more popular. So, in the near future, cloud computing will be a crucial component in the ICT industry.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloud Computing
Advantages
1.
Implementation is easy
Cloud computing allows their users to retain the same
applications and processes without having to deal with backend technicalities.
So, users can easily implement and manage their cloud infrastructure via
internet very easily.
2.
Accessibility is higher
Using cloud computing services, users can access their
applications, data or services from anywhere in the world at any time of the
day. Users only need a computer, internet connection and a web browser to
access their services. Also, cloud computing services allow their users to
share data and collaborate with multiple users from different locations. Higher
accessibility will increase your productivity and efficiency.
3.
Minimum hardware requirements
Since everything can be hosted in the cloud, a local storage
or server will not be needed in the organization. To access the cloud service,
organization or users only need computers, web browsers and internet
connection. But, a backup system will be worth due to the reason that, the data
in the cloud can be lost or inaccessible.
4.
Lower cost-per-head
Cost per head can be kept at minimum by using a cloud
solution. Hardware implementation and maintaining cost can be cut because they
are no longer needed to do the workloads. So, extra time and money can be used
to grow the business.
5.
Flexibility is higher
Cloud solutions are very flexible and scalable. So,
companies can scale up or down their cloud infrastructure based on their
required resources without having any problems. As the company or organization
grows, the system that they use will grow with them.
6.
Has efficient recovery
Cloud computing solutions provide facilities for
faster and accurate retrievals of applications and data. So, organizations
never have to worry about losing their data or applications. Also, cloud
service providers provide most efficient recovery plans with less down time of
the system or application.
7.
Environmental friendly
Since you moving to a cloud solution, you may not need same amount of servers and other IT infrastructure as before. By reducing your IT infrastructure, you can reduce the carbon footprint of your organization.
Disadvantages
1.
No longer in control
There is a lack of control by using cloud computing
solutions compared to IT infrastructure. When you are moving in to the cloud
service from in-house IT infrastructure, you have to store your data and do
your work using that service. So, you will be no longer in full control of your
IT infrastructure.
2.
Sometimes you may not get all the features
Cloud service providers have different subscription
packages and services. So, some service providers may offer limited
subscriptions with popular but limited features to you. Because of that, before
purchasing that package, users must look at their features and decide whether
you need that or not.
3.
By using cloud solutions, you cannot let go your
servers and other staff
By moving to a cloud solution, you cannot let go of
your ICT infrastructure. It can be reduced, but cannot be completely remove
from the organization. ICT infrastructures like servers and data storage system
can be useful when it comes to redundancy and data backing.
4.
No redundancy
Usually, cloud solutions do not provide backup or
redundancy in their subscriptions. Users have to buy or rent redundancy and
backup plans from the cloud solution provider separately.
Bibliography
1. dzone.com. 2020. The
Evolution Of Cloud Computing - Dzone Cloud. [online] Available at:
<https://dzone.com/articles/cloud-computing-1#:~:text=Cloud%20computing%20is%20a%20process,remote%20services%20for%20a%20fee.&text=Cloud%20computing%20has%20its%20roots,mainframe%20computers%20came%20into%20existence.>
[Accessed 07 July 2021].
2. Stratosphere Networks. 2020. Advantages And Disadvantages Of Cloud Computing. [online] Available at: <https://www.stratospherenetworks.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-cloud.html> [Accessed 07 July 2021].
3. Simplilearn.com. 2020. Cloud Computing Fundamentals Tutorial | Simplilearn. [online] Available at: <https://www.simplilearn.com/cloud-computing-fundamentals-tutorial#:~:text=%E2%80%9CCloud%20computing%20is%20a%20model,or%20service%20provider%20interaction.%E2%80%9D%20NIST> [Accessed 07 July 2021].
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