Cloud Services
Cloud computing gives you remote access to computing, storage, and networking resources within your data centre or through a public cloud service provider.
Today, virtually all businesses rely on cloud computing to some degree. But what is cloud computing, exactly?
Cloud computing gives you access to computing, storage, and networking resources on demand. These resources can come from either your own data centre or from a cloud provider. Depending on the service types and deployment models you select, cloud computing can help you manage costs while making it possible to quickly launch new products or services, expand into new locations, and maximize performance and productivity.
Benefits of Cloud Computing
Large or small, businesses can benefit from cloud computing in a number of ways. An independent retail store might use the cloud for a simple payment processing service, while a global enterprise can draw from a full suite of data centre resources for application development and deployment on a massive scale.
The cloud allows businesses to get the resources they need without having the hardware on- premises. This means businesses can deploy services wherever and whenever they want. Cloud computing can reduce costs by allowing hardware to be consolidated and managed in fewer locations. It provides the scalability to support fluctuating workloads, and it can empower collaboration among remote teams and locations.
Cloud Deployment Models
There are two basic cloud deployment models: Public and Private. Your deployment model depends on your business needs and technical requirements. Because each workload has its own characteristics, you’ll likely use a combination of public and private cloud services. This is known as a hybrid or multi-cloud approach.
Public Cloud
The public cloud offers pay-as-you-go access to computing, storage, and networking resources. These are delivered through cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure*, Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud, and IBM. Public cloud services require little upfront cost and can be deployed quickly for a fast time to market. They’re also a good match for workloads that might only run for a short time.
Private Cloud
A private cloud is run on infrastructure in your data centre. It requires a larger upfront cost and ongoing management, but it can deliver potential cost savings over the long term. A private cloud offers support for mission-critical workloads and legacy applications that are difficult or impossible to move to the public cloud. It’s also an ideal model for helping ensure compliance with privacy regulations or protecting intellectual property.
Hybrid Cloud
A hybrid cloud unites your public and private cloud so that you can share applications and data between them as needed. This gives your business the flexibility to run applications in a way that helps maximize potential cost savings and use of resources while meeting requirements for scalability and control.
Multi-Cloud
A multi-cloud approach involves a combination of services from different cloud providers. This gives you the most choice when it comes to services and pricing. A multi-cloud strategy relies on software to manage and orchestrate resources across disparate providers, but can offer businesses an incredibly flexible, cost-optimized cloud environment.
Types of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing gives you remote access to computing, storage, and networking resources within your data centre or through a public cloud service provider.
When it comes to purchasing cloud resources, there are many types of cloud service models to choose from. Selecting the right level of support can help you make the most of your budget and resources.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) gives you access to servers, networking, and storage. While this frees your business from having to own or maintain hardware, your IT team must still manage operating systems, databases, and applications. IaaS offers the most control and flexibility of all service models and can be easily scaled up or down as needed.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Most businesses rely on a variety of Software as a Service (SaaS) products for their everyday operations. These are on-demand applications like CRM software and email. With SaaS, users don’t need to manage anything except for their data. Licenses are purchased on a subscription basis and services are delivered immediately.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS) offers the same hardware resources as IaaS, plus the operating system and databases. PaaS lets your business develop, run, and manage applications without having to build and maintain infrastructure. It can also help streamline workflows since multiple users can access the development application simultaneously.
Function as a Service (FaaS)
With Function as a Service (FaaS), users manage only functions and data while the cloud provider manages the application. This allows developers to get the functions they need without paying for services when code isn’t running.
How do cloud services work?
Cloud services are fully managed by cloud computing vendors and repair providers. They’re made available to customers from the providers' servers, so there's no need for a company to host the applications on its own on-premises servers.
Key advantages of using cloud services include
The ability to scale
Because the cloud service provider supplies all necessary infrastructure and software, there's no need for a company to invest in its own resources or allocate extra IT staff to manage the service. This, in turn, makes it easy for the business to scale the solution as user needs change—whether that means increasing the number of licenses to accommodate a growing workforce or expanding and enhancing the applications themselves.
Lowered Costs
Many cloud services are provided on a monthly or annual subscription basis, eliminating the need to pay for on-premises software licenses. This allows organizations to access software, storage and other services without having to take a position within the underlying infrastructure or handle maintenance and upgrades.
Lowered Costs
Many cloud services are provided on a monthly or annual subscription basis, eliminating the need to pay for on-premises software licenses. This enables the organizations to access storage,software,and other services without having to invest in the underlying infrastructure or handle maintenance and upgrades